The first thing that might pop into your head whenever you hear Porsche is the 911 lineup. The 911 set the benchmark of what a sports car can and should be. So what happens when they take that formula and do the exact opposite? Well, a pretty amazing car was born called the 928, so let’s take a deeper look.
Starting with the 356, which evolved into the 911, Porsche has built masterworks of driving machines since 1948, with a simple rear engine, rear-wheel drive, and lightweight chassis. Even though the automaker etched a deep groove in the sports car market, filled with loyal fans that gulped every new iteration that was thrown at them, Porsche thought that the 911 as a platform had reached its peak.
The problem was that it was expensive and extremely labor-intensive to build, and with sales drying up, the only way for the company to survive was to come up with something new, and they needed to do that as quickly as possible. Porsche also wanted to start selling more cars in the U.S. market. They had the entry-level, four-cylinder variant, 914, but a halo car still needed to be included.
Ferdinand Porsche Junior was looking to incorporate a luxury grand-tourer into the lineup, aimed directly at brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. So, the design for the new grand tourer with a front-engine layout was started – but, given their past, this move was a little risky.
The first design was ordered in 1971, and it was the first car designed from the ground up, as the 356 was similar to the Beetle, the 911 was an evolution of the 356, and the 914 was a boxy Karmann built together with Volkswagen. This clean sheet of paper meant that the 928 received some, let’s say, interesting design queues – some were amazing, some were not.
The finished product debuted at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show, and crowds flocked around this new snail-looking Porsche. BMW and Mercedes were starstruck looking at how everybody ignored them in favor of the brand new 928 – it even won the European Car of the Year in 1978, beating out the 7-series.
The only problem with the 928 was the price tag. The base price was 26,000 dollars, which is around 120,000 dollars nowadays. It was about twice the price of a Mercedes-Benz SL. As a result, the 928 didn’t meet Porsche’s sales expectations, but people loved it, and that was enough for the Stuttgart manufacturer to keep producing them.
In 1980, the grand tourer received an update called the 928S. It had a little more aggressive styling, more tech like the Bosch anti-lock brakes, and more power courtesy of a bigger engine. The evolution of the 928 soldiered on with the S4, which came out in 1987, and today, we have one from that year to analyze deeper and understand what makes it so good.
This particular 928 S4 is finished in Silver Metallic. This rather unassuming paint houses an aluminum over steel body construction, a novelty at that time and allowing long swooping lines to flow seamlessly along the car. The polyurethane bumpers were integrated into the body to achieve a slick, aerodynamic look. Finishing the design is a rear spoiler, 17-inch Cup 2 wheels, and some of the funkiest-looking pop-up headlights ever fitted to a car.
Moving on to the interior, just like the outside, is just as revolutionary. The 928’s interior brought to the table a design that still stands today: the integrated center console, a move that makes a lot of sense for a grand tourer. This particular S4 has power-adjustable front seats, upholstered in gray leather. Being a long-distance Autobahn-bomber, it has cruise control and air conditioning so that you can enjoy mind-bending speeds in utmost comfort.
The biggest surprise came from under the hood, where un-Porsche-like shenanigans are going on here. Instead of the usual and renowned flat-six, the 928 features a V8, measuring 5.0 liters (305 ci) in the S4 variant and churning out an impressive 317 hp (321 ps). Even though the 928 is a grand tourer, it still had 50-50 weight distribution, thanks to a transaxle transmission, which in this car is a four-speed automatic, but you could also get it in the form of a manual.
All of that low-end grunt, combined with the balance and independent suspension, meant that this not only obliterated the BMW and Mercedes offerings but even beat the 911 on the twisty roads. So, this sounds like the perfect car, but things could have been better. Despite the success of the 928, things at Porsche were going pretty badly. The early ’80s were not kind to the company, and ultimately, the focus was shifted to the 911. It ended with a bang, in the form of the GTS variant, with a bored-out 5.4-liter V8 (330 ci) V8, but, finally, in 1995, the plug was pulled on the 928.
If you want to enjoy one nowadays, they are still relatively affordable and a pretty good investment. This particular 1987 928 S4 is auctioned in Yarrow Point, Washington. It currently stands at 22,000 dollars with four days left on the auction, and it has only 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) on the odometer. It also comes with a clean Carfax, a clean Washington title, and a desire to bomb you down the highway on your next road trip.