The 928 story is a big one, given what a radical departure it was for the brand that was so deeply associated with rear-engined boxers. And although the 928 was a formidable performer, it didn’t represent the future of Porsche, in 1977; the 911 went on to carry the brand’s identity for some decades further. But with the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that the 928 actually was the future of Porsche, given the Cayenne, Panamera, and a 928-ish coupe to come. Maybe the classic 911 era was just a temporary holding pattern?
The 928 was created under false assumptions: that the 911 had no future, and that its rear-engine configuration might even be outlawed in the safety-paranoia that was so rampant in the late-sixties and early-seventies. So a big, safe, front-engined GT was envisioned as the way forward, especially for America, which used to take a giant share of Porsche production. The question was exactly what that engine should look like.
Ferdinand Piëch wanted the 928 engine to be a V10 version of the Audi five-cylinder (EA827 family) engine. Piëch left Porsche for Audi in 1972, so its difficult to say whether that was before or after that move. But did it really make a difference? As a Porsche scion/owner, he always had something to say in what happened at Porsche, and we all know how that worked out in the end. Piëch’s move to Audi was designed to get him out of the family business (for now), and the Porsche directors over-ruled him, and decided to design their own V8 engine from scratch. They were worried about what folks would say to having a “Volkswagen” engine under the hood. What else is new? The EA827-derived V10 did of course find its way into the Lamborghini Gallardo, as well as the Audi R8.
What the Porsche engineers wrought was definitely not in the usual Porsche idiom: a 4.5 liter V8 with wedge-shaped combustion chambers and SOHC heads. Quite the contrast to the 911’s air-cooled hemi-heads. The block used the recently-perfected high-silica content aluminum that allowed pistons to run directly in it’s bores, a concept the Vega pioneered, but stumbled on.
In another nod to GM engineering that was never properly developed, the 928 used a flexible driveshaft in a solid tube connected to the rear-mounted transaxle.But unlike the swing-axles that the innovative 1961-1963Tempest used, Porsche developed an advanced rear suspension that incorporated some passive steering, called the Weissach Axle. But that doesn’t change the fact that this illustration is incorrect; Porsche did not pioneer the “use of a water cooled front engine and rear transaxle drivetrain”. The Tempest did (CC here)..
The early versions of the 928 engine made 240/217 hp (Europe/USA). A healthy number for 1977, and the 928 achieved its goal of being an effortless high-speed GT. But it was large, heavy and thirsty, and never sold in the number envisioned. Porsche’s next CEO, American-born Peter Schutz, quickly scuttled any talk of killing the 911-golden calf/cash cow, which only further marginalized the 928. The early versions’ “telephone dial” wheels were memorable,
as well its op-art upholstery.
The V8 got a number of minor performance enhancements over the following years, but the major evolution was introduced in 1985, the 5.0 L 928S, now featuring DOHC hemi-heads, and making a then-lofty 310 hp. With some additional tweaks, this engine continued to serve the 928 through its long live that finally ended in 1995, almost twenty years after its birth. The final variants were 5.4 liter, and rated at 350 hp.
I’m not going to kill myself by spending a half hour googling all the variants to figure out what exact this 928 is, but it undoubtedly is a fairly late one. It does keep company with some interesting machines, including a clapped out Fiero back there.
Appropriate to the likely proclivities of this 928 enthusiast, this one is a stick shift. The 928 does have a dedicated following, although one has to hope to avoid a serious mechanical melt-down. Don’t ask what it costs to rebuild one of these motors; cheaper to look for another 928, for sure.
The plastic cover of the obviously-leaking sunroof is a bit disconcerting too. But love demands its sacrifices, maybe a bit more so than average with a 928.
The family resemblance with the current front-engined Porsches is of course all-too obvious, and deliberate. The 928 arrived too soon; the baby-boomers were still young in the eighties and the 911 became an icon of the times, even if folks didn’t know how to drive them properly. But Porsche has proven the irresistible magnetic attraction of its brand name, no matter what it puts it on. The only question left is whether the future coupe will be called 928. Or has that number lost its luster?
Love these cars. My favorite remains the last 928 ever produced, in Perlglanz Green with a purple interior.
http://www.landsharkoz.com/htm/sc/perlglanz.htm
I love the 928! LOVE IT! Give me an S4 in Nougat Brown with a tan interior any day.
I have wanted one ever since I saw the one go Submarine in Risky Business.
I think the early 928 interiors were done by the same designer that worked on AMCs interiors. I had an 80 Eagle Sport Coupe that had a similar vomit comet pattern to the seats!
Well, that would be appropriate, because the car looks like a sectioned and top-chopped Pacer.
The 928 S was introduced in 1980 but did not come into the US until 1983. It added the front air dam that this car has. The facelifted S 4 came out in ’87, so this car is probably an ’83-’86 928 S.
The featured car is slightly modified, as the rear spoiler and taillight panel are from a newer 928 S 4 and the wheels are probably from a late ’90s 911. The picture below shows an ’86 928S with the original rear taillights.
That car has one of the largest asses I have ever seen
I think by the time of the S4 and later 928s, manual gearboxes were really pretty rare. At least in the States, most had the automatic.
These cars were prescient in a number of ways, and they really did say more about the future of sports cars (not to mention Porsche) than the 911 did. It’s hard not to look at the Nissan 350Z as its spiritual heir.
I find the styling of the 928 much more appealing than the 350Z. The 350 is one of the ugliest and most bulbous cars in recent memory, in my opinion. The 370 is an improvement, but still lags far behind the 1990-95 Z.
I always thought the 350Z looked “unfinished” Where the infinitis looked a little better. I second the 90-95 opinion as well.
I’m not judging its aesthetic merits one way or another, I’m just saying that I think the 350Z falls into the same broad stylistic school as the 928. One can make a case for the specific merits of one or the other, but I think of them as being the same sort of thing, just as lot of the mid-sixties American intermediates (even the ones that didn’t actually share body shells) were clearly the same sort of cars, although some where better looking than others.
Agreed. It still has the ugliest ass I have ever seen on a car. Bangle butts second, followed by the mercedes coupe 4 door tragedy.
I have some pictures of a very nice 928 on the Cohort site, but I cannot link them because it will not let me sign in.
Hope the cohort isnt broken I shot some nice cars today
love the 928, what a beautiful car! but HORRIBLY expensive to maintain, you might as well drive a ferrari. porsche knows the way into your wallet …
the black one pictured is weird, its front and back don’t match: the behind is post 1991 GT/GTS but the nose says ca 1986 S Model …
Love the 928 for being forward-thinking in its styling – I think it’s still pretty current today. Hate the 911 for the reverse reason – backward-thinking design, always looking to the past, says nothing it hasn’t already said in the 60s.
Glad to see Im not the only one who thinks that way, these cars were well thought out and designed as a whole car.
I like them both, but the 928 was the one I always wanted. However, as with the Citroen SM, the budget for maintaining one would probably make me wish I hadn’t bought one.
Arm,leg,name that German Brand.I recall my father considering a 928 I think it would have been an 84 or 85 used to replace a trusty series 5 RX7 which we had new from 1989 to 1994 but every place we went to finding a replacement for the Mazda advised us against it and for a good reason.The upkeep was going to cost more than my school fees alone at the time and there were plenty of decent sports cars on the market new that won’t break the bank.A Then MX6,A Celica and there must have been others such as the Prelude from an economic point of view as well would have been better options as dull as they might sound over a used porsche.
To my eyes, the 928 has always been the ugly duckling of the Porsche family… and the motors self-destruct with such regularity, that Chevy V-8 conversions are not uncommon… The only advantage to these cars is that, due to their unreliability, you can pick up a 928 pretty cheap, although it does make an expensive lawn ornament!
There’s a place in Vegas that does these SBC conversions, Renegade Hybrids , http://www.renegadehybrids.com/
The majority of reliability issues with these cars is from deferred maintenance. These were engineered to last forever with proper maintenance and they cost a fair amount of money to keep after.
I have always wanted one, but the problem I have found is its not ONLY the engine that costs a lot of fix/maintain… its everything. So even buying a cheap 928, swapping in the SBC… still results in an expensive to maintain car.
Yeah, everything is expensive, I used to work with someone who owned one, he said the 8 in 928 stood for $800, because thats the least you will spend fixing something in it. He traded it for a Corvette after a couple of years.
Perfect candidate for a GM LS-1 swap 🙂 .
Actually its not, because the LSx engines are too tall and something in the front end (maybe the steering box or something) makes it not able to be fit without some kind of hood bump or scoop. The SBC fits perfectly, and costs less too, so if you can live with the reduced power capabilities then its a fine swap idea. The 944/968 actually fits the LSx perfectly, they drop in and look better than stock.
I love the look of the 928, always have, and I have researched the swap idea since 928s can be found so cheap. The 944 just doesnt have the same proportions, although the 968 is better looking IMO, they are also much more expensive. Renegade also makes a kit to swap an LSx into a 911… now thats a killer!
Have always liked these, well, all variants of the water cooled, front engined hatchback Porsche’s but like them all.
That said, I love, love, love the phone dial wheels of the early iterations and that groovy op art interior too!
Actually, any variant of those wheels will do nicely on just about any sporty ride. I know the early CRX had a 4 hole version and I think the Yugo GVX had a variant as well as some other makes.
Wish cars would go back that kind of thing. Sigh…
Smoking on his cigarette, Listening to his car cassette, Cruising with his hot playmate, In his Porsche Nine Two Eight
I really miss the days when Porsche had the confidence and engineers to create new sports cars based on something other than marketing. The 928 was their last new model introduction that I got really excited about, although various evolutions of the 924 were extremely desirable. Whatever happened to Tony Lapine?
My father-in-law had one of the first 928s to hit the country. Back in 1978. He would let me drive it once in a while. And every time I drove it the alternator quit. He went through four alternators in the first six months of owning it! It was a brand new (very expensive) car!! He owned it for a couple of years and then he passed away. It was the first exotic car I ever drove. And the last. I knew back then expensive exotic cars were way out of my league.
“I don’t believe this! I’ve got a trig midterm tomorrow, and I’m being chased by Guido the killer pimp.”
I’m going to throw up Joel…I’m going to throw up on you…..
I think Scarface bought one of these in the movie.
I had a business associate who owned two of these simultaneously–one runner, and one he bought for a (relative) song because its motor had detonated. The last I knew, the “fixer” car was collecting dust in his workshop.
When I was in college (early 1980’s) my Real Estate class instructor was a Realtor from Baton Rouge who had recently bought a Porsche from the B.R. dealer who was also the big Oldsmobile dealer. It was a steaming mass of problems that the collective group of Mr. Goodwrenches could not even begin to resolve. It became so bad that Porsche flew a crack troubleshooter in to take care of business. It says something about the state of Porsche in those days that the guy couldn’t stay to finish the job–he was desperately needed elsewhere–but he told my instructor, “I’ve got it 95% finished. Everything left is just minor stuff that the dealer guys can finish up.” He underestimated the reverse Midas touch of the local yokuls. The car was still hopeless. However, every dark cloud has a silver lining. Every time class became a little boring, we could always liven it up by asking, “Hey, Mr. Doiron, how’s those Porsche repairs coming?”
I remember a 1978 Road and Track test between a ’78 928 and a ’78 L82 four-speed ‘Vette (something us kids in California could not get that year). The Corvette had the then optional “gymkhana” suspension upgrade. The L82 out handled and out-accelerated the 928 – but – barely. Although the Porsche undoubtedly had far superior quality materials and workmanship, both cars would’ve been just as brittle unless garage babied.
Who is Jim Gahanna?
I really don’t see a resemblance between these and the current crop of mishapen nasties (Panamera/Cayene etc.) that Porsche are peddling. There’s an elegant simplicity to the 928 and its siblings that’s totally lacking in Porsche’s current offerings… it’d be wonderful to see them resurrect this car in name, spirit and form but I won’t hold my breath
LJK Setright mentions the 928 in his series on Historic manufacturers, see Porsche article.
The Lancia Aurelia had a water-cooled engine in front with a transaxle in the back starting in 1950, just saying… the tempest is not the oldest user of the formula, by far ! There’s this Lancia, at the very least, and I’m sure someone can find something older still.
I have owned a ’85 928S 5 spd since 1999 and still use it still as my daily driver (except in Winter when salt or snow is on the road). I bought it in good shape and in this time have replaced 5th gear (track day), replaced the engine once (with a used one with less mileage, timing belt), replaced the transmission once (with one of the last new 5 spds available in the US), replaced the torque tube, torque tube bearings, and air conditioner, had the timing belt replaced two or three times, added a new timing belt tensioning system, replaced many sets of tires, oil and air filters, had two complete paint jobs (one on insurance company due to tornado), replaced leather dash, window switches and one front seat, installed a modern radio, had a valve replacement and engine rebuild and a bunch of other things.
However, including the price of the car, I have done all of this for less than it would have cost for me to buy a couple boring new cars over those 20+ years. Instead of driving a Taurus or Accord, I have driven a Porsche for most of my working life. Today my 928 is worth double what I paid for it. I plan to drive it to hospice once that day comes.