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wasn't the tax in the US less for a 4 seat compared a 2 seat car ? Or was it in the UK ?
I always thought that as so many companys were making 2+2 cars , ( 928,850i) , in fact 2 seats and 2 seats scale 1:2 .... for kids .
Or i'm i wrong ?
Insurance is less for a 4 seater vs 2 seater. Verhicle taxes vary by state so I suppose lower taxes for 4 seaters could be true somewhere.
Okay, Glenn. Your are a good straight man, so here goes.
Over the last many years I have owned many different cars. My first was a 41 Plymouth two door sedan that I bought in about 1957. Since then it has been too many to recount. In those, aside from the Porsches and the Eldorado Cadillacs that I now have, the one that actually stands out in my memory was the 75 GMC Sprint. That was the GMC version of the Chevy El Camino. Oddly that car was derived by the factory from the then contemporary Chevy Malibu. The Malibu was in fact particularly kind of ugly in my opinion. Nevertheless the El Camino version was perhaps the most stylish car that I have come across, present company excluded.
From a styling standpoint the 928 has the bottom of the window line follow thru from the bottom of the door windows to the bottom of the rear quarter windows and that is a perfect styling technique. However when the rear top of the car is cut off to make it into a pickup that line needs to change. As with my Sprint that line simply goes away and the then body line around the top edge of the pickup bed takes on a completely different purpose. That line really needs to be elevated to now fit the new purpose of the car and that dictates it to be raised. Simple as that. However, all the guys who have done this conversion have seen the common line as the necessary line for the top of the pickup bed. That is a mistake.
Oddly, if you google images of the then contemporary versions of the Ford Ranchero you will see that they did not agree with me. Most, but not all, of them are like the 928 conversions. However most of them are also very boxy looking cars and the line seems to fit better there. With the rounder cars like the Chevy Malibu and the 928 the line really needs to change.
Another consideration is that I like to try to eliminate as many of the aspects of "conversion" as I can and one of them is this line around the top of the bed. Not only does it look "right" but it helps to make the car look more like is was "the Factory's pickup version of the 928" rather that someone's conversion.
Look again at the pictures and see if you don't agree with me. Or wait until I get the chance to do the body work myself, and then decide. You will be amazed at the difference is presentation appearance.
I see where you're coming from. Picture = 1,000 words.
Oh yes Jerry, that's the look. Can't wait to see it someday. You've got to add a trailer hitch if it doesn't already have one.
Thanks Tom for your feedback. I am pleased that some of you are on board with my styling ideas for this car. I am actually kind of surprised of the absence for the usual negative comments about this kind of conversion.
As to the trailer hitch, Great suggestion! I have had some thoughts in the past about doing a trailer hitch for these 928s ,but have not found a personal need for one so since I have no need for one I have not given it much further thought. However, Kevin has a recent thread here about a Factory Trailer Hitch that he is trying to sell, and from his pictures I have given such a devise some further thought, but again with the limitation about not needing one myself.
Now however with your excellent suggestion I am going to look into it further and perhaps come up with a design that meets the needs of any 928 owner and probably for a lot less than a Factory one. I think it would be an excellent addition to this pickup.
...not because of the actual utility of them but as a means of driving a sports car without a huge tax liability which such a utility vehicle was somehow exempt from. Does anyone know anything more about that?
There's some sort of exemption for 'tractors' in one of the Scandinavian countries.
I am actually kind of surprised of the absence for the usual negative comments about this kind of conversion.
If you were doing this to an existing solid 928 you would get them, like would someone doing a Chevy conversion with a perfectly good Porsche engine. But this one is already converted, might as well make it as nice as possible.
If you were doing this to an existing solid 928 you would get them, like would someone doing a Chevy conversion with a perfectly good Porsche engine. But this one is already converted, might as well make it as nice as possible.
Awesome that you got that Jerry and are going to finish it! I talked to Roger a few years back about buying it because it was so cool. I had everything to finish it without needing to spend any money. Just needed time. Reality is that if I had bought it several years ago it would still be sitting and I wouldn’t get to it for another 4-5 years, if at all.
It is a real quality build and you will be very happy with your purchase. Look forward to seeing it finished!!
i cant believe i logged in to reply to this thread haha. must be that im Australian and feel very close to the ute.
One thing I hate about the ute conversions is that they never integrate a tailgate. It seems pretty pointless if you have to lift over to get into the tray.
Id love to see something like vag group/audi rear hatch solution (where the rear lights are integrated into the tailgate) but upside down..
A tailgate is an interesting idea and one that I had given some thought to in respect to my own barely started conversion several years ago. For the late 928 I think the tailgate must be kept within the straight part of the tail and splitting the lights just outboard of the clear backup lights, and then down perhaps to just above the license plate opening. How to deal with the bumper bar is a question and how and where to hinge it, plus little things like some kind of latches and a handle to deal with those.
I had planned and arranged with Mark A. to pick up the car/pickup this weekend or today or tomorrow then return home late Friday or early Saturday. In fact I left home this morining just before 1:30, but after about 150 miles west with my truck, pulling the trailer, it had overheated about 3 times, so I had to decide to return home and get the truck dealt with. Turns out that it is a failed fan clutch. I have one on order and my local mechanic is going to fix it tomorrow.
I am now rescheduled to try again in two weeks. Mark seems ok with that. I was hoping to get the car even later today and return some,or at least get it loaded in the morning (Friday), and then head for home and get home perhaps very late Friday or early Saturday.
I hope the new plan for August 4 and 5 will work out similar.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 08-05-2022 at 10:29 AM.
Well, my plan just changed. The truck is just about finished with the repair, so since I had actually blocked several days off of my office calandar, including the first two or three days next week, for the event in Pittsburgh which I later had to change my plan, it occured to me that I can still make the trip to CA this weekend and get to pick up the pickup on one of Mark's business days. I now plan to start the trip early Sunday, stay the night in CA and then pick up the car early Monday morning and return. It is just over 750 miles to Anaheim from here so I should be able to make that in just under 12 hours of driving.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 07-23-2022 at 09:38 AM.
When I saw the car all together at 928 International many years ago I though it looked really quite good... but it was just horribly impractical as a pick-up. The deck was so high and the sides so low that nothing would be "down in the bed" - it would all be sticking up visibly. Worse there were no tie downs or cargo net or any practical way to carry anything without losing it all at the first bend. I see that your solution would help somewhat in that respect - but I'm not sure I like the lines so much - looks less sleek - but that may be a rather inevitable fact in improving function? Perhaps I'm just biased - I never liked the El Camino at all.
Jerry I'm very interested to see what you come up with - proof in the pudding and all!
See here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle) , history section for derivation of "ute". Most down here now have a loadbed cover as in the HSV red car pictured above -improves aerodynamics, provides a secure compartment. Some years ago the tax laws here charged a 'fringe benefit tax' on vehicles provided to employees, except for utes. Such utes that are never really used for any productive work or load carrying are colloquially known as 'hairdresser' utes - usually fitted with maximum bling, large chromed tube bars etc.
jp 83 Euro S AT 57k
06-09-2022, 12:52 AM
