Friday Flashback: The Forgotten 944

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rrVcinG8AY]

Porsche spent twenty years trying to wiggle out the rear-engined 911 with more conventional–and, arguably, superior–front-engined GTs.  During the 1980s, it was the I-4-powered 944 that served the lower end of the Porsche spectrum.  Long since forgotten by the masses, the 944 was for a time regarded as the finest-designed Porsche on the road.  Its handling was more predictable, the driving style restrained, and the power more than ample.  Here’s a 1985 commercial promoting the 944′s press credentials.