The GTS and GTS Club Sport variants of this fascinating ‘transaxle-era’ Porsche are perfect examples of how a group of dedicated racing engineers can turn a mild-mannered GT coupé into a very muscular automobile.

The 924, introduced to replace the 914 as Porsche’s entry-level sports car, struggled initially. Its Audi-derived two-litre inline-four was underwhelming in the power department, despite its exemplary road manners thanks to a 50/50 weight balance. Sales were initially disappointing, and Porsche decided to add some badly needed muscle, beginning with the 924 Turbo. From there, Porsche’s racing department began to develop a package of semi- and full-competition parts that would boost the model’s pedigree.

The Group 4 Type 937 GTS was the next step upward; 50 were constructed of which just 15 – all painted Guards Red in left-hand drive – were built to ‘Club Sport’ specification. The GTS and Club Sport were similar in appearance, with fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane front fenders and rear-quarter blisters that added about 50 mm to the car’s width, allowing for wider Fuchs wheels. The GTS retained its folding headlamps, but the Club Sport featured fixed headlamps behind Perspex covers. The Club Sport also sported a plastic rear backlight and fixed plastic door windows with sliding panels, helping to bring weight down to about 1,045 kg. Bilstein coil-overs replaced the 924’s standard torsion bars and separate shock absorbers. The steel suspension trailing-arms became cast alloy; brakes came from the 911 Turbo. Beneath the fiberglass bonnet is a KKK-turbocharged inline four-cylinder producing 280 bhp, over 245 bhp from the GTS. The interior displays a Matter-fabricated alloy roll cage, 935 racing seats with full harnesses and a suede-wrapped steering wheel.

Documents included with this Club Sport indicate that it was invoiced in July 1981 and registered in Germany. In April 1982, this car was exported to a Mr David Hall of Bloomfield, Connecticut, with about 10,000 km recorded. Moving back to Europe, in February of 1988, a Mr P. Cutrera of Studio Legale Cutrera in London contacted Porsche requesting a service inspection at the factory. By late 1993, the car had been registered in the UK to a Mr Jürgen Limpert in Watford, who then exported the car to Darmstadt, Germany. By June 2006, the car was in the ownership of Mr Paul Singer of Munich. The car subsequently joined an important Porsche collection near Köln but then returned to Munich and thence to the current owner.

Extremely rare and very quick, the 924 Carrera GTS Club Sport is a fine track-capable Porsche that will certainly be the centre of attention at any club event, and is capable of embarrassing many supposedly faster automobiles.