928

Porsche 928 – Porsche's previous flagship had no successor. Now that the model is 45 years old, two projects have emerged that have adapted the aging top model to new eras.

Nebula 928

Nebula 928 is a pure art project – not a car you will encounter on the road. The images that abound on Instagarm are the result of a collaboration between artist Danial Arsham and Porsche. It is about a meeting between two generations – the Porsche 928 from 1978 and the “Y2K aesthetic”. It was a teenage fashion trend around the year 2000, led by Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, among others. The sugary color spectrum and bubbly decorative elements are masterfully implemented in Nebula 928 by car artist Khyzyl Saleem . Also worth mentioning are the special rims inspired by the Panamericana concept car from 1989. The interior is produced by ByBorre , which has, among other things, researched new microfiber textiles.

In the name of art

The car was shown at the 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) arts festival in Austin last week. There it was on display at the Porsche X booth. It should be added that the show car is not lowered as shown in the photos. That is another photo manipulation (in the name of art). There is also no intervention in the powertrain.

Nardone Porsche 928

Like a new car

The next project brings the Porsche 928 into the present. Through his network of top Italian mechanics, Frenchman Thierry Nardone has built a Porsche 928 that many would like to have in their own garage. It involves donor cars that are rebuilt to the specifications of the Nardone Porsche 928 Restomod. Unlike the Nebula project, Porsche is not officially involved in any way.

New gearbox - no automatic

It is impressive how well Nardone has succeeded in bringing the style to the present. The car appears as a completely modern Porsche – as the 928 could probably look today. The car is 100 mm wider at the rear and 80 mm at the front with forged 18-inch special rims. It has been necessary to make completely new axles. The engine is a 5 liter original, self-aspirated V8 with 400 HP. The gearbox has been rebuilt from 5-speed to 6-speed within the same external dimensions as the old one. The cars will not be delivered with an automatic transmission, as the original 3-speed automatic transmission – a legacy from Mercedes-Benz – will not live up to today's expectations.

Externally, the front and rear have been changed with headlights and taillights in a new LED design. Composite materials have been used where possible, and some changes are difficult to see at first glance, such as the fact that the rear side windows have been cut higher to match the new, wide rear fenders.

New instruments

Inside, the old instrument panel has been removed and replaced with smaller, more modern instruments. In addition, a company in the South of France will supply an infotainment system that includes the Porsche Classic Management system (PCCM) combined with a high-quality hi-fi system with Apple CarPlay. The interior is upholstered in Italian leather and Alcantara.

First deliveries in 2024

It is planned to build 8 cars during 2024, and approximately 10 – 12 cars per year. All the work will be done in Italy. The price is 480.000 euros excluding VAT and donor car. Let's compare it with what a Porsche 928 would have cost today given that the tax system was unchanged. The last year the Porsche 928 was sold in Norway was 1994. According to the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Porsche 928 GTS then had a list price of more than 1.7 million kroner in November of this year. Converted to today's price level, this corresponds to close to 3.4 million.

What about the original?

Here is a picture of an original Porsche 928 S photographed at Kjeller last year. It is from 1984. The Nardone Porsche can be dated to 2024. The Nebula 928 is somewhere in between. So we have 3 Porsche 928s over a span of 40 years. Which one is the nicest?

Porsche's track selection

When Porsche began producing cars with front-mounted water-cooled engines and power transmission via transaxle to the rear wheels, it looked for a while that they would gradually replace the 911 series. But that didn't happen. New 911 series became more popular than ever. So after being in production for 17 years, the 928 was discontinued without any successor. Has the 928 ended up on a side track in Porsche's history?

Restomod

Restomod has long been popular on the continent. It is based on professional restoration of classics - not only with original parts, but newer components to make the cars more operationally reliable, traffic safe, comfortable and easy to drive. Among other things, early Porsche 911 models have been modernized in this way, but Nardone's project (2022) should have been the first for the 928.

See

Lee Sibley in conversation with Thierry Nardone – 9WERKS TV

Nardone Automotive keeps us constantly updated on the Instagram account @nardone_automotive. Here we see the car in daily use, as well as meeting some of Nardone's contacts in Northern Italy.
Nebula 928 - Official photos are only published on Instagram, where they have been widely circulated. You can see the entire photo series here @porsche_france.

Risky Business is not only considered Tom Cruise's breakthrough film. It also introduced the then-new Porsche 928 to the public. The main roles in Risky Business ( 1983) were played by Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay and the Porsche 928. I took the liberty of adding an extra 928 to the poster.

Tom Cruise plays an ordinary high school student who enjoys the freedom after his parents went on vacation, which means playing music at full blast, feeding himself in his father's bar, dancing in his underwear, taking a ride in his father's new Porsche 928, as well as having fun with a nice lady all night - for a fee. The Porsche was given a central role in the film, and one can imagine that someone at Porsche made sure that it became a 928. It's called product placement.

However, both the film and the car are typical 80s icons.

I came across a 1981 Porsche 928 S the other day, probably parked on the way in or out of a utstilling. It's been several years since I last saw a 928 up close, and it struck me that the design still lingers in the 80s. No matter how you look at it, it's a time capsule from the 80s, like the hockey haircut, shoulder pads, and leg warmers.

When the 928 came on the 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 took place in the same era that Volkswagen had a breakthrough with its new model range. In retrospect, it can be argued that Porsche's front-engined cars, the 914, 944 and 928, were a successful venture, although many believed that it was only stern motorized Porsches that could be considered proper Porsches. But the 928 is far from a slouch with a 4,7 liter V8 engine and 300 horses.

Porsche 928s are relatively favorable vintage car objects. There are several guides for what to look out for. The only fault I am aware of is moisture problems which destroy everything that can rot, and which is also not very favorable for the electricity and electronics on board. But the cars are not particularly prone to rust, as there is a lot of aluminum and galvanized parts. Come to think of it, I think it's hard to find a completely waterproof old Porsche.

Another thing you can find among Norwegian cars is the lack of a back seat. Many front-engined Porsches registered before 1985 exploited a loophole in the van legislation. You could, for example, register a 944 as a van, and thus get a substantial reduction in the one-off tax. When this was discovered, the import of used Porsches rose considerably until the bureaucrats were able to close this possibility. In retrospect, there has been a desire from politicians that beautiful cars should not be able to be registered as vans, but fortunately that proposal never came through.

Enjoy the images of this classic 35 years after it left the factory in Stuttgart. Consider that it cost over 600 000 kroner when it was new, or perhaps 1981 standard Golfers. Then you got two small back seats without headrests, suitable for very small people. Beyond the second half of the 10s, the price of these cars (S80) rose to over a million kroner.

Also reminds me that in "Risky Business" it wasn't the Porsche that was risky...

I think the front part is the most beautiful part of the car. Amazing that there is a V8 in there...

The drive is a 4,7 liter V8 with 300 HP.

The mirror design is undoubtedly 80s Porsche.

The rear of the 928 series: Lots of glass, large rear window and harmonious from all angles - but undoubtedly very special.

I love the final line: - "Porsche - there is no substitute!"

HONEST ABOUT CARS

Porsche 928 in three eras