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Gday , name's Bruce!


tazzieman

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So apparently the movie makers had to saw through the roof pillars because they couldn't get the car to collapse. This was in 1978..

Also apparently it was the only car they tested which when dropped on it's roof did not crush.

I feel safe , even without all the modern aids, and even if some road raging idiot in a monster truck has a go.

 

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http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/daumen-druecken-exploring-the-history-of-the-928s-birth/transportation-technology-automotive

 

 

If at any moment you were under the impression that Fuhrmann was frothing at the mouth, wooden stake in one hand and hammer in the other, ready to ram it in the 911's heart, you'd be wrong. It must be understood that Porsche, first and foremost, was a small company with limited funds.

With the U.S. as Porsche's most important market, any changes in safety and emissions regulations made a huge impact on the cars Zuffenhausen produced. The problem was no one knew what they were going to be in the future. When your product is a performance car with unorthodox design and engineering, and it was the primary source that kept lights on and bills paid, this posed a serious threat.

What Fuhrmann did was what any responsible captain of industry would do, have a solid back up plan; this was the 928's essendi ratio. They were hedging their bets that noise, crash and emission regulations might suddenly swing and be unfavorable to the 911, causing financial aggravation to Porsche along with producing a performance-compromised car that no longer appealed to enthusiasts.

His logic was sound. Let's put the engine where all of the others have it, and when regulations change, we'd have to solve the same problems they do in order to meet the new demands. With rear-wheel drive and air-cooling, you'd be going it alone in this predicament. Development of the 911 never ceased, though, even during the 928's design phase; one need not look further than the 911 Turbo giving proof of its commitment to evolution.

A thought that keeps resurfacing in my mind is a provocative one: What if Porsche was dead certain that the 911 could continue on like it did? How different would the 928's design be? I'm willing to bet that a much needed four-seat concept would have been aggressively pursued and executed with such aesthetic perfection as to leave those south of the Alps breaking their pencils in utter defeat.

In the end, the 928 set out to become what those behind its creation intended; some consider its 18-year lifespan to be respectable, remarkable even. I don't; in fact, I find it ridiculously short. The reasons why this car didn't share the 911's iconic throne become clearly evident as we unearth and reexamine its history.

By "supplementing" instead of "replacing" the 911, the 928 became a threat to it unintentionally and that cut its life far too short, never mind that it was poorly marketed, or expensive. Porsche wanted to redefine the sports car, challenge the concept — and it did by creating something far better. What Zuffenhausen had done, with full intention, was produce a car that wasn't too dissimilar to the 911.

But neither that nor the lack of four seats be construed as a flaw of the 928's character. These weren't reasons why it fell short of the 911's longevity. No, the problem was an elementary one. Porsche had groomed a new kind of clientele — the sybarite — and they couldn't continue enticing them.

 

Well the sybarites have certainly procreated profusely since then!

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http://www.autoblog.nl/nieuws/koop-een-porsche-928-met-1-miljoen-kilometer-op-de-klok-69100

 

google translated...

 

 

... today we stumbled on the complete opposite: a Porsche 928, you hold on tight, 1.046 million kilometers on the clock. Whoa momma!

If the Clubsport yesterday was a tight young virgin, this is "the village bicicle ', to quote the words of one A. Powers: This Porsche has an odometer which many taxi driver is happy in his pants.

 

I'd have to give up my day job to get this many km on the clock!

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http://classicmotorist.com.au/porsche-928-2/

 

 

One of my favourite contenders for the prize of the most “outdated, overweight, overlooked and remarkably cheap car for what they are” is the Porsche 928. In their day, the 928 was first launched in 1977, these were the technical triumph of one of the world’s great car companies. They were futuristic, expensive and technically interesting. They remain one of the great GTs in a world where such cars are still surprisingly relevant. People travel long distances by road to holiday homes. The rise of multi-car families mean that many people can easily own a two-door car knowing that they have a four-wheel drive or large sedan available if they need to ferry people or goods. The 928 is now as cheap as a Mazda 6, ranging from AUD$10,000 through to around AUD$50,000 for the very, very best and, I argue, on the cusp of being seen by the market as an interesting  – and very useable – classic car.

By the mid seventies, Porsche had well and truly accepted that their 911 model was outdated. The 911 had been released in 1963 and was not that big a departure from the 356 which was released in 1948 and had earlier origins, not least through its links to the VW Beetle. By the 1970s, the fundamental architecture of the 911 was looking more and more like an evolutionary dead end. The rest of world had moved in a different direction. The vast bulk of cars were front engine and supercars were following the Miura down the mid-engined track. This left the 911 looking increasingly odd. Although it had packaging advantages and aided traction, hanging the engine out the back of the car could make it tricky to handle on the limit. Also, people were getting bigger and were demanding greater comfort in their cars as they covered greater distances and spent more time in traffic. They were demanding comfortable GT cars rather than light sports cars. In addition, it was easier to make larger GT cars pass increasingly stringent safety requirements. Hence, Porsche responded by creating a car to replace the air-cooled 911. The new car was, of course, a wide, front-engined GT. The 911 was expected to soldier on for a while, but the creation of the 928 indicated that the 911 had (at least in the mind of the company) stepped into God’s waiting room.

Of course, for Porsche, things did not go to plan. Although the 928 was European Car of the Year in 1978, the car’s production ended nearly twenty years ago without a direct replacement in place. On the other hand, the 911 (perhaps in a triumph of evolutionary enginerring over fundamental design) is still going strong, albeit much updated with each generation.

For the 928, seeking the best combination of handling and packaging, Porsche settled on a conventional front-engine rear-wheel drive architecture for their new car. Mercedes, Jaguar and Aston Martin had all stuck with this arrangement for their road cars, so Porsche was in good company.

 

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Wow..that prototype drawing is interesting. Mainly because it's attractive compared to what they came up with for the Panamera. Realising that there are 2 doors missing but pity they couldn't have somehow worked a bit more of this style into the current GT car. Also shame they don't produce a 2 door Panamera. 

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Tazzieman, is there a particular 928 model that you like the most and why? (I am assuming it is the one you bought!). I have always liked the 928s so would be interested in your thoughts.

 

I am drawn to mechanical simplicity but usually avoid the first iteration of a model. I also slightly prefer the early body shape (with spoilers.) My 928S arrived fortuitously via a friend who wanted to upgrade to a S4 5 speed. I hadn't been actively looking as it were; the car was a daily driver and mechanically well sorted , with interior in pretty good nick for its age.

 

I dislike engine computers , clever as they are , and understand the K Jetronic system - thus the early cars are to my liking- i.e. 928S - even though the very early cars are considered more "pure" and thus "collectable" - but not nearly as powerful or sorted , plus parts can be NLA.

 

The S4s are torquier and have better brakes; the 32 valve engine is interference thus if the timing belt breaks... :( Most 16 valvers are non-interference. Belts themselves don't break as such ; it's neglected water pumps , worn cam gears , worn rollers and overtensioning that does it. In other words , poor or unknowledgeable maintenance.

 

The GTs and GTSs were the attempts to make the 928 sportier , but at a cost of losing some of the "GTness" of the original concept. They have their own list of issues and as with turbo 911s , parts are very pricey and sometimes NLA (very few cars produced). But they are more collectable , though not necessarily as driveable or affordable to keep as DDs compared to say the 928S.

 

The S is a bit like the 911SC. Overlooked  somewhat , but IMO the best of both worlds - affordable and driveable on a daily basis without fear of depreciation. I'd be sorely tempted to pick up another one , just because they are such huge value for money and a lot of fun.

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