"A lovely car to own and drive today": why the classic Porsche 928 S is a hero

The first car I ever went fast in was a Porsche 928. An S4 automatic. I can’t remember the colour, but I do remember the gearbox. I was maybe 15, off to watch rallycross at Brands Hatch, and I lucked into the front seat of a mate’s dad’s 928. I remember the acceleration, the noise, the glamour and excitement of it, but what I recall most vividly is that the automatic ’box kicked down two gears when he booted it on the M25. I remember getting home and telling my dad about this mechanical feat. He didn’t believe it was possible.

That 928 ride was an absolutely formative experience for me. I just thought this elegant, fast, sporty coupe was wonderful. And I wasn’t the only one. Not only is it the only Porsche to have won Car of the Year (in 1978), it’s also the only sports car to have ever won. The jury, like me, was clearly persuaded of the 928's merits.

Unfortunately, the buying public wasn’t. The 928 came along because Porsche executives weren’t sure how much more they could develop the 911. Here was a more conventional front-engined car, powered by a more traditional water-cooled engine. It was more comfortable, luxurious, and safer. The thinking was that the 928 would, in time, replace the 911. Ho, ho.

Photography: John Wycherley

It was on sale for 18 years in total, with over 61,000 built. It wasn’t a disaster but... it never did replace the 911 (62 years and counting, somewhere around 1.4 million built). It also didn’t help that when the 928 first went on sale in the UK it was priced at £19,499, when a 911 3.0SC was £10,870.

The 928 proposition was so different that it sat quite nicely alongside the 911 in showrooms and gave Porsche a formidable lineup with which to take on rivals such as the Mercedes SEC, BMW 6 Series and Jaguar XJ-S. Despite offering a 4.5-litre V8, it was priced alongside the BMW, and healthily undercut the Mercedes.

And of course Porsche soon upped the ante. This car, the 928 S, followed in 1981 with a 4.7-litre 300bhp V8. Despite its place in my heart, I’d never driven a 928. It’s a very different proposition to a 911 of the same period. Much smoother, calmer, less urgent, agile and communicative. But I did recently drive another car that the 928 competes with: Jaguar’s XJ-S. And compared with that, the 928 is urgent, communicative and very, very agile.

Both might be powerful front-engined grand tourers, but there the similarities stop. Everything about the 928 feels fresher and more sophisticated. The XJ-S came across as a car burdened by the past – the cabin was made of wood and hope, it should have worn an HMS badge and it was as sporty as a tank top. 

The Porsche understood its brief so much better. It had to deliver speed, soak up distance and be rewarding to drive. It still does all that – not to modern standards of course, but there is something about the way the 928 goes about its business with such relaxed confidence that makes me think this would be a lovely car to own and drive today.

Manual gearbox, dog-leg first. The shift is long and not the sharpest, but it’s such a suitable way to access the performance of the mill smooth yet growlingly tuneful V8. It rides well, has a beautiful sense of balance and flow, and I love the way it looks outside and in. Red wine leather deserves a comeback, so does pinstripe trim, and the four-spoke steering wheel and telephone dial alloys are just so iconic to me. I even love the idiosyncrasies such as the headlight angle adjustment and volume knob being sited down on the door sill.

It’s a properly good car, the 928. The kind that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Money pits are out there for under £15,000. Concours cars like this one are silly money – upwards of £70k. But there’s a sweet spot around the £25–£35,000 mark. Although I suspect the maintenance and running costs are hideous. About the only thing that is, though.

Specs: £25,000 (price now, £25,250 when new in 1981), 4,664cc V8, 296bhp, 6.6secs, 155mph, 1,450kg

Hero: Drives as sweetly as it looks. Extra points for red wine leather

Zero: Never got the success it deserved during its life