In 1977, Porsche decided to focus on cars with water-cooled front-mounted engines with a transaxle solution and rear-wheel drive. They seriously believed that demand for the 911 would disappear.
When the 928 came to market in 1978, it was like a new chapter in Porsche's model history. Porsche's management had long been working on new models to replace the 911 series. This was happening at the same time that Volkswagen was making a breakthrough with its new model program. Porsche's front-engined cars, the 924, 944 and 928, were a successful venture, but customers still continued to flock to the 911. Several enthusiasts claimed that only rear-engined Porsches could be considered proper Porsches. But the 928 is far from a slob with a 4.7-liter V8 engine and 300 horsepower.
Model history
The Porsche 928 was developed as a 2+2 seater Gran Turismo for the Autobahn – not racing. The car was voted “Car of the Year” in Europe in 1978 – its first model year. It had a characteristic design with doors, front wings and engine hood built in aluminum, pop-up headlights and cool rims. V8 engine in the front and gearbox in the transaxle in the rear gave almost 50:50 weight distribution. The first engines were 4.5 liters with 240 hp. From 1980 you could get the 928 S with 4.7 liters V8 with 300 hp – which became standard from 1980. Also worth mentioning is the 928 S4 which came in 1987 with 5.0 liter V8 with 320 hp and 1992 GTS with 5.4 liters and 350 hp.
A classic
Enjoy the pictures of this classic 35 years after it left the factory in Stuttgart. Consider that it cost over 600.000 1981 kroner when it was new, or 10 standard Golfers. Then you got two small back seats without headrests, suitable for very small people. In the second half of the 80s, the price of these cars (S4) rose to over a million kroner.
About the pictures
The car in the main photo is a 1984 model photographed at Kjeller in 2022. The other white car is based in Oslo and is a 1985 model photographed in 2023 and 2024. The photo of the blue car was taken at Fornebu in 2016. The yellow car in profile is pictured at a car meet in Perpignan in 2024. The black car in profile is photographed in Belgravia, London in 2025.
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