Our featured automobile is the 1980 Porsche 928. This is a model that differed quite a lot from the Porsche 911.
The Porsche 928 was built alongside the popular 911.The 911 project began in the late 1950’s, headed by Ferdinand Porsche’s son, Ferry. It was designed to be a larger, faster replacement for the rear-engine 356 sport coupe which was introduced to the world back in 1950.
The Porsche 928 History and Design
The Porsche 928 is an automobile made by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995, during which time it was their most expensive offering. The earliest 928’s featured a single-overhead-cam 4.5-liter, all-alloy V-8 that, with catalysts and an air pump for the U.S. market, produced 219hp.
There was a time when the Porsche 928 was the fastest street legal production car offered in America. The 928 has the distinction of being Porsche’s first mass produced V8 model, and it’s only coupe model with a front mounted V8 engine.
So why was this new liquid cooled engine introduced into the Porsche lineup? Porsche designed it’s new front engine car to address some of the difficulties with air-cooled rear-engines. For one, the front engine Porsche made room for required catalysts and mufflers. It was subsequently decided that the two cars would be sold side by side.
So which model, the Porsche 911 or Porsche 928, was the company’s flagship model? There is not really universal agreement pertaining to the 928’s position as Porsche’s flagship model. Some believe that the 911 has always been the Porsche’s flagship, even during production when both were produced side by side.
The Porsche 928 is considered a grand touring car, although it’s combination of a powerful V8 engine and 50/50 weight distribution made it a worthy sports />