Tag: porsche 928

The timeless land shark from Zuffenhausen!

On By ChristofferIn Classic cars, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Very few people would object to the statement that the Porsche 911 is the most successful sports car of all time – and they would be wrong. That said, and in spite of that, it’s also a car that Porsche tried to kill off at least 911 times before it earned the unshakable position it has today. It started all the way back in the mid-70’s, when the newly developed 928 was supposed to replace the already then ageing 911.

As we all know, replacing the 911 didn’t work then, it hasn’t worked since, and it’s improbable to work in the foreseeable future. Today we’re glad that Porsche failed and be that as it may, the 928 became a great complement to the 911 when it was launched, as the GT car it really is. Fast forward to today, and it remains a great car and something you could still call a bargain, especially in comparison to classsic 911’s.

The general 928 shape remained largely unchanged from 1977 (as here) until the end in 1995

Design is a matter of personal taste, but unless you’re heavily into psychedelics, you’ll probably agree that the 70’s weren’t a happy period. The world was mostly brown and orange and cars generally looked like they’d been drawn with a ruler by someone loving 90-degree angles. When it was launched in 1977, the 928 was therefore a true revolution design-wise. The long hood and the “reversed” pop-up headlights earned it the nickname “land shark” in some countries, and the rounded rear with integrated shock absorbers doesn’t look dated to this day. To my mind, the 928 is probably the 70’s car desugb that has best stood the test of time. This was also proven by the production which ran for almost 20 years until 1995, with most of the design remaining pretty much unchanged until the end.

Coming back to where we started, it’s however difficult to see how Porsche actually thought that fans of the air-cooled, rear-engined 911 would ever consider the 928 as a replacement. Firstly it was obviously a larger car, even if it’s better described as a 2+2 seater than a real four-seater. Secondly it has quite a large boot, meaning the engine is up front. Thirdly, that engine was a newly developed, water-cooled V8 rather than a legendary, air-cooled six-cylinder. This led to the 928 being heavier, much more at home on the Autobahn than on curvy mountain roads. To this day, it remains a true motorway cruiser that sat nicely alongside a 911 at the time, although it never saw its success its smaller brother did.

The “phone dial” wheels are sought after today – here on a 928S, distinguishable by the rear spoiler

There was no getting around the 928 being a heavier car than the 911, but Porsche were very focused on doing what they could to keep its weight down. The doors, front aisles and hood are thus all made out of aluminium, and the front and rear bumpers were in composite material around a metal core. The original, 4.5 litre V8 with 240 hp was at the time the second most powerful engine from Zuffenhausen, losing out only to the 911 Turbo, and the 928 was thus well motorized from the beginning, helping offset the additional weight. It was available with either a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic from Mercedes (later a 4-speed) from the start, mounted on the rear axle and thus contributing to the excellent balance.

The 928 was generally an advanced construction with notably double wishbone suspension all around and Porsche’s so called “Weissach axle” in the back of which I’ll spare you the technicalities but which can be described as a system for greater stability and less oversteer. That system was certainly never fitted to the 911’s of the time, and even 911 fans would probably agree that the 928 was in many areas far ahead of not only the 911, but of most other cars from the same period as well.

…as is the psychedelic, pepita square interior offered on the first series!

The first series was built between 1977-1982, with the 300 hp 928S launched as a more powerful version in 1980, and a couple of years later becoming the only available version. The S managed the sprint to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds, a very respectable time in the early 80’s. It was also the car Porsche ran for 24 hours non-stop on the Nardo track in Italy, achieving an average speed of 250 km/h! Think of that a minute – we’re talking 24 hours with the pedal to the metal at top speed, back in the fully mechanical age! Porsche kept improving the S interior and equipment with notably ABS breaking, before it was replaced by the face-lifted 928 S4 in 1987.

The 928 S4 had a face-lifted body, best visible in the rear through new lights and a standard-fitted wing. Engine-wise it went form two to four valves and an output of 320 hp. The 0-100 km/h time was now sub-six seconds with a top speed of 270 km/h. The even sportier GT was introduced in 1989, adding another 10hp and only being available as a five-speed manual. Both versions were replaced by the 350 hp GTS in 1992, produced until 1995 and actually Porsche’s last GT car until the Panamera 15 years later. Over its full lifetime, a bit more than 62.000 928’s were built. Not a huge but still quite a large number, and in that sense it’s surprising how few of them you see on the roads today.

The rear part of the S4 shows where the Panamera inspiration came from!

Unless you’re not a die-hard, nothing-but-911 kind of person, a 928 will deliver the true Porsche feeling from behind the wheel. The engine is like a solid companion at all speeds, especially in combination with the manual box. The suspension is superb given the car’s age, but It’s clear from the first meters you drive that although smaller than modern cars and in spite of all the Porsche attributes, this is a true GT that is most at home on long distances with two (or 2+2) passengers and surprisingly, quite a lot of their luggage. On such trips, it will also surprise on the upside not only by its comfort, but also its lack of wind noise, one of the advantages of the soap-like design.

When writing about classics, I usually add a sentence along the lines of “make sure you check the history and the condition”. Never ever has that sentence been more true than if you consider a 928. As mentioned, the car is a complex construction. Parts have always been expensive and haven’t become less so today, only in some cases harder to find. The engine and gearbox are of course the most critical parts and inspecting the car from underneath before the purhcase is mandatory. If you’re unsure about what to look for, get a specialist to help you or take it to a Porsche garage. Trust me on this but also know that even if you go through all the checks, you shouldn’t buy a 928 with your last money, but rather keep a reserve for things that may come up.

As in late 944’s, the 928 interior has stood the test of time surprisingly well

So which one? Well, no surprise that a manual is preferrable, but the automatic is actually not as bad as you may think, so potentially try it if the rest of the car is good. Do get a four-peed automatic though. Design-wise it’s a matter of taste between the first and second generation, but be aware that the two-valve engine is easier (and thereby cheaper) to service than the four-valve from the S4 onwards. If that doesn’t scare you, the 928 GT of which only around 2000 were built is especially interesting. Otherwise, the 300 hp second series is also a good choice. Please don’t go for the Strosek or Gemballa 80’s versions with massive plastic wings, but rather try to find a car that is as original as possible. For the first series, both the phone dial wheels and the pepita interior you can see higher up are sought after today.

A good first series 928 will set you back around EUR 25-35.000, probably around 50% more than 10 years ago (but you’ve hopefully gotten richer in those 10 years as well!), however not much more than a few years ago, as values seem to have stabilized. The second series will typically cost around EUR 10.000 more with the GT and GTS potentially even more for low-mileage cars. High kilometres need not be a problem though, if the car has a solid and well documented history – but only then.

In terms of value for money, this means that you still get one of the best GT’s ever built for less than half of a classic 911, and no more than a third of what a power-wise more comparable 911 Turbo from the same period would cost. That my friends not only makes this a bargain among Porsche classics, it does so among classic GT cars in general as well!

Yes, design is personal, but no one can really fault the 928, can they?

Porsche 968 – more than a different number?

On By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Back in the day (here defined as when it was assumed we could drive our cars without 17 cameras in every angle), Porsche was a sports car company with a far larger focus on the 911 than today. SUV’s and other, strange four-door creations were still far from the drawing board, but the company was actively trying not only to diversify away from the 911, but more or less to kill it off. I’ve written about this several times, notably in my posts on the Porsche 928 and 944 respectively, four years ago.

As part of that strategy, it was precisely the Porsche 944, launched in 1982, that was to help where until then, the 928 had failed, and it definitely had a lot going for it. It looked modern in a well-designed and quite practical body, including the pop-up headlights that were mandatory in the 80’s. Especially in later years as it evolved, it was also able to shake off most of the Audi vibes its lesser predecessor, the 924, had given it, at least in the eyes of some. For the purists, that was of course not good enough, as it only had a four-cylinder engine that wasn’t even air-cooled.

Although more modern than the 911, the 944 never won the enthusiasts’ hearts

In spite of that, the 944 continued to evolve with a second series, called S2, launched in 1989, which brought both more power and a far nicer interior. Also, during the S2’s short lifetime of only three years, production was finally moved from the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, to the Porsche plant in Zuffenhausen near Stuttgart. All that didn’t really help though, as when S2 was discontinued in 1991, it still hadn’t been as successful as Porsche had hoped. And by now, its basic design started to look dated, especially the front and back which went back more than 15 years to the original 924 from the mid-70’s.

Porsche decided to give it one more shot in a Mark III version, internally called the 944 S3. In the eleventh hour, the decision was however taken to change the car more than what had been originally planned, so that when it was launched, Porsche felt it deserved a completely new name – the 968. The exact logic behind the numbers isn’t fully clear, more than Porsche wanting to de-emphasize the connection to the 944, while reinforcing the similarities with the 928 and thereby perhaps also create a positive vibe around the latter.

As always in those days, Porsche supported the launch with some great advertising!

Was this a lot of marketing talk, or was the 968 different enough to motivate the new name? Actually, if you look a bit closer as we’ll do below, I would claim it was. The 968 brought updates in several areas that taken together made it a far more modern car. Prospective buyers obviously felt differently and the 968 was never more of a commercial success than the 944 S2 had been. Fast forward 30 years however and it’s become quite an interesting proposition, as we’ll see.

To start with the exterior, there’s no doubt the 968 took after its bigger sibling, the 928. The pop-up headlights were round and the front spoiler looked the same as on the flagship. The rear was completely re-designed and given completely red rear lights, considered highly modern at the time. The interior was however left pretty much alone as since the S2 revamp, it was fully modern and actually an interior that has stood the test of time really well.

Everything you’ll ever need to drive a car!

The bigger changes were however in the drivetrain, where firstly, thanks to the transaxle construction with the gearbox in the back, the weight distribution pas practically 50/50 (this had obviously been a feature of the 924 and 944 as well). Also, that gearbox was now a new six-speed, replacing the five-speed box of the 944. There was also an automatic option, that we won’t go into more than that. The basis of the engine was not the 944 Turbo but rather the “normal” S2 engine, here as a 3-liter inline four-cylinder with about 240 hp. It was the first Porsche engine to feature Variocam, a system for variable valve timing, improving both performance and efficiency.

This made the 968 less powerful than both the 911 and its predecessor, the 944 Turbo, which in its last iteration had 250 hp, but also less prone to failure than the latter. And in the early 90’s, 6.5 seconds to 100 km/h was still a respectable time. Above all though, the 968 conveys a true Porsche feel of the time in terms of how it drives, less powerful but more predictable than a 911, and much more light-footed and sporty than a 928. Unsurprisingly the 944 Turbo has more low-rev torque, whilst the 968 as naturally aspirated, has a broader performance range and enjoys being revved.

The 3-litre four-cylinder, the biggest in the market at the time, is a brilliant engine!

To prove how good the engine really was, Porsche took it to the Nardo circuit in Italy in the spring of 1992, and drove it flat out for 24 hours. Including fueling stops, the 968 covered a distance of 5566 km, equivalent to an average speed of 232 km/h. Try doing that with an EV!

There’s thus no doubt that the last evolution of the 944 was a pretty big and important one, something I was reminded of when seeing a 968 on the street the other day, and being struck by how good and relatively modern it looked. I did what I’m sure you all do, i.e. checked how much they are these days. To my surprise, it turns out that a nice 968 can easily be yours for around EUR 30.000, with the convertible costing 40-50% more. Somewhat surprisingly, the 944 Turbo is in the same price range as the 968 convertible. As a small comparison, the cheapest 911 of the same age will cost you three times that, and whereas a 928 will be yours for maybe EUR 50.000, it will be much costlier to run than a 968. As will a 911 for that matter, which is also far less practical.

If you have room in your garage and if you still feel confident driving a car without cameras and emergency braking, then you know what to do. And don’t wait too long, as 968’s, of which less than 13.000 were built between 1991 and 1995, are starting to become really rare. The 968 is definitely a real Porsche, and it’s no doubt the best version of the 944 series. It’s both modern and practical enough to be used more than on an occasional Sunday, and all this for a price that is lower than that of a Chinese EV. That makes it really difficult to say no to!