The styling of the 944 is from the 1980's 924 Carrera The 924 car was originally supposed to be a volkswagon project but the project was scrapped by VW and given to Porsche. This was done because of the mid-seventies oil crisis that force engine size reductions. May, 1982 was the first consumer U.S debut for the 944, but because of engine emmissions in the U.S the maximum amount of engine power was 149HP. Because of bad sales the 944 was dropped from production in July 1991. This line was replaced by the Porsche 968.