Rennlister Unearths Rare Continental Orange Porsche 928

By Brett Foote - November 15, 2017

Restoring this one of six (or so) Continental Orange Porsche 928 might not reap a huge financial reward. But it’s an important piece of history worth saving.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s not to discount the vintage Porsche hunting skills of Rennlist forum members. These folks have unearthed countless rare and unique rides over the years, after all. Some of which you just simply never see. And one of the most unique we’ve come across in recent times is this 1978 Porsche 928 discovered by Spider4me.

So what, exactly, makes the homely looking Porsche 928 so special, you ask? Well, it’s an original Continental Orange car. Which became quite evident thanks to a horrible repaint.

“I’ve been after this guy for about two years now. Finally picked it up today. Looks like it is original orange under the bad respray. All the interior shows the correct yellow primer, then orange. So is this #9 or 10 that has been found? Excited to have this in the stable. Now to begin the restoration project. Non-runner, VIN 9288200848, 5-speed, LSD (supposedly).”

Obviously, this kind of find gets the Porsche 928 bunch pretty excited.

“That’s awesome. Maybe 6 cars known, now 7,” says drooman. “Here’s a few notes about some of the known CO cars around..short list!”

“Now that’s a project,” adds GT6ixer.“Good luck! It’ll be nice to see another driving CO car.”

Interestingly enough, it seems like most of the few Continental Orange Porsche 928 models left in existence have been repainted. So the first order of business is trying to peel off all that black.

“Going to try to remove the black paint first to see how the orange looks. I’m assuming this does not have a clear coat finish. Once I can get the interior emptied out I’ll post some pics of it, then off to the engine compartment. Seems as though there are some parts at another location for this too that I need to track down.

Jim says my production #1441 makes it a December of 1977 build. It also made a stop in Brussels at some point in life. Lots of cool details – original windshield, correct gas cap, steel belly pan, plenty of orange paint if you dig a little.”

Other Rennlisters chime in with additional advice on retrieving documentation on these rare cars, including Landseer.

“Get a copy of the special CD set from Roger Tyson. It has documentation in the form of workshop manual supplements that essentially paint a picture of features as they were introduced. Plus detail on VIN assignment. It’s a must-have for enthusiasts.”

And linderpat kindly breaks down the VIN for the OP.

“The numbering system is as follows – the “92881” and “92882” part of the number tell the story of year and market. The 4th digit is the year – a 1978. The 5th digit is the market – “1” for ROW, and “2” for US market. The last 4 digits are the number where your car was made on the line.

For ROW cars, the number is off by 11. This is because the actual #1 car was set at 9288100011. I am not sure if the US-spec cars are likewise off. In any event, your car is a US-spec car, number 848. Mine is #834, so my car rolled down the line a short bit before yours.”

Obviously, a project like this is quite the large undertaking. But the good news is, there are plenty of resources in the forums to lean on for advice and guidance, as Rob Edwards notes.

“The biggest challenge is going to be finding replacement parts that can be made to be nice enough to make you happy with the final product. There’s no part of a 928 that can’t be restored, it’s just a lot harder if you’re starting with a big list of missing or trashed parts.

Here’s the link to William’s project ’78. The dirty secret is that under the slightly neglected surface it was a really nice and complete car.”

It’s pretty clear that the OP has all the support he’ll need to get this super rare Porsche 928 back to its original glory. And while a lot of people won’t understand the concept of saving a car just because of the color, we’re glad that he’s doing it. Obviously, it’s not going to make him rich. But keeping a little piece of Porsche history alive is always worth the effort (and cost)!