RE: Porsche 928: Catch it while you can
Discussion
RoverP6B said:
Didn't Clarkson have a white 928 for a Top Gear episode which was very slow and smoky and eventually expired more-or-less catastrophically at the roadside in clouds of smoke?
after he painted it matt black.He could kill a brand new Toyota Yaris in a day with out crashing it = zero mechanical sympathy for cars that not his own.
The 928, I'd have a late manual
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mike150 said:
I owned 2 928's over the years, a 1980 manual S in make blue when I was just 20 years old and........an 88 S4 Sport in silver, the only one ever made I think and one of only about 30 S4 Sports.
You mean SE, right? I've never heard of a 928 S4 'Sport'. Though mine did come with a 'Sport' sticker on the back which I assumed was a stupid amateur addition.[/wishful thinking]
The rarest and to me the best 928 ever.
For my tuppence worth I don't think there's any doubt these over engineered cruisers are going to appreciate, it's just by how much. But the first killing is already off the table, 5 years ago I was seeing them for 5 or 6 k. The real trick would be to identify the enjoyable cars to have and drive, which are at the bottom of the curve. Quentin Wilson was having a fair stab at that on his classics show. I'd say BMW 840/850 is looking pretty undervalued still. Not nearly as fast as it really should be for a big V8, but a very good car The one I most regret seeing in the value pit is the NSX. A great opportunity horribly missed, whilst I drove a relatively boring 320d.
RoverP6B said:
I just can't get over how ugly the thing is, inside and out. Yeah, it was very futuristic back in nineteen-seventy-what, but it looks horribly dated now... and the immensely long timing belt is asking for trouble. From what I've seen and heard of people's experiences with the 928, including Top Gear buying some utter dogs, it seems to be the case that it may be cheap to buy but it certainly isn't cheap to run, and it's not currently worth enough to make restoration cost-effective. Maybe in the 2020s we'll all be ruing the day we failed to buy that £5000 928 and park it up awaiting restoration...
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about... Briefly on the looks - in 12yrs of ownership I am yet to be told that any of my 928s look ugly. Quite the opposite - even die-hard 911 owners have complimented them.
How is the long timing belt asking for trouble? Do you have any mechanical aptitude or you just like talking rubbish for the sake of it? So, Ferraris like the F355 or the 550 are also likely to be trouble? Or Audi V8s? Any car which is not maintained is asking for trouble.
The rest of the comments about Top Gear and restoration/running costs just confirm that you Sir, are a total dilettante when it comes to cars.
loafer123 said:
Looking at 928 pricing, it is still a cheap, well engineered and pretty supercar. The competition for me at the same price point was much worse value for money and I would see more vulnerability elsewhere the market, and even specifically in the Porsche market.
+1The GT in particular is as much fun as a manual F355, but less fragile. Epic soundtrack too.
Enough 928s have had to undergo major engine rebuilds because the belt has stretched or even snapped.
Looks are subjective, I can't stand the 928 in stock form. A wide-body conversion, if well-done, goes some way toward remedying its anaemic lines. A rear spoiler is a must, helps break up the horrible rear end which reminds me of the Chrysler Crossfire - no rear deck, just windscreen sloping straight into the rear of the car... some kind of fixed-headlamp conversion would also help, because those pop-ups are just stupid. The interior is pretty nasty too...
Personally, I'd rather have an R129 SL600. Much nicer.
Looks are subjective, I can't stand the 928 in stock form. A wide-body conversion, if well-done, goes some way toward remedying its anaemic lines. A rear spoiler is a must, helps break up the horrible rear end which reminds me of the Chrysler Crossfire - no rear deck, just windscreen sloping straight into the rear of the car... some kind of fixed-headlamp conversion would also help, because those pop-ups are just stupid. The interior is pretty nasty too...
Personally, I'd rather have an R129 SL600. Much nicer.
RoverP6B said:
Enough 928s have had to undergo major engine rebuilds because the belt has stretched or even snapped.
Yes. Lazy and cheapskate owners not renewing the belt at scheduled intervals. Exactly the same principal as any Ferrari with belts.False economy.
928 is better engineered than same era Ferrari.
RoverP6B said:
Enough 928s have had to undergo major engine rebuilds because the belt has stretched or even snapped.
This is getting silly now... How many 928s have you rebuild due to snapped/stretched timing belts? The late S2, S4 and GT/GTS have a pretty sophisticated belt tension warning system, which compensates for engine temperature and is also connected to an idiot light on the dash. If it came on and you did not check the belt tension/condition and then it jumped a tooth or was shredded, I am sorry, but you only have yourself to blame. Most shredded belts have been due to improper tension or seized water pumps, so the length of the belt has nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, having had to replace the stupid plastic chain tensioners that BMW employed on the M60/M62/S62 engine family, I'd rather have a belt driven engineRoverP6B said:
Personally, I'd rather have an R129 SL600. Much nicer.
Have you actually driven one? The Lorinser SL500 that I had was properly set up, with Lorinser cams, headers and suspension. And yet, it was still a big ole bus and could not hold a candle dynamically to a S4 Auto, let alone a GT or GTS 5-spd. A 600SL is actually a worse steer than a SL500, because the V12, good as it is weighs about as much as Big Ben and while great for straight line speed, makes for an understeering pig. But the only way to know the above is to drive one. I have, you haven't...The 928 does have a warning light which tells you if the belt is slack ( has a warning light for nearly everything to be fair), but any belt not correctly tensioned on an interference engine such as the later 928's and others will have a shorter lifespan. If you do not know the history change the belt, as said previous this applies not just to 928's but any belt car such as Ferrari's etc. I see the poster above me replied whilst I was typing with similar comments.
Edited by dictys on Friday 2nd October 16:45
Ageless design? I parked mine at a local gardens recently and a guy asked me if it was a new car, obviously not a car buff but shows it can still look modern. He was amazed that mine is 25 years old and incidentally is also a Japanese import. It's my 4th and none of the previous 3 have been in such good condition so this one is a keeper.
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