Steen Jensen

First 928...Sitting in an airplane between Toronto and Halifax reading an Autotrader. The guy next to me says "looking for a car?". Explains he just got remarried and needs to sell pristine 82. A week later while in Toronto I go to look at it and go for my first drive in a 928. Drop into bank for some money and do the deal.

Second 928...Weekend in Toronto with nothing to do. Notice RM Classic Car auction advertised in newspaper. So I go to the auction to kill a Sun afternoon and before I know what's happening a guy with a gavel is pointing at me and saying SOLD on a 88 S4. No willpower I guess...

Thaddeus

I've always loved 928's since they first came out. I saw a 78 in 78 and I was completely blown away by the car.

Never thought I'd own one. But I do.

Shane

My first Porsche was a 1977.5 924, Guards Red/Black. I bought it in 1991 for $2000. Found some things I needed to repair on it, so I went and bought a Chiltons or Haines (can't remember which) manual for it. On the front of this manual is the cut away picture of a 928, as this is a dual purpose manual. Fell in love with the 928 right there! I grew up like others loving the power of the V8. So after seeing that Porsche had a V8 supercar, I just started dreaming about owning one of those. Ended up trading that 924 for a '93 Cobra Mustang.

In 1998 I was going through some old boxes and tossing stuff when I came across that old 924/928 manual. Aw the lust is reborn!! In 1999 I got my first computer and one of the first things I did was search the web for Porsche 928!

www.928s4vr.com

First thing on that webpage is an '84 Rubinrot 928S. Love at first sight. Started searching Autotrader for 928 within a 300 mile radius of my house in WA. Found lots of them, but according to www.928s4vr.com the last of the early body style and therefor the most desirable is the '86. So I refined my search to only '86s and low and behold I find one.

I called the dealer (Bend, OR) and inquired about it to the best of my limited knowledge, and ended up leaving a $500 dollar deposit for him to hold it for me. This was in late March. I told him I would be there to pick up the car on June 10 (my birthday). So fast forward a few months and my brother-in-law and I drive down to pick it up. Drive up to the lot and right there front and center is my 928 listed for sale! I was shocked and pissed that they had been trying to sell my car!! Ok so I elbow my brother-in-law and and motion for him to button-it.

We look the car over as if we were potential buyers. We go for a test drive. Come back and pick it apart some more and offer the sales dude, $11,900 for it. He accepts and we go in for the paper work. He hands me the keys and says "Ok that will be $11,900, how will you be paying?" I said, "Cash." And handed him $11,400, which he then counts, and says, "Hey your $500 short!?!" I replied, "No ******* you still have my $500 deposit, that I gave you in March, and by the way, Thanks for the $2000 discount!!"

I had originally agreed to a price of $13,900 back when I gave him the $500 deposit. I hopped in and drove her home. Heidi-->

Jim_H

Shane,

Your purchasing story in Bend belongs in the 928 purchasing Hall of Fame.

Jerome Craig

My wife made me do it.

Been into cars all my life (I think I'm on the upper end - age wise - of the shark owners here in the forum). I seem to recall that I first saw a 928 - with the "Op Art" interior - in an ad for the James Bond movie Casino Royale. I most certainaly saw it in Road & Track.

I have always lusted after V8s and Porsches.

I had also owned a lot of cars - some muscle cars like an Oldsmobile 442 with the 455 motor, a Chevelle SS454, a Pontiac GranPrix SSJ with the 455 motor - all pretty good straight line cars. Then there were the "whimp-mobiles" - a Nash Metropolitan, Toyota Carolla 1600, Fiat 850 Coupe. And let us not forget the "pimp-mobiles" - the Buick Electra 225 (duece and a quarter), the Lincoln with the suicide doors, an Impala SS396 and the Plymouth Fury lll with the 440 motor.

Finally I decided life was more than going in a straight line or cruising the boulevard, so in 1976 I bought a Datsun 280Z - metallic british racing green with off-white interior. Great car and after 9 years, 168K miles and many modifications - including a Jim Cook whale tail and almost every Bob Sharp part - I parted with the car and began to plan on getting a more sophisticated ride. In the interim I had a VW Square Back and a couple of VW Rabbit Diesels - turbo and non-turbo models - man those things were great on fuel and comfort. My last "waiting period" car was a 1991 Jetta GLI with the 16V motor. Now we were getting somewhere. The car handled well, was good up to 125mph and could eat up interstate like nobody's business. But it didn't have enough power and it was not reliable!

Finally in 1992, my wife of then 13 year - bless her heart - told me to stop screwing around an get what I really wanted. I shopped around a bit and finally found a 86.5 928S that felt "right". It had 70K miles on it and was being sold at a dealership that I suspected was a money laundering front - which later proved to be true. We worked out a good deal - I drove the car home for an "overnight" evaluation and the rest as they say is history. 14 years and 155K miles later (225k miles total on car) I found myself again at a crossroad. The car had been my daily driver - DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia - and deserved to be rewarded with a complete refurbishing. I planned to spend between $10K - $15K in replacing carpets, re-upholstery, correcting some old problems, etc.

While the 86.5 was in the shop getting prepped for a 2000 mile/10 day road trip the shop owner called and said he had something he wanted me to check out. When I got there he showed my a 1987 S4 with 84K miles that was in terrific condition and the owner was selling as he had 5 autos and was moving where that would be impractical. I drove the car - I loved it - showed the wife of now 27 years - she loved it - I was instructed by her to "buy it or you'll always be sorry you didn't" - so I did! I worked out a deal for $10,500 and wrote a check for it. Man I love it when my wife makes me feel guilty like that!

I had to find a new home for the 86.5 as we only have a 1 car carport and 4 cars - our street is an emergency route so we can't park at the curb. We are in the process of having a two car garage built and I've already started whinning about only having one shark and I really want a late model GT or GTS. Let's hope that "she who must be obeyed" sticks to her word.... "after we have the garage built maybe...maybe you can have two - but only after I get my Mini Cooper!"

As I said... my wife made me do it!

SMTCapeCod

Well, lets see. Got my first car, a 1967 GTO 4 spd when I was 14, having just missed out on a covertible 440 cuda going for 1500 bucks. Got the goat for 1700. Spent the next decade fixing and restoring, and then fixing and restoring the stuff I tampered with in my younger/less skille years. In the mean time, added 2" sway bars, ported ramair heads, front disc brakes, tri power, crane cam and rockers, etc etc. Being so deeply embedded in the musclecar culture, I used to enjoy hunting down and mauling Porsches and other euro-mobiles.

Somehow, though, after college and exposure to all those affluent intelligentia, I decided that 924S seemed to represent a decent value. The car wasn't fast (same drivetrain as 944) but was decently built and somewhat fun when not buying parts. That progressed to my '85 blk/blk 928S 5 spd, full leather, etc, that had some mystery enhancement that allowed one to break loose the real tires at a decent roll (li, 15-20 mph). Did lots with that, but had to liquidate it (for near what I paid) with 112K when I had to quit my job.

So I came into my current 928 because I hunted it down. When I got back into a job with a reasonable salary (still a public servant- it aint great $) I toyed with the idea of street bike. The girlfriend intervened on that so I went back to dabbling in the 928 market. 10 or so months later, just on the brink of quitting out of frustration from seeing accident rebuilds, ratty cars and general junk, I saw an add for a gold/brown '83 5 spd in Hemmings. Decided to check it out and...wait a sec-ond...those are Euro lights! Checked engine code, confirmed Euro, sport susp, sunroof delete, no cruise, no remote hatch release etc. Drat, did/does have the side mouldings. Had a lot of rough aspects, but it was clear that it had never been wrecked or rebuilt-- engine still had original anodization and it looked as though it had never seen rain. So, despite sketchy plumbing and emissions gear, junk exhaust and dry-rotted seats, I bought it! Made it home, spruced it up, and foudn that it also had mystery *punch* well beyond its Euro power rating...later found (likely) to be mad ignition advance associated with faulty distributor. (I think the '85 may have had custom cam advance). Fixed that and Its run interrimttently ever since, a good $10K+ later! A few cars have come and gone while I've had it, including an Jeep XJ Cherokee, and the just-sold '94 3000GT VR4...watch those things folks, its got surprising torque, and AWD, and the cost of supercharger can get it comfortably into 550-600AWHP range...... Just got picture from the guy that bought my GTO, had it on display at a show on Boston city plaza, worth a cool $50K now MIN....whooops....

Stinaris

I crashed my 924S into a fence and had to replace it. Thought about a 968 club sport but when I found I could insure a 928 S4 SE for the same price as the 924S. I bought one within a week.

It's cost me a bloody fortune since, but boy is it monumentally fast.
I hope the insurance brokers never see me when I'm flat out at 175mph :-)
Life gets a bit blurry at that speed.

hlj821

I traded in my '97 3000GT SL on a 2003 Mazda 6S V6 a short while after my daughter was born. The Mazda performed well and turns heads, but not like the 3KGT did. I decided to buy a "toy" to help with the lack of a sports car feeling. I started looking around for a '85-'85 MB 500SL, but could not find any that I liked. I really liked the 80s P-cars and started looking for a late '80s 944. I told my neighbor, who is a car broker and goes to auctions what I was looking for. He came back 3 weeks later and said that he had found a Porsche for me from a charity auction in Phoenix. I asked what year 944 it was and he said it is an '86 928 and don't worry, it was in my price range. I immediately started doing research and found out that the '86 was a 32V. I met him a few days later at the Auction in Vegas and saw the car. He did not want to sell it to me, he said that it was not in the condition that he thought. I started the car up, it ran, but it had been neglected. Everything was there and the stuff that should be solid was. I asked him the price and he showed me what he payed for it, $2600 + $125 for shipping to Vegas. I wrote him a check and took it home. I found Rennlist that same day and learned a lot. It passed smog without any problems. The fleet supervisor at my job heard about it and told me that his family owned a P-car shop and that he had had 5 928's. We took it and tuned it up and did the TB/WP and said that the car was solid and strong. I started driving it and realized that it was powerful. After detailing and paint work, thousands of small repairs and it started to turn heads. I was actually able to drive it to Sharktoberfest 1 year to the date later after I bought it. I want an S4, but I will not look until I have finished the '86. I actually am glad that this car was a project. I have learned way more about these cars in a short time than I would have owning a garage queen. I am now obsessed and will never sell this car. My fiance teases me that the Mazda is now the stepchild car abandoned in front of the house.

deptotpr

http://1978porsche928.blogspot.com/

pcar928fan

Holy thread resurrection!

lrpman

WOW, someone knows how to use the search engine!!
On topic I fell off the toilet when putting on a light bulb and hit my head and that is when I saw a 928. But since I hit it hard I saw 2 1/2 since I needed parts.

morganabowen

I have always been a Porsche fan. The first Porsche I had was a new 1973 914 2.0. It was a great car, but I wanted more power. A couple of years later, celebrating a promotion, I sold the 914, and purchased a 911S from a dealer in Pasadena. That car was stolen a year later, and I vowed not to have another expensive car.

Around 1995, I was living in Sky Valley (Riverside county), and working in Palm Springs. I was hired to work for this older gentleman, unfortunately, he didn't have any money. He gave me a 1982 Jag XJ6 in lieu of payment. I drove the car very little, and around 2000, was offered good money for the Jag and took it. I was looking for a new project car, and came across a 1982 928 with 77K miles for $2.900. It needed work, the engine was in good shape, but it needed a paint job, and I also had it re-upholstered with new carpets, Boxster wheels and new tires.

I loved the car, although, it was under powered. A year later, we were at a car related event in the SFV. I was approached by a stranger who wanted to know if I wanted to sell the car. I didn't want to sell it, but he was offering me $9K. Needless to say, I took the money and ran. I was looking for a car for two years, when Rich Andrade sent me an e-mail and told me that his friend Jack Cook in Phoenix was selling a very nice '91 S-4.

Recognizing Rich's knowledge of 928s, I called Jack, and came to terms. I got a cashiers check and flew to Phoenix, inspected the car and drove it home. I really love this car. That is my story and I am sticking to it

cogsy

i dont think i have even seen a 928 before i seen the 1 i own i was working on a building site in liverpool when i seen this back end and the car sticking out from under a tree and bushes i went and investigated it and was amased at what i had seen after 3 months of questions and answers it turn out to be a 1982 strosek that has stood there for the last 9 years all the interior is deteriated water getting in the car loads of electrics not working and paint work needs a respray most of the lads on the building site said i was mad to even think about buying the car bought it in october done a few electrical items to it and we had it running for a second or 2 then just die again weather not good now so leaving any work till spring time has it is parked on the drive because i dont own a garage spend loads of time searching the net for info especially rennlist loads of info but major jobs will have to go to a dealer

Drewster67

I was driving a mint 87 924S - rear ended and totalled by some dumb****

A buddy of mine knew of a 84 "Euro" from a auto shop owner -0 at the time - I had no idea what a Euro was - looked at it - less than great shape but hauled major ***. Bought it dirt cheap. Ran it for 2.5 yrs until I blew the Head Gasket at the track.

Ive been hooked since

Im on my fourth 928

84 928S2 (parts car came with the other 84)
84 928S2
85 928S2
88 928S4 (should of NEVER of sold her)

I want a mint GTS 5 spd ....dunno if that will happen any time soon.

pcar928fan

I couldn't afford a '90 911 Tip when I was looking for my first post Spinal Cord Injury sports car...ultimately it would have been hard to get the wheelchair in the 911 anyway, but if I could have afforded it, I probably still would have bought the 911. SOOOOO, glad I bought the 928 instead!