Ok, I'll add to the controversy ... Porsche only made two 928 body designs ... 78-86 was one design and 87-95 was the other. The differences were in the front and rear ends, with all the associated aerodynamics, air flow and other engineering

 

Your question indicted itself.

Exactly. It was originated by people in the US to apply the those cars. Distorting it for others eliminates it's usefulness. I pointed that out.

Roger, you should know that simple terms for the 928 fall apart quickly. How many distinct engines were produced? Ignore transmissions and everything else and just count engines. I get to 12 easily. With "OB" as you've defined it the term is useless beyond saying "pre-S4." Perhaps "Pre-S4" doesn't have the cache' or insider-jargon appeal. Try coming up with a better term. By the way, they're all "Old Bodies" now.

 

That can't be so as the spoiler-less CIS injected 928 was produced until 1982.

 

And it was possible to order an S or S2 without spoilers.

 

Lets agree to disagree ----

To a limited few - mostly in the USA - OB = Old Bugger and is a colloquial term for USA only 4.5L CIS cars with no spoilers.

To most other 928 peeps in the World it means Old Body - defining the only body style used from 77 to 86.

 

Might as well be arguing about.. Tyres, wings and bonnets or hoods on the dropheads...
We all know Rennlist is the center of the 928 Universe and that it is based in the USA....which makes sense too. The primary language being "English" in our own post colonial way.
So O B in our very ethnocentric way has NOTHING to do with the rest of the world. The original meaning was and is 1978-1979 CIS cars. No idea what that means in French, Italian, Russian, or any other language. And having some expat limey automatic loving parts pusher try to redefine it to suit his distorted views is just plain WRONG and un-American !!

 

Glen and Jim are correct about the origin and meaning of the term. The "old bugger" term was originally coined by Jay Kempf back on the old email list in the late 90's (predecessor to this forum). He made a casual comment while referring to his 79, and it just caught on. It was a term of endearment for the older cars that were often neglected in our discussions.

Roger is correct about how the term seems to have morphed and evolved over time. We can debate whether that was through perversion of, and disregard for, the original meaning, or whether that occurred due to a more logical, better suited, and more accurate description.

It is also debatable whether that evolution has made it less confusing, or more...

 

And the S3 in the states, too.

Maybe we need to modify the script:
OB(USA)
OB(ROW)


I think only Jay knows what his true intent was, but like a songwriter whose lyrics take on different meanings to different people, maybe his definition doesn't matter. It's what you make it.

(For my $.02 though, I agree with Glen )

 

Jim you do love me after all 8>)

 

If this is the way it went down...discussion over.

Thank you, everyone.

Brian.