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Porsche 928 - The Full Story & Timeline

The history, updates and story behind the Porsche 928.

Porsche 928 Model Guides

The Porsche 928 had to be more refined, comfortable, and luxurious than any prior Porsche so as to compete with Mercedes and BMW. The clean-sheet design gave us a wonderful car with a V8 up front. Over the years, the Porsche 928 saw several updates and improvements. Below, follow along the journey with our in-depth (ultimate) model guides on every production-model 928.

Porsche 928 GTS Guide
The last evolutionary stage of the 928 model featured flared rear wings, a red light panel at the rear, a rear wing painted in exterior colour, exterior mirrors in the Cup design plus 17" Cup rims as standard. The 5.4-litre engine of the GTS generated 350 hp. The 928 GTS came for sale in late 1991 as a 1992 model in Europe and in spring of 1992 as an early 1993 model in North America. Changed bodywork, larger front brakes and a new, more powerful 5.4 L engine were the big changes.
Porsche 928 GT (1989 - 1991) Guide
In 1989, 928 buyers had the choice of the S4 or the GT, a better-equipped, manual-only car. The 928 GT was sportier than the 928 S4. Thanks to various modifications, its power unit generated up to 330 hp. The GT was delivered as standard without side protection strips and with wheels in a unique design. It featured a dogleg manual gearbox, a more aggressive suspension, and special seven-spoke Club Sport wheels
The Clubsport was up to 100 kg (220 lb) lighter and became available in 1988. This model was the toned-down version of the 1987 factory prototype which had a lightened body. In 1987, the factory made five white lightweight S4 models with a manual transmission for racecar drivers. The Special Equipment (SE) was a more complete version of the CS, in which some accessories lost in the CS are added back again.
Porsche 928 S4 Guide
The 928 S4 variant debuted in the second half of 1986 as a 1987 model, an updated version of the 5.0 L V8 for all markets producing 235 kW; 316 hp (320 PS), sporting a new single-disc clutch in manual transmission cars, larger torque converter in cars equipped with automatic transmission cars and fairly significant styling updates which gave the car a cleaner, sleeker look. S4 was much closer to being a truly world car than previous models with only small differences across markets
Porsche 928 S (1980-1986) Pictures
To replace the base 928, a refreshed 928 S was released in Europe in the 1980 model year (1983 for North America). The S wore new front and rear spoilers and sported wider wheels and tires, but the main change was a revised 4.7 L engine. In 1985, North America got a new 5.0 L 288 hp 32-valve engine with Bosch LH-Jetronic injection. Mid-year 1986 models incorporated the upgraded suspension and Brembo brakes.
The Porsche 928 was the company’s first production car with a V-8 engine and the only coupe powered by a front-mounted V-8 as of today. Developed in the 1970s as a replacement of the 911, the 928 was eventually sold alongside the rear-engine sports car. Production lasted from 1977 until 1995. What people saw was a sleek if rather heavy-looking 2 + 2 hatchback coupe unlike anything else on the road -- a sort of German Corvette.

Porsche 928 Specials & Motorsport Model Guides

Like any Porsche, there were also a number of special Porsche 928 models over the years. These included both factory specials and concepts as well as some tasty third-party 928 creations. Below we take you through the in-depth guides on every one we could find.

Buchmann took a Porsche 928, removed all of the "unwanted" crap behind the doors and parts of the roof and created the stunning Buchmann Targa. This is a Targa convertible with an open roof above the seats but still with the B-pillar in tact. This opening is bridged by a Targa-bar which gives the car extra stiffness to compensate for the loss of it by removing the roof. The concept was a stunner.
Porsche 928 Koenig
In the 1980s and 90s, the Munich-based tuning company Koenig Specials GmbH was known for its conversions of top-class sports cars, especially Ferraris. They also turned their attention to the Porsche 928 with a number of cool 928 kits. Popular in the Middle East, these "widebody" kits made the 928 look like a totally different car. It is unknown how many were made and most of the cars were pretty unique in terms of the kit and updates.
Porsche 928 S4 Bonneville Special
When it comes to land speed records speed is measured to the fifth decimal place (hundred thousandths). So when Carl Fausett’s Porsche 928 hit 216.63537 MPH, that was more than enough to capture the title of World’s Fastest Porsche 928 (previously set at 206 MPH). It happend on August 7, 1986 with Al Holbert behind the wheel.
Porsche shipped one of its experimental 'All-aluminum' 928S to the Brumos Racing Team for the 1984 24 hours of Daytona with the instructions not to modify the car in any way. Porsche desired to promote the performance of the 928 in the U.S. The drivers were given specific instructions to just 'drive the car'.
Porsche 928 Long Wheelbase Specials
In collaboration with tuning company AMG, in 1986 Porsche created several long-wheelbase 928 specials. These models had normal 928 headlights until the Porsche 942. One was given as a gift to American Sunroof Corporation founder and CEO Heinz Prechter. The ASC was eventually part responsible for making Porsche 944 S2 cabriolets.
The Max Moritz 'Semi Works' 928 GTR
Porsche's Racing Department never officially entered or prepared a racing 928 for a pure works entry. In order not to offend sensibilities of their traditional 911 customers by openly challenging them with a Works 928GTR offering, Porsche asked Max Moritz Racing, their longtime private racing partner from next door Reutlingen to enter a 928GTR Cup as a 'semi-works' car.
Porsche 942
The Porsche 942 was a special edition of 928 submitted by the company as a gift to Ferry Porsche on his 75th birthday in 1984. Also known by name 928-4, 928S, it had an additional 254 mm wheelbase than the normal 928 production model, including an extended roof over the rear seats to better accommodate tall passengers, headlights very advanced technology, the motor 5 liter 32 valves before introduced to the U.S. market.
Not much is known about the Strosek 928 S4 Gullwing. All Strosek models were designed with body styling and aerodynamics in mind. As you can see from the images it is clearly the case for this 928.
Porsche 928 Pikes Peak Special
In 2007, 2008 and 2009 American racing driver Carl Fausett took his specially prepared and supercharged 1978 Porsche 928 to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and competed in the Open Division. Fausett placed third in the Open Division in both 2007 and again in 2009, where he was also the fastest 2WD car. At that time, much of the race course was gravel.
In 1987 Porsche experimented with a long-wheel-base 928 called the H50 that accommodated four doors and full-size rear seats. It was built on the then recently released S4 platform with the 330 bhp V8. Two different versions of the H50 were made, one as a station wagon and another as a hatchback. Porsche was pretty serious about testing the car and put it though 5000 miles of testing

Porsche 928 Performance Overview

The V8 powered Porsche 928 was a fast car and the below numbers show you just how quick. The original 928 was not the quickest Porsche at the time and was also faster than the rivaling Mercedes SLC and Jaguar XJS. It also bridged the gap between GT and sports car better than others, thanks to the outstanding roadholding and poise. The smooth revving V8 and its good spread of torque were also popular points of praising by contemporary road testers. Performance improved over the years thanks mainly to larger and more advanced engines being added. Below, we have broken out performance by year, engine and transmission combination as well as by region. To see the full performance stats, simply click on any row and it will open all the information and data.

Porsche 928 Research and Data

Porsche 928 Data, Research & More

Performance and technical specifications data as well as access to Porsche 918 sales brochures and equipment and options codes. You name it, we have it.

Porsche 928 Engine & Transmission

Engine codes and final drive ratios are very exciting reading around here at Stuttcars so we decided to share the excitement with our readers. Need engine and transmission codes for your Porsche 928? How about some mechanical drawings of all the 928s.

Porsche 928 Sales & Parts Catalogs

Free to download Porsche 928 brochures. We have both sales brochures for the 928 as well as parts catalogs. The sales brochures give you a great look into how Porsche positioned the 928 in its sales materials. The parts catalogs are an invaluable tool for finding the information you need for replacements and DIY work.

The Porsche 928 - A Deep Dive

What makes the Porsche 928 so special? We take you back...

Porsche 928 Model Timelines & Evolution
Porsche 928 (1978-1982) Profile - Large
Porsche 928 S Profile - Large
Porsche 928 S4 Profile - Large
Porsche 928 GT Profile - Large
Porsche 928 GTS Profile - Large

Porsche 928 News & Updates

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