PORSCHE 928

DESIGNED TO SAVE A STRUGGLING PLATFORM THE 928 GAVE THE FRONT-ENGINED SERIES PROPER CLOUT

In the early 1970s Porsche CEO Ernst Fuhrmann and his senior management team must have had a big session on some high octane schnapps, coming up with the notion it was time to farewell the 911 that had served the company so well since1964.

In a radical departure from making small, light, nimble, bare-bone sports cars and convertibles with rear-mounted, powerful, air-cooled flat four and six cylinder engines, Porsche saw their future in premium 2+2 coupes with the engine at the wrong end, (for a Porsche) and cooled by water.

While today it’s easy to look back in wonderment at Fuhrmann and his merry men (and the schnapps) for their thinking, there was a good degree of logic to the decision.

North America was the Porsche 911’s lifeline and in 1966 the enaction of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act gave the government extraordinary powers. In the early 1970s legislation was mooted that would have quashed the Porsche 911, hence the coupes. Luckily it never eventuated and the 911 continues, very successfully to this day.

First up was the 924 that saw daylight in 1976. Originally a joint venture between Volkswagen and Audi that was discarded, the 924 was built by Audi for Porsche as a new entry-level into the brand. But, the 2+2 coupe was underpowered, underwhelming, unloved and utterly unPorsche.

Six years later came the 944 with a new look, a bigger more powerful four-cylinder engine and the hope that it would have greater appeal. It did win more hearts and buyers but