Porsche 928 (Germany, 1977-1995)

The Porsche 928 is a grand touring vehicle launched in 1977 and produced throughout almost two decades with no more than a few small revisions and retouches to be counted. The 928 was only the second front-engined Porsche model to ever be produced.   Throughout its 18-year production life, which ended in 1995, the 928 was one of Porsche’s most expensive available models.

Porsche introduced the 928 model in 1977 at the Geneva Motor Show and released it on the market later that year. The 928 results from Porsche executives’ idea of having a more sophisticated touring car added to the make’s lineup, a concept that they had been working on since the 1960’s. Moreover, Porsche was also in need for a new model that would replace the outdating 911 as the make’s mainstream model.

Porsche wanted the 928 to have both the sports coupe’s sophisticated technology and the luxurious sedan’s comfort for long distance trips, combining high performance with excellent handling at the same time. The result was a Porsche sports car that was able to combine a considerable fuel economy with a noteworthy power output.

The Porsche 928 was a combination of advantages never before found on the previous Porsche range-topping models. That is clearly why it was kept on active production for almost two decades, having been discontinued in 1995.

The Porsche 928 was built with a front engine, rear wheel drive layout. Several engines were offered through its lifetime, starting with a 4.5-liter V8 powerplant with 237 hp (except for North America, where it produced 219 hp). The 928 ‘S’ variant had a 4.7-liter V8 engine with 300 hp, which was given a 10 hp boost in 1984 and finally dropped in 1986.

A 5.0-liter V8 became available in 1985 for the United States (with 288 hp) and in 1986 for all the other markets (284 hp). In 1992, all Porsche 928 units, regardless of the variants, started receiving a 5.4-liter V8 engine with 345 hp.

Porsche 928 cars worked either with a 5-speed dog-leg manual transmission or, initially, a 3-speed Mercedes-Benz automatic unit. The latter was upgraded to a 4-speed unit in 1983.

Unit steel frame with aluminium hood and fenders.
  Platform

Suspension

Steering Power assisted rack-and-pinion.
  Brakes Front and rear servo-assisted disc brakes.

The Porsche 928 is made with a 2-door coupe bodywork only, which comes from a design work that stylist Führmann started in 1971. The actual 928 body, however, was styled by Wolfgang Möbius with the supervision of Anatole Lapine.

Largely made of galvanised steel, the Porsche 928’s bodywork is considered to have received pretty futuristic lines and was somewhat rejected by the more traditional Porsche enthusiasts.

The Porsche 928 was elected European Car of the Year in 1978, becoming the only vehicle from the sports car class to have won this contest so far.