Porsche 928

The vehicle in detail

THE ICONIC 911 COULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH THE PORSCHE 928

The Porsche 928 is a luxury grand tourer produced between 1978 and 1995 and was the marques’ first V8 car. The intention of the car was to replace the Porsche 911, the car Porsche is most famous for. Porsche believed the 928 would appeal to a much wider audience because of its refinement and comfort, rather than the compactness and quirkiness of the 911.

Ernst Fuhrmann and Ferdinand Porsche were among a group of executives that considered to add a more luxurious car to their line-up. When Fuhrmann noticed the sales figures of the Porsche 911 slowly tumbling down, he concluded the model was approaching the end of its economic life cycle. He put pressure on Ferdinand to start making decisions in regards to the Porsche 928.

The car was revealed at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show and was immediately praised for its comfort and power. However, the sales began slowly, mainly because the base prices were much higher than the previous range-topping 911 model. Purists did not liked the front-engine, water-cooled design of the car.

Back then, that group of executives had no idea of how iconic their 911 would become in the upcoming years. Peter Schutz – replacement of managing director Ernst Fuhrmann – saved the 911 when he noticed the sales figures weren’t as high as expected. He decided that the models should be sold side by side, because both cars had a very different driving experience. Although the 928 never became the success Fuhrmann envisioned, it was in production for over 18 years.