Walter Röhrl and his Porsche 924 reunite 40 years later

On 15 May 1981, the legendary German rally driver Walter Röhrl, together with his then co-driver Christian Geistdörfer, was about to leave the start ramp of the Rallye Internacional ADAC Metz in the gold and black Porsche 924, also known as “Monnet”. This car was fitted with a 2-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder inline engine producing 280 CV at 6,500 rpm, paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive. A real delicacy with which the master delighted everyone who watched him drive.

The start of the season did not go as Röhrl had hoped: in his first race the 924 did not exactly showcase its reliability, suffering a series of mechanical failures that prevented the driver from fighting for a good position.

However, Röhrl’s skill, combined with Geistdörfer’s guidance, turned that poor result around, earning second place in the overall standings. From that point on, Röhrl and his co-driver won four more of the six rallies in which they competed. The first victory on his long list of achievements came at the Rally of Hessen, where the 924 beat the unbeatable German Opel team with its Opel Ascona 400. The remaining three victories took place in Serengeti, Germany and the Baltic.

The Porsche 924 Carrera GTS passed almost unnoticed through the rallies

The car’s only rally successes were those achieved by Walter Röhrl, which made the bond between driver and machine far more sentimental.

In 1982, Röhrl and Geistdörfer left Opel, and the 924 competed for the last time at the Rallye Boucles de Spa, driven by racing legend Jacky Ickx. That marked the end of the Porsche 924 Monnet, which became part of the brand’s museum in Stuttgart.

The rally car was based on the Porsche 924 Carrera GTS, as its name suggests. This Porsche 924 was the most expensive in the range and also the most expensive Porsche production car up to that time. Production of the GTS was very limited: between February and April 1981 only 50 units were built, all with left-hand drive and in Guards Red.

Restoration carried out with the utmost discretion

The restoration of Röhrl’s Porsche 924 was carried out in the same place where it had been built 40 years earlier, at the Weissach Development Centre.

The museum’s workshop manager explained that the most difficult part of bringing the car back to life was doing it in secret. The plan was to surprise the two-time world champion on his birthday with the Porsche 924 Carrera GTS he had raced four decades earlier.

Despite the difficulty of carrying out the process with the utmost secrecy, the surprise was a success, and the car was handed over to Röhrl as a gift on his 74th birthday.

The legendary rally driver was surprised and delighted. “This car opened the door to Porsche for me. That is why I feel such a strong bond with it. For me it is a journey into the past. I immediately feel younger.” He also spoke about how novel the turbocharger was 40 years ago, and highlighted its lag, which required accelerating shortly before entering a corner and keeping engine revs high in order to exit quickly.

According to Röhrl, the 924’s strong points were its handling, its traction capacity above its 250 CV power output, and the way everything worked perfectly, as is usual in Porsche.