Here is a little history about the 944 series, courtesy of historyofcars.com

The Porsche 944 is the direct descendant of the Carrera 924 series and the earlier 924/931 series. Beginning in 1979 and for the following two years Porsche began developing racing hybrids based on the 924 which later lead to the Porsche 944.

Production of the Porsche 944 was done in Zuffenhausen. The engine was a modern design with high compression and a broad power band. The initial power plant was rated at 163 hp (ROW) and 150 hp for the U.S.

The Porsche 944 was initially shown to the world at the 1981 Frankfurt auto show and one year later the US introduction occurred. At this time, the interior of the 944 remained similar to the 924 while the rear suspension, although improved, retained the VW-derived architecture.

The Porsche 944 Turbo S represents what most authorities consider to be the highest performance version of the highly successful 944 product line. The Turbo S was introduced in 1988 as a limited production run, fitted in the same mannter as the "Turbo Cup" race car. In the following year (1989), the Porsche 944 Turbo maintained all of the performance characteristics of the 1988 Turbo S, but dropped the "S" designation. 1989 was to be the last year that Porsche imported the 944 Turbo into North America in any significant numbers.