darkside

In the 80's the 928 was my dream car. I never liked porshes 911's, etc. only the 928. I never thought I'de be able to afford one. me and my cousin would just stare whenever we saw one.I love that big A$$.
fast forward to last june. My wife is trying to buy me a car for my 40th. she is looking at old mustang projects, and old camaros. she asks my cousin about which I would like. I owe him big for this. He says I don't think he'll like either you should let the cat out of the bag and get something he'll like. so she did. We found "Bertha" on E-bay she was in my town maybe a 1/4 mile away. I had to go look. as soon as I saw it in the garage I was done. "82" Hella blue. could use a little interior work but other than that pretty nice. So I bid. I couldn't sleep for a week. Could I really get my dream car??
Oh yeah!! My wife is the BEST!! She asked me the other day if I would give up "BERTHA" for the new challenger when It comes out? I told her I would only Trade bertha for a Newer 928, and I probably wouldn't trade I'de just have 2. "Bertha" gets new paint next week. Just got her new shoes.
18x7.5 Frt. 20x10 Rr. a little modification was needed. I love this car.

Dennis Wilson

My dream car was a Ford Lotus Europa with the V-8 which was not available in the US. After retiring from the USAF, I stumbled on a 924 which I used as a daily driver for 14 years. Once the 924 hit 300K miles, I decided to semi retire her, get another daily driver and look for a project car. Bought an XR2 for the daily comute and found my black 79 euro which had been sitting for 10+ years. The "project car" took a little longer than expected (it's still a project) and the XR2 was a big letdown. Since I had invested $400 in a set of 928 manuals, I decided to look for another functioning version of my almost dream car. Found one across town and it's been my daily driver for the last 5 years. No regrets.

Dennis

gersar928

First saw a 928 in 78 in San Francisco,thought it was one of the most beautifull cars that I had ever seen.Later one of the first models I ever built was a Tamaya 1/20th scale 928,white/brown int.Always kept an eye on them,but figured that they were out of my league.Fast forward to 1997 browsing the local want ads I spot a 78.My wife and I go and take a look.Its white/brown int.We take it for a spin and you know the rest.We purchased the 87S4 in 04 and enjoy the differences,5-speed/auto,16v/32v,old body/new body as well as all of the wonderfull people 928 ownership has put us in touch with. Gerry & Sara

mcholdfast

My first car was what I always wanted when I was a kid, a 1969 Mustang Mach1. My dad paid $400 for it on my 16th b'day and it was almost worth it. It seemed it's purpose in life was to drain me of what few pennies I had and then some. As soon as I fixed one thing, another would break. Fed up and nearly broke, I gave up on the stang and bought a Sky Blue 78 VW Rabbit Diesel. Talk about a babe magnet! It wasn't pretty, but I drove it 45,000 miles in a year on what seemed to be one tank of "gas" and only had to change the oil and brake pads. It was a minimum wage earning teenager's dream come true. The stang was the last non-German car that I've owned.
About 5 years later, I'd moved to Atlanta from S.C. and had started work with the same company I'm with now. My boss and I went to meet one of our vendors. When our meeting was over, we walked out to the parking lot with the owner of the company as he was leaving for lunch. I can still remember seeing him get in his silver 928 S4 and drive away. I don't think I had ever really seen (or heard) one up close before and the experience changed my life. I knew someday I would have one.
Well soon thereafter, I met my wife, and my daughter, and my mortgage and the 928 experience became only a memory. I settled with various VWs and Audis but never was able to seriously consider a Porsche. I had 3 Corrados and loved them but now realize that they were just substitutes for what I really wanted.
Well, I'm forty now and I'm the boss. I've got no bills and that mortgage I had way back when just turned a nice profit when I sold the rental house. It was time to do some real car shopping. I bought an S4 last year, but not a 928 S4, an Audi S4. I had to have a family car, right? Then my wife got the GTI that she wanted. Is eBay great, or what? All the while, I was searching for the right 928.
I wanted an 87 or newer 5 speed that wasn't guards red. I can't believe that almost all of them are automatics. It seemed all of the nice ones were in California. The search went on for about a year. Then one morning, as I always do, I turned on my computer at work and searched eBay for a 928 that fit the bill and there it was. A gorgeous Velvet Red 89 GT. My heart skipped a beat. There was no way I'd be able to afford it. I typed as fast as I could and sent the owner an email asking if he had the car for sale locally and at what price if so. He named his price and I flew to Colorado to drive it home. My only regret is that I had to wait so long.

dfroelicher

I know the game and that is not true, there is ONE 928 in the whole game. A 94 928 GTS complete with the pop up head lights and the cool dash.

Apoc

Well technically he's correct, the game never actually CAME with a 928, you had to download it from the EA site, I did. BTW it was Porsche Unleashed that originally introduced me to Porsche's also, I played it through many times just cause I loved driving the cars so much, it was, and still is, their best driving game.

Steve

Tom. M

I see some really common occurances in this thread...many seem to have lusted after a 928 from early on...(ie Risky Business 83 and back..) as I did..and odd to find a few Corrado owners in here too...

I had a 92 VR6 for a while....unique styling, decent power, a rear wing that lifted up at 35mph and plenty of room for 4 (more so than the 928)...but after looking at the available upgrades..and room in the engine bay (you think the 928 motor is tight..go look at a VR6 in the Corrado..haha), I decided to go for a 928..

Is started by looking online for a decent discussion group that could compare to the Corrado Club of America group....and the 928 had a pretty good one back then...

Long story short...Started with a 84S 5sp...then got a 87S4 AT....and finally the one I was looking for all along... 89GT...Canadian Delivery so metric dash...sport seats...no rear air, CS wheels. For some reason all my 928's have been black/black.. It is my favorite combo on the 928, but given the rarity of the 928 I wasn't going to turn down other colors....guess I just got lucky....three times haha...

Later,
Tom
89GT

cobalt

Interesting experiences.

I started restoring cars with a good friend back in High School. Started with a BMW 2002Tii. From there, restored a Citroen Masseratti SM. Great car, which would be a contender for the 928 if it weren’t so problematic. Then restored a 71 911E with my friend and that began my interest in Porsche's The 911 was so basic in design and easy to work on unlike the Citroen, BMW or Audi 100LS that we were constantly repairing. None of them drove like a 911. Drove the car to CA were I spent a summer in La Jolla and the car was sold. My first real driver was a 74 Jaguar XJ6, another great car but impossible to repair and constantly needed attention. Traded that in on a 79 BMW 320i not quite as nice as the 2002 but more modern and handled great with the lowered suspension work, just no power. I placed a deposit on the first 944's to come into the country and after being bumped on the waiting list several times purchased my first 911 in '83. It was a beautiful 79 SC needing new paint but was mechanically sound. Restored the 911 to pristine condition and then ventured to Europe where I purchased a heavily modified '79 911SC and a beautiful 80 928. The 911 was faster than the 928 but the 928 was a blast to drive on the highway. After several years of constant electrical problems, TB, WP, etc, etc. I finally had to sell the 928, which I regretted. I tracked the 911 for years until I married and then the car sat in the garage until I sold it after 19 years of ownership. In the interim I wanted a car to restore and was looking at 928's but couldn't find a good candidate. Ended up buying a 74 914 2.0L with 86k original miles that sat for over 10 years. Stripped the car down to bare metal and restored it to better than new condition. All the time I really wanted another 928 but never found the right car. After buying the 94 turbo and selling the 914. My wife kept on complaining how she wanted a car she could enjoy. I purchased the Cayenne Turbo, which we share and she really started to appreciate power and performance. This opened the door to convince her that the 928 would be a great addition. With the current pricing, I set my sights on a GTS. After searching for about 8 months and missing out on a very pretty 94 auto we decided to give up the search. That same day I received a call from a rennlister who told me about a beautiful GTS coming up for sale. It was a 5 speed and a color we both liked. Bought the car sight unseen and couldn't be happier. There is no turning back now. This one is here to stay. Problem is I have to fight my wife for seat time although having the turbo as backup is a great consolation.

Garth S

Knowing my passion for cars, a friend gave me a large fold out poster of a 928 in a cut-away format ... aluminum suspension, transaxle, engine all exposed. This was circa '79 .... the stuff of dreams .... and in '80 I spent a few weeks exploring the Pacific coast: first day in LA, unexpectedly found a Porsche dealer that had a row of 8-10 928s ..... captivated, I still can recall that scene vividly! This dream began to take on a hint of reality - more like lust.
A career change to Calgary in '85 turned up an absolutely mint '80, which had already spent 3 years in storage: reality struck, and I acquired the title.
It is still with me ....

SharkSkin

Wow, I missed this thread first time around, since I was in the process of moving at the time. I already have this info on my site, but I'll go ahead and paste it in here.

Some background:
Of course I knew about the Porsche 911, I knew that it was a rocket but tricky.... I knew a bit about Porsche racing history and some of the early cars... but these were also far out of my price range as well. After I saw the 928 and heard one pass by me at WOT, I became very interested in them, and found out about the basic specs, construction details, drivetrain layout, suspension, etc. Finally one day I saw one at rest... It was parked, with the windows down, the smell of leather pungent in the air.... and I suddenly realized that THIS was a car to lust for.... but I was 14, had about $200 in the bank made less than $50/mo on my paper route, and had to more or less file it away. After all these years I still notice these cars more than any of the "nice to have" cars that I tend to notice. But there you have it, a brief synopsis of the various stages of car lust leading up to the infatuation I've had with the Porsche 928 since 1978.

Ending up with the shark I have:
This all came about as a result of my desire to upgrade my Z-car. More info on that car on my Past Vehicles page. Having built a really solid powertrain & suspension setup to my liking, I became very busy during 2000-2003 and never did get around to doing the cosmetic stuff. The windshield and hatch leaked. I didn't want to get into replacing the glass until I was ready to paint... using the old trick of cutting the gasket back, painting, then installing the new glass & gasket. Front & rear glass + gaskets would be around $1500. I didn't want to do any of this stuff until I replaced the dash, and in concert with that project because of an intended color change..... another $1700 for just the dash pad. I didn't want to pull the dash without replacing the wiring harness, or at least grafting in a new fusebox. Also, add to that seats, headliner, etc etc on top of a $3500 minimum for what I would consider an acceptable paint job. So, here I was up against a wall, no real garage to work in and all of this garage type work to do. It occurred to me that I could get a nice shell and drop all of my goodies into it and sell what was left as a restoration project. I've been saving for some time toward some property, but I really felt like I needed an upgrade in my ride. Around the Christmas of 2003 I decided that the coming summer was to be the summer that I finally pulled my Z together into the clean little rocket that it always deserved to be.

I began to search for an old Z with very low miles, preferably a garage queen with a blown motor. Problem is, these cars don't blow up until the cosmetic stuff has been run around a couple hundred thousand miles. I found several nice prospects on ebay, but it seemed I was looking at $10K for the sort of car I wanted. I've also had a thing for the later 300ZXTwin Turbo cars, and I found a really nice looking one in Florida(opposite coast) that was in my price range. I looked at 928s and really felt that they were still out of my price range. Oh, I could have taken out a loan and picked up a $30K GTS easily enough, but that would not fit in with my plans of socking money away monthly to achieve other goals. I really prefer to do auto deals with cash..... So, I had a budget. In my quest for a Z upgrade, I happened to pick up an auto trader. While it didn't have any good Z's, I started flipping through pages and encountered a lone 1978 Porsche 928. The ad was poorly written... I won't go into the broken english. But the price was $4200, and I thought to myself, WOW! that's awfully cheap.... I better call the guy.

The rest, as they say, is history...

icsmike

I found my 86.5 in a junkyard totalled. It was hit in the front pretty bad. I cant wait to show the before and after pics.

Big Easy Sharkster

The wife made me do it...

I was on my 2nd 911... the wife wanted a sports car. No, not a 911... she saw one of those 928's and thought it was 'cool'. 'The engine is in the wrong place and it's got water!!', I said. Didn't make any difference... can't argue with the wife.

Bought an '85 928S... the wife loved it, I drove it a couple of times... took it on a long trip. Pure sex on wheels!!

Sold the 911... bought a '94 GTS. I'm hooked

Tom928

I got introduced to Porsche by my older brother who gave me a ride in his 1968 911 when I was only 12 years old. I loved the way the car moved and sounded. From that ride I was hooked.

In 1980, I found myself in Colorado and decided to go down to the local Porsche dealer to see what they had. What I found was the 928. The saleman would not allow me to test drive the car. I mean here I am 24 years old, college student (and boy I looked the part back then) looking at a $38,000 car and he knew that there was no way I could afford it.
After me bugging him for 4 days, he gave in and let me drive the car - once. I left knowing someday I would have one of those cars. For years and years I watched and remembered.

Fast forward to Summer 2005, I found a 1981 928 on ebay. My son and I flew to Minnesota and drove it home. The father / son time was priceless - especially the incident with the late model Camero somewhere in Montana.

In January 2006, I got a call from a friend saying he knew a guy that wanted to sell his 84 928s. I told him I had just shot my wad on the first car. He convinvced me to drive 250 miles and just "take a look". After looking at the photos he sent - I took the drive. After all was said and done I got the car for the cost of replacing the water pump - about $700.

So today I have 2 - 928's and I love both cars - Last week soneone asked if I wanted to sell either one - I just said no with a smile - these are keepers.


Tom928
'81 928 Guards Red/ Black
'84 928s Kiln Red/ Tan

WICruiser

I was having a mid life crisis of sorts and decided I wanted a "project" car but then again I wanted a car that would be fun to drive and the muscle cars of the late '60 vintage didn't meet my desires for handling and overall performance. I started looking around and thought about a 944 but after I sat in one I thought it might not be for me. I stumbled across the 928, as others have said, a 944 on steroids and started looking around to see what I could find. Ended up getting a project car in all of the senses of the phrase on Ebay. First order of business was to determine if the engine would run or needed to get pulled. Once it ran I got hooked. I still have a lot of project left to do but with this group as a resource I have confidence that it will be everything I expected.

F451

Well, I just got mine a month or so ago, and I'm as happy as a clam!

'85 928S, auto. 90k miles. Very good to excellent condition. Its a daily driver and every day I can't get over the fact that its mine. Yeah!

Have always loved the 928's, like many I remember when they came out and I was 17 yrs old or so, and I was blown away. Never thought I would own one.

Was into Z cars, had a few 240's, but never had the cash to do one up right. Recently bought a low VIN # '70 240Z that was in very good original shape, but after owning it for 6 mths, and barely touching it, I sold it. Then, I sold my Ducati street bike as street bikes just weren't as much fun as they used to be for me.

I then started researching just about every type of car out there. Everything from Saab Sonnet's to 944's to 928's to Jag XJ6's. Total restoration candidates to cheap decent condition sports cars. Had a limited budget and found a very nice '83 944. Bought it and I was loving it, thought I was doing the sensible thing, but really wanted a 928. But still didn't think I could afford one.

Then after driving the 944 for a couple of months I was like, who forgot to feed the hamsters? This thing is slooowww. Big Fun. But slow. And it was a bit tight for my 6'5" frame. So I started dropping hints to the wife that I was thinking of selling the 944. At first she just rolled her eyes. I think her attitude was "I just don't want to hear about it" .

So after looking at a few beat up 928's, I worked up the nerve to post a note on the local 928 Yahoo board up here in the PacNW, saying I was looking for a 928, but I was poor. And sure enough, I got a nice note from a lister saying he had a nice 928 for sale. It was bit more then I had bugeted for, but when I mentioned it to my wife, she didn't bat an eyelash. She was like "get it if you want it"

"Hey...what's going on around here?" I was thinking.

Anyway, I went and looked at it and was blown away. It was awesome. Then I drove it and knew I had to have it. So I bought it.

And oh yeah, I had not gotten around to selling the 944 by the time I bought the 928, so for a few weeks I had two P cars in my garage! It was fun to decide which one to drive every day.

"Who's better then me?" I was thinking the whole time.

Just sold the 944 (to the first guy that looked at it), so now I am down to 1 P car.

Although, I am thinking lately, I MUST have a 5 sp, non-sunroof 928.

Ed