Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Nothing but love for Gen-Y (Millennials)! I do believe they will play a big role in future collectability of classic Porsche's and the 928. WRT the 928, they're just not there yet... but you my friend, are carving the path.

Keep it up, and thanks for sharing your story.

PS. I did want to include your generation in the article, just couldn't figure out how to do it, while keeping everything short and sweet.

Thanks Gary! Will keep doing the best I can.

You know it! His car fit perfectly because it's such a great save.

You said 'identified' in past tense. In my article, I referred to them in future tense. In actuality, it's happening right now. Gen-X'rs are into the 928. I know I'm not the only Gen-X'r who owns one. And it will continue to grow.

 

Jim, I am also Gen-X. And your article insinuates that we remember from the past, and now have the money to invest, so we will.

My point was, I do NOT remember the 928 from my youth. I only remember the funny headlight, but could not even place what car the flush angled headlights went with until the late 90s.

 

RF, thanks for clarifying. I'm similar to you.. Gen-X and didn't learn of the 928 until the late-90's.

I understand that paragraph is very linear. I would be too difficult to cover all the scenarios that bring us to the 928. But there's often a seed of nostalgia that leads people to the 928, either directly or indirectly.

 

As an early gen 'x' er, I also don't well remember the 928. My heart was on a 930 (while driving a 914!) . But I "found" the 928 in the mid to late 90's and absolutely fell in love with it.

I still want a 930 or even 996tt, but I will always have a 928.....

 

I've been saying for years that many of these cars (928 and others from the generation) that people don't think will be collectible just haven't reached the right age yet.

I'm GenX and the cars we drove as kids were just 20-30 year old "non collectibles" of the day. Guess what? Those cars are the insanely collectable cars today!

I've also been in love with the 928 since I was 7 (1978). Those of you saying you are GenX and weren't aware of them simply means that YOU hadn't really discovered them yet. Not that the rest of us GenXers hadn't!

Almost every teen and pre teen boy on Earth wished they were Tom Cruise in the 1983 hit movie "Risky Business! Driving a 928 and sleeping with hot girls!!

Or how about the 928 in the 1985 movie "Weird Science

"Scarface" 1993

The 928 was all over the place in the 80s and 90s.

Here is 6 pages of reference movies and shows, mostly from the GenX era for those of you who missed it!
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-P...model-928.html

 

Interesting that gen-x-ers who own 928s don't remember them. Born in "64 I just missed the X cutoff (making me the last year of the boomers). I do know I bought all the car magazines in my early teens and I knew everything about the 928. What I remember most were full-page ads for the car, probably near the front of the magazines, showing the car either from the side or head on, and a statement about "timeless design". I clearly remember being puzzled by that statement because the car was NEW (this was probably 1979 or 80). I was thinking "It doesn't look like anything else...round and smooth...kinda looks like a spaceship from the future...but how can they possibly know it's timeless? Only in the future will we know if it was timeless". But I also remember thinking "But I do think it is timeless, and I think people in the future will say so". Hard to put a conversation with myself in words, but I really did have this general thought discussion with myself. Even then I didn't think the 928 was the most attractive car. I thought it very understated...sleek...sophisticated...and it also appeared better engineered and integrated. There were times I thought it was ugly....then I'd come back and see it from certain angles and think it was awesome...from the front...from rear quarter....front quarter...the hunkered down wide stance. Often I felt the 928 looked best when it drove by, with the perspective always changing, so that you took it in from all angles....and the summary impression of that fluid design IN MOTION is the best way to view it.

 

What Cole said...

 

I was born in 64 as well and identify as Gen-X. My parents were young and had no direct WWII experience and as a result I feel I have nothing in common with baby boomers.

That said, I was born a car guy. In grade school I started reading car mags, books, sales brochures and anything I could get my hands on. My Dad and I made a pilgrimage to the NY Auto Show every year. I don't recall how I became aware of the 928 (probably from Car and Driver or Road and Track) but by my freshman year in high school, I had a poster of a 928 next to my Lamborghini Alpine poster. I never thought I'd be able to afford a supercar like that, but here I am!

I don't know how the Porsche designers did it, but both the 911 and 928 are timeless designs. I wish I had that kind of vision.

Hugo

 

Actually, I was pretty well informed about cars. I already had a SAAB then and was working on my father's relatively new 528e. I was also reading car magazines and even doing somebody work on the side.

The father of one of my best friends bought a 944 in red/black just like my 928. When I wrote and told my friend I bought a 928 that reminded me of his dad's 944, he said, "A what?" We had both seen Risky Business for sure. Probably together.

Finally, I guess you could blame it on the fact I am from Illinois and not from some place like Connecticut... But, I am quite sure none of my friends really new what a 928 was. 911s or Testatrossas on the other hand, hell yes!

 

Seriously Jim, would you STOP increasing awareness of the 928 (and value) until I buy 2 or 3 more???

 

Yea! I was thinking what Hacker said, (just afraid to say it! ) doh!

 

Me and my bud were 16/17 years old in the summer of 1993, Saturday night cruising "the strip" in my 77 CJ5 with a 3 speed 304ci V8 and the top off. We thought we were hot sh.t rumbling around with a V8 jeep.

We are stopped at a light and a black 928 (newer gen S4 or GTS maybe) pulls up next to us. He looks at us, I let 'em hear the V8, he replies with a smirk, light turns green, before I even step on the gas, he is smoking his rears akin to a drag strip warm up and continues to do so for an entire 1/8 mile to the next light! We had to manually un-drop our jaws and bow to this wondrous mass of refined violence.

It was that moment I fell in love with the 928. I come from an air cooled family but always had a thing for that water cooled beast and now I finally have one. Cool memory I thought I'd share. It'll be cool when the value does increase on these cars but I'm in the " couldn't care less" category. I just love it for what it is. Thanks for the great article, standing by for part II. Josh

Sent from my iPhone using Rennlist

 

I'm barely gen-x, born in 1966, but I remember the 928. Though I agree it hit me more in the early 90's, when I finally bought one and finally could afford one.

I remember seeing it first in the late 70s as a kid, and then it appeared on TV. I still didn't really know what it was, other than a Porsche. Unpacking old keepsake boxes recently, I found a brochure on the new 1987 S4 that Porsche had mailed me back in 1987. I rarely save mail like this, but for some reason I saved this brochure, only to uncover it now. Obviously the 928 had caught my attention back in 1987.

Then in 1993, I was looking at cars again, and the 928 caught my attention yet again. It was time to get one. Strangely I bought a metallic silver one, just like was pictured in the 1987 brochure I had received many years earlier, but had filed away and forgotten about.

 

Great read Jim!
I'm on my 2nd S4. First one, an 87 was totaled. My wife and I have been married almost 51 years. Dee has really never showed much interest in my car collection, except when I'm buying parts. Then she watches what I spend, like a hawk. After the 87 was wrecked, she said how much she loved riding in it, and how much fun she had going to the different events we attended with the car. She told me that I had to find another black S4. That's when I purchased my 89.

I've made a few mistakes when it comes to picking the right car for future collectibility. When I traded my 71, 911T, on my 74 Pantera, I could have bought a used Ferrari 250, for 10 grand. Same price as the Pantera new. The deciding factor was the Pantera came with A/C, and the Ferrari didn't. Today my Pantera, on a good day will fetch around 100K, if ya find the right buyer. The 250 is worth millions.

Who knows, maybe in the next decade, the shark will reach real collectable status, I'm gonna drive mine and enjoy it either way. At 71, I'll be thinning out my herd in the next few years anyway.

 

I read ya! Heck, I could be biting off my nose to spite my face.

But not really, because I already can't afford the 'collector 928s'.
I'm talking about the 99th percentile early low-mile original ones that sell btw $15-20K.
And I'm almost priced out of the 90th percentile ones too!

So for those looking for '928 saves' like me, there will be plenty of opportunities for years to come.
Think about it in terms of the value spectrum. If prices for high-end 928's double, how does that affect the non-running $500-$1K 928? Not so much in the grand scheme.

Also consider as the market changes and the 928 continues to attract more attention, vendor support for our cars will grow too. My business will grow, new competitors will enter the market, more products will come available.

Example: The 'green wire' goes up in price every year (currently $125). And just like any 928 part it could go NLA. Could you imagine if this part went NLA? Ouch.
If 928 Classics grows, with more investment capital it could afford to develop a reproduction 'green wire'.
With support from a broader market, this essential 928 part could stay available AND be more affordable.

This is good for everyone!

Thinking ahead, if the majority of 928s get older and deteriorate further... what would be worse, a higher entry-level price or the lack of available parts?
I believe worst case could be you could buy a 928 super-cheap, and then have to spend the same price to have a relatively simple NLA part made. I'm using this exaggeration only to make a point. I hope that we never see this type of scenario.

Long story long, I believe we could use a larger audience.

This is all part of a follow-up story I'm working on... what does 'collector status' mean in terms of the 928 and its owners.