A brief history of 4cyl Porsches

This is, quite literally, where it all began. Ignoring the Type 64 racer, the 356 of 1948 was Porsche’s first production car. All 356s were fitted with flat-four engines of varying displacements, origins and power outputs. Early ones made do with modified versions of the Volkswagen Beetle’s flat-four, but Porsche upped the compression ratio, added twin carburetors and fitted lightweight aluminium cylinders to up the brake horsepower to something approaching, erm, 50. 

Essentially a then-new 911 body wrapped around a development of a late 356’s 1.6-litre flat-four engine. Seen by many as a stopgap between the old 356 and the then-new six-cylinder 911, the 912 only lasted four years, despite actually outselling the 911 in 1966. It was briefly revived in the Seventies to bridge the gap between the 914 and 924. 

The thing with the 924 is that it was, until quite late in its development, supposed to be a Volkswagen. A product of the same VW/Porsche tie-up that spawned the commercially unsuccessful 914, VW effectively commissioned Porsche to develop a sports car using an existing VW 2.0-litre four and as many existing parts as it could. When VW backed out of the project, Porsche bought the rights, stuck one of its own badges on the front and put it on sale. 

Using a redeveloped 924 platform and a new 2.5-litre inline four (complete with a pair of balancer shafts to make it silky smooth), the 944 debuted in 1982 and lasted for nine years. Porsche added a turbocharger in 1985, upping power to 217bhp. By 1988, the 944 Turbo S was producing 247bhp, making it one of the fastest four-cylinder cars of its day. 

The last model in the 924/944/968 triumvirate, the 968 was the last front-engined Porsche before the very first Cayenne, and the last proper four-cylinder Porsche before the 718. The engine was a Variocam-equipped development of the 944’s. Now a massive 3.0-litres in capacity, it was the largest-capacity four-cylinder at the time. Porsche even did a stripped-out, lightweight track special called the Clubsport. Think 911 GT3. 

Bit of an odd one, this. The Macan – Porsche’s small, Audi Q5-based SUV – in its most basic form comes with the 2.0-litre turbo four from the Golf GTI. Nobody buys it, mind. 

The Boxster, now with a blown flat-four in place of the lovely old six. 2.0-litres in the standard Boxster and 2.5-litres in the S, the pair represent a healthy power boost over the old naturally aspirated units. A standard Boxster now makes 296bhp, where once it made 261, and the S has been upped to 345bhp from 311. Read the full story for a proper run-down.