For Sale at Auction: 1988 Porsche 944 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Chassis No. WP0AA0950JN165082 In a bid to prove the race credentials of its 944
Turbo, Porsche envisioned a turnkey spec-racing series in the mid-1980s. The
automaker's Competition Department in Weissach stripped 944 Turbos of their
heavy luxuries and made substantial fiberglass weight-saving tweaks as well as
significant under-hood changes such as a larger turbocharger, uprated 928
S4-sourced brakes, and various drivetrain upgrades. Just 39 were allocated for
the North American market, including Canada. The result was an ideal blend of
grassroots-style driving with cars properly prepped from the get-go. Purchased
new by Agincourt Autohaus Leasing and delivered to Cooke Motors of Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, this 944 Turbo Cup was initially raced by Rick Bye, who later
worked for Porsche's Canadian operations. Securing Reebok-which was on the
heels, so to speak, of the launch of its new Pump line of athletic shoes in the
late 1980s-as a sponsor, Bye commissioned the eye-catching bright livery the car
wears today. Bye campaigned the car successfully in the Rothmans Porsche Turbo
Cup Championship, placing tenth and ninth in the 1988 and 1989 final standings
respectively, and claiming victory in July 1989 at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant.
The 944 Turbo Cup was then sold to a Mr. Ian Goggin who prepared and raced the
car in the IMSA Firestone Firehawk series in the early 1990s. Goggin retired the
car, and after a brief period of storage, it was reunited with Bye in 1994 and
exported to the United States. There, a careful restoration was undertaken to
its current condition, including a refinish into its period-correct Reebok
livery. The car remained under fastidious single ownership into the early 2020s,
and today it presents as a relative time capsule to an important era for
Porsche. Look beyond its signature graphics and you'll find a simplified cabin
with a heavily bolstered Recaro racing seat next to a stock seat wearing the
automaker's distinctive script upholstery, but little else. Up front, the
uprated KKK-turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder remains paired with a
five-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential. Significantly, this
factory-built race car remains road-legal and is offered with an Ohio title,
making it equally suited to wheel-to-wheel racing at PCA and vintage racing
events or enjoyment on public roads.