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So many years ago, I was admiring 928's at SITM with my friend Greg Schickel. It was late at night, drinks were flowing, and the cars were lit only by the overhead lights in the parking lot. Greg referred to the club sport "S" sticker on the front fender of club sport 928's that many of us Americans only know from photos. Then he pointed out how if a light source is caught just right, the fender of any 928 will render an "S" shape in a reflection. Every time I catch an "S" in the fender, it reminds me of my good friend. Anyway, here we go.... SHOW US YOUR ESSES!
How timely - the new magazine by Pete Stout, 000, has an indepth article in it about the 928. It starts out by discussing the famous Wolfgang Mobius, one of the principal designers of the 928, on Tony Lapine's team. The article states:
"Wolfgang's thing was the 'highlight', how the light ran across the surface was the most important thing," says Stephen Murkett, who arrived at the Style Porsche Studio in 1983. "Wolfgang had a highlight plan - a light plan - that he wanted to put on the side of the car. If it made the car have weird proportions, he didn't care. He was more the sculpture, not the car enthusiast." ...
Benjamin Dimson joined the Style Porsche design staff under Tony Lapine in 1981 and went straight into Mobius' studio a junior designer. He also probed his reticent boss about what inspired the 928's design, and he recalls Mobius saying, "The form of the vehicle is controlled by its shape, and that shape is determined by how the reflections of light on that surface are created". It was a sculptural and intellectual filter through which Mobius viewed his challenges. Dimson also recalls Mobius saying "You can control surface undulations through how you reflect lines."
...[Mobius] watched how the highlights shifted and created narrow or wide lines that converged or separated, and how they created Porsche's characteristic "S" highlights. By doing so, he could intuit how to modify the bodywork.
I have noticed that characteristic "S" on the front fender as well, and always wondered if it was purposefully designed that way. Now I know. In fact, you can get an "S" decal that follows that line.
Truly, I believe that the 928 is one of the most beautiful cars ever designed.
04-24-2017, 11:53 PM
"S" Reflection Thread
