Why The 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S "Silver Rose" Would Be Worth £250,000 - If It Wasn't a 944 

Fantastic video and car! I have owned a 1986 Turbo for almost 20 years and it is one of the best all around sports cars ever made in my opinion. They are quite reliable and robust if maintained. Simply a fantastic and beautifully balanced package. They are also very pretty to look at.

I have been driving a 944 Turbo S silver rose for more than 25 years. And it's simply fun. Beautiful design, good road holding with hard suspension, good sound. Only my good old Landrover 109II from 1970 offers the same amount of fun (but not the speed)...

I drove one in period and it is indeed a fine sports car. Great balance, good steering, and decent brakes. Would love to have one now.

Such an awesome car, I've got a 924 luxe with 40k miles on the clock and two owners completely stock, Its the 2L NA but it's a little gem I couldn't careless that "it's not a 911" it's an excellent machine, would love to own a 944 turbo some day

I've always loved the 944 (Turbo S best of all), since I nearly wrote off my boss's 944 as a young whippersnapper. As the story was a learning lesson to me I'll tell it. My boss asked me to move his car. He'd parked it against the flow of traffic on Deansgate Manchester. It was a rainy day and trying to get out of the space took about 5 very stressful minutes. When I got round to the railway arch lockup I found a car transporter blocking access whilst it was being unloaded. I sat there like a typical 22 year old listening to the fruity exhaust note as I blipped the throttle. Suddenly there was a tap on the window and a friend from work jumped into the passenger seat egging me on to take him for a spin. In a moment of weakness I gave in and blasted the car past the air and space museum at maximum attack. The joyride culminated at a roundabout behind the Granada studios tour. I went in way too hot, booted the thottle to get the back round and time started to slow down...I'd lost control, run out of opposite lock and was looking out of the passenger window as we slithered sideways round the entire roundabout. I noticed other drivers waiting to get on the the roundabout open mouthed at the sight of this 944 going sideways over my passengers grimacing face as he hung on to the car in terror. My saving grace was that the roundabout was on quite a steep incline and gravity slowed me down just enough to gain control back after a full 360 degree navigation. The lock came off and the car wiggled a couple of times before we were leaving on the same road we'd entered. The car was silent for a few seconds before my friend said....'that....was awesome...I thought we were going to die for a second!'...I laughed it off and blagged him that I was in control at all times...he did wonder why I drove back to the lockup at 25mph though! 😄 As I parked the 944 in the lockup I got out and kissed the roof, the combination of luck and a nicely balanced chassis had saved my job and possibly my life. My boss never knew...so if you're reading this Pete...sorry. 😬😁

A good friend had one of these in college, it had the plaid interior, we had a great time with it! Good examples are pretty pricey in the US.

It's all we've been waiting for! I was just subscribed to your channel around a week ago and have been watching your video every single day, i was just watching your best car that's ls600h when i notice that you just uploaded this!

The 924, 944 and 928 where the best cars Porsche every made.

All 1989 944 Turbo models were also built to the same performance specs as the 1988 944 Turbo S. The only difference was in 1989 it came with both driver and passenger airbags and could be fully optioned with heated leather seats and the removable sun roof. Unfortunately the performance enhancements were just too threatening to the 911 Turbo. It had better handling, was faster and had a higher top speed, so the Porsche executives killed it, suppressed the performance figures and dumbed down the performance in future years to keep the focus on the rear engine heritage / brand of the 911. The '88 944 Turbo S and '89 944 Turbo are EXTREMELY rare in the US. Most have been gutted and converted into track cars and ultimately wrecked. Good luck even finding an all original one for sale with less than 100k miles.....

What happened to the in-car driving shots and the sound shots? Did they accidently wind up "on the cutting room floor"?

Get your hands on the right one of those and I reckon it'll be a very good investment... Provided it doesn't send you broke keeping it in good order. Obviously that can be said of any classic car, but 80s Germans seem to have a special appetite for slow and steady erosion of one's toy box funds.

Mr Lawrence stroll must have made wonders if Aston is bringing investors in nowadays

I always find myself veering off to Pistonheads or Classic Cars for Sale whenever I watch Jays videos😎

I recognise my chubby face in the drive by’s… lovely car and surprisingly swift for an old timer.

Great video - what a classic !!!

That Turbo decal is sooo good. This car in yellow would make my eyes pop out of my skull.

Imagine if AMG two door cars had rear engines. They would be way too expensive now

Very nice and professional review, thanks Jay for looking at the affordable cars we common mortals can attain.

A gorgeous classic

I thought it was someone else's review, I missed the usual funky shirt

James did I miss the joke?!?! If ever there was a biast video which was just a plug for a car you are going to sell this would be it 🤣 Nice motor, look forward to your next vid 👍

This video made me want one 🙈 I love love live the stuff from the 80's as a long time e30 BMW owner 😎😎

Spotted you yesterday going up Ballingdon Hill, and again today in the Farrari. Great content!

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, I still love the look of the 928, both are certainly of their era though.

I had a couple 924 cars back in the day. They drove well but weren't treated as real Porsches. I should have bought a 912 for a bit more money but enjoyed the heaters in the winter. As they moved to 944, the car got more refined, ending up with the 968 with a 3.0l 4-cyl. and a turbo.

Lovely car some factual errors though! 👍 The later model turbos had the same upgrades as the turbo s so the silver rose isn't such a special thing I'm afraid. Porsche made an awful lot of the 1989-1991 250 turbos with the limited slip, gearbox cooler etc... Got a 1990 myself, they are great fun as you pointed out in your videos especially on twisty b roads!

Great vid mate! Outro music tho 😭😭

Whats missing on this car is the targa removable roof. Used to love that on my 944 S2. Granted mine did not have turbo, but it had no problem to get to a speed of 240 km/hour on the autobahn as new Audi TT's were trying to shake me off...

That shirt is ridiculous... it's nowhere near loud enough 😉

Awesome car. Looking forward to more videos with it. Keep up the good work.

I had a 924s with the 2.5 engine from 944.good car.well balanced.

My dad had the Turbo SE when I was a kid. Probably one of the few cars he wished he’d kept. Looks ace and come back full cool imo

Good to see your 944 back Jay - I wondered where it had gone - is it a keeper ?

Fantastic car. One of my mates had one - Black. It was superb. He ended up selling it for more than he paid for it a few years ago.

As always, thanks for a very nice and detailed review of the car! I want to add one thing though. When the taxi driver, the guy flipping burgers at the corner and now one of my favourite car shows starts giving you trading tips.. I feel we are not terribly far from the event horizon of a pretty big correction. I hope I’m wrong, but that add in the beginning felt awkward coming from this forum.

James. I am a subscriber and love your videos. Many of your car choices resonate with me. But your promo of your sponsor in this video is off-putting. Many will expect and accept that you should be remunerated for your huge efforts in making your videos. It is ok to say, "Today's clip is sponsored by XYZ" and get on with the review but not one minute and eight seconds of promoting your sponsor. Don't mean to offend but to offer constructive feedback. Apologies if you think otherwise.

Nice video. Regular 944 Turbos from 1989 on had same specifications as the turbo s

A friend of mine has a silver rose 951 under a cover in his shop !!!! Still not for sale! Oh yeah, it is along side a red 968 😀😀😀😀🚗🚗🏁🏁🏁🍺🍺🍺🍺

Very good video This is jayemm on Cars at its best 👍

Stunning car and great review... Just got to do the 924! 🙌

Another great review Jay. More like this!

An often overlooked beauty.

I had one of these for 6 years and it was a great fun car very reliable and a pleasure to drive. The headlights are rubbish so spirited driving in the dark difficult. As with all my past cars I sold this for a fraction of it’s worth now if only I had storage

Well done thanks!

I drove mine for 14 years. Sorry I got rid of it. Best car I ever owned!

Beautiful looking car.

I had one of these back in 1988. It was a fun car to drive. I've been a bit confused though by some Turbo S cars having the Turbo S emblems on the back hatch just below the spoiler and some only having the Turbo emblem but still claiming to be a Turbo S. Which is the correct configuration? Mine only had the Turbo emblem but I bought it new as a turbo S in 1988.

My first Porsche was a 924 from 1979. Sadly my dad bent it. :'(

As an owner of a 1988 944 Turbo S Silver Rose (full option with targa roof), i can confirm that this car is just brilliant. I'll surely never sell that car ! Price did increase quite a bit in the last 3/5 years, but certainly is still the beginning....

Brilliant car jay, been tempted to buy one on more than one occassion.

Can JayEmm also do bicycles? Merging of my two worlds lol.

Wish I'd never sold my 89 F plate 944S2. Beautiful car.

Smart review…thank you!

I nearly bought one of these (944 turbo) when they we're like 3.5k the insurance put me off. Kicking myself now. Lol

Nothing beats a well kept and well kept service history 928 S4!!.... NOTHING!!

I had a Japanese import Silver Rose. The garage described it as a remarkable example. I had to sell it for £6k when I was broke back in the day. 'Ingrid' is still in my thoughts. It was like new, until some prat valet used alloy cleaner on magnesium wheels when I said DON'T!!! I sold it to a guy called Mr Koch. He said in your country my name is very funny. Took him for lunch as he'd come from Friesland in the Netherlands to pick my girl up. Even the engine looked like new.

Fine cars, but dont discount the later models, they carried over the important parts and could be had in a wider range of colours with slightly updated interiors. The 'bridge spoiler' models were produced in even fewer numbers.

To be frankly..... I expected a driving review

Much better than any rear engine Porsche. The reason --- much easier to maintain and to me a more advanced way of producing a well engineered car than the VW Beetle(ish) rear engined Porsche. 928 also very good.

Oh, 1min 30s into a 9min video and he's still talking about the advert.

…But I love the cloth multicolor interior

I like the 944 more than the 928 if only due to the headlights on the latter.

any plans to modify? these really respond well to turbo and intake/exhaust upgrades. I have a 3.5" (much better than the typical 3") mandrel bent exhaust, and A Borgwarner EFR turbo (thats like an Iphone compared to the KKK-k26 being an old flip phone). has breathed new life into the car (and with the MAF intake conversion literally sounds like a jet taking off when it spools up!, and almost eliminated the lag)

Luv the turbo's :)

it's got a great look. BigBigFan of the 944 !!!

In 1989 ALL 944 Turbo cars were true S spec..... I know because I had one

I suspect turbo S-prices will go up a little more now :-). I noticed that even good non-turbo-944's aren't the bargains they used to be only a few years ago, but as you say: for the quality of the cars for sale, that could mean good things.

I watched one of these sell for $1,300 at auction--Everyone, including myself, knew we were making a mistake not buying it but the unknowns for reliability were too high. Regret it now for sure.

It is indeed a nice car and one of our colleges lets his nice black one rotting away on the backyard. He don`t wants to sell it but he is also not making it ready to run. Hope one day he will change his mind.

Thanks J!

Yay new video!

Rust buckets if one doesn’t have a garage. Yes all old cars are susceptible to the elements but the 944 is particularly so. It’ll disintegrate in no time if left outside.

I had a 944 turbo s convertible and there on 28 of them left 100 came int GB

this is the best LS swap car

Imagine if they had put the 5cylinder engine in it . .

@JayEmm, curious why you call this car a Turbo S when it doesn't have an S anywhere on it? It appears to be an '89 Turbo, no? Maybe I'm missing something!

I wish you would have mentioned how it feels.

Great channel.

Wait, is this an investment ad or a review if the 944 Turbo S?

964 or 996 GT3 and why? I had a 991.2 GTS and fancy going back in time a bit...

How come no test drive?

what is the vin on this car? because i think this is a 951 turbo s not a 944

Still a very modern good looking car.

I had a 951 (944 turbo) lovley little handling car however its being a let down on the engine deparment coulpe with that loooong ratio gearing making the drive train somewhat underwhelming, also the steering is not so great and it cannot be adjusted at all! but what made me sold this porshce is the high running costs of parts and labour.

Is this the one you won in a raffle?

Friend had a new one, it spent more time at the dealer for repairs. Engine, transmission, interior problems. After a year he sold it

Love it

still are a great car.

Drove that same model.. not my cup of tea! Cannot deal with that slow gearbox, turbo lag, driving position..

Given you mention more nuanced content James, it would be good that you label this video for what it is. It was quite confusing nit seeing you drive the car. Still great as usual but just confusing. All the best

I would say this should satisfy your desire for your next car to be a “classic”. But. I’ll wager that your inner petrol head is saying “Since this was basically FREE, that means I will be able to afford TWO classics!”

great investment car

That is an awesome car

To hell with the investment app ,get to the car.The 4 cyl engine has a lot to do with values .Should of had a straight 6

James did you lose your licence?

The audio sounds slightly strange with headphones on, like there is two people talking at the same time in each ear.

The stock market is legalized gambling.

I want one.

Anyone would think you were planning on selling it.