> They called the 924 a "toilet" at the dealers and shops way back when

They shouldn't have called it that--they should have called it
a "Volkswagen."

The 914 was designed by Porsche for VW.  It was sold as a VW in
Europe.  For some reason, VW decided not to bring it into the
US, so Porsche sold it here as a Porsche.  The car Porsche
designed to sell as a Porsche was the 916, but very few were
made.

The follow-up project was the 924, but in this case, VW canceled
before it went to market.  Porsche decided to go ahead with their
investment and bring it to market as the 924.  When the 944 came
out, everyone said it was the car Porsche would have designed for
themselves from the start.

The pancake engines of the 914 (1.7, 1.8 and 2.0 litres) are
similar to the 2.0 of the T2s and T3s, but have bigger valves
and different intakes.  Plus, they bolted to the FRONT of the
tranny since the 914 was mid-engined.

Richard