My 944S was one of three that I had the opportunity to look at. It is a 3 owner car, and had 104,500 mi at time of purchase.
It  had its window sticker, books, service records, air compressor, and sunroof cover..all unusual to find in a 3 owner car, and costly to replace.  It had a brand new, dealer installed clutch ($2550!) along with other minor new parts. My car needed a major service ($1400+ at my cost), so I bought it accordingly--$6100.

(If this picture looks familiar..its because it was taken in the same parking lot as the Jetta pictures. :)
Although generally one of the most affordable modern Porsches to maintain, the 944's have a couple of major maintanence items to watch for:

1)clutch: replacement requires removal of the rear-mounted transaxle and torque tube connecting it to the engine. 10+ hours shop time and $600+ for parts.
2)timing belt: the 944 series' nemesis. The timing belt should be replaced every 35k or so, and the job is really best left to a pro as it requires use of a $500 tensioning tool. 

Parts are pricey--but that's to be expected.
Makes me realize how cheap the VW really is to service!
The 944S splits the difference between the 944 and Turbo perfectly:  0-60 7.4seconds, 143mph top speed. 

It is considered the sportiest of the 944 range as the 16v motor is fairly peaky, really not coming 'on the cam' until over 4000rpm, with peak power arriving at 6000.
With 50/50 F/R weight balance and amazingly communicative steering, the 944 has repeatedly been called one of the best handling cars ever made.

Typical German economy means that almost any suspension, wheel, or brake upgrade from a 944S2 or Turbo will fit  on a 944/944S.
The 944S is a car which requires the driver to really run it hard in order to obtain maximum performance.
This picture is a little dark, but if you look closely you'll see the speedo needle is squarely at 90mph at the 6800rpm redline in 3rd gear. The car is geared so that it is an excellent long-distance cruiser, in true GT fashion.
Although unable to be seen in this picture, the car does need other work:
--The hood was poorly repainted and needs to be stripped and redone. Additionally, there are a couple small dings and many chips.
--It needs new struts, BIG time.
Current upgrades:
Bridgestone Potenza RE71 tires, 215/60/VR15.
Great tires in this rare size.
Rockford Fosgate CD player and Eclipse 4x6 door speakers, which produce amazing sound for such a simple system.
Redline MTL installed in transaxle: amazing stuff. Period.
Update, 5/2001:
The Porsche sits in the exact spot shown above, DOA. It died while sitting in traffic and has no compression on spinover. I suspect a failed cam chain tensioner.
The 85.5 and newer 944's feature what I consider to be one of the nicest looking dashboards of any Porsche, or most any car made for that matter.

Easy to use, with clean, modern lines, it's no wonder it was used through 1995+ in the 968.

The interior of my car is in excellent condition, with only slight wear on the driver's seat outer bolster.
The Great REVOLVOlution
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