THE LAND SHARK
Offering a different driving experience to any of Porsche’s other products, the 928 was the brand’s first sports car designed from a blank canvas. 1984’s 928 S2 is our pick of the pack…
For those new to the world of Porsche, or those who haven’t taken much interest in the manufacturer’s output outside the 911, the following sentence may generate a gasp of surprise: the 928 was the first ‘clean sheet’ Porsche production car. Wait a minute! What about the 356? An evolution of the Beetle. The 911? An evolution of the 911. Aha! The 914! A joint venture between Volkswagen and Porsche. And before you namecheck the 924, the 928’s conceptual design preceded the four-cylinder car by some margin, the pause button pressed on development when the 1973 global oil crisis caused bods in Zuffenhausen to wonder whether a thirsty V8 grand tourer was really what the public wanted at a time the threat of petrol shortages and rocketing pump prices were hot topics of conversation. Besides, as outlined earlier in this issue of 911 & Porsche World, the 924 started life as an abandoned Volkswagen project.
Rear and mid-engine layouts were considered during early 928 development work, but a more conventional layout was decided upon during testing, when a 300bhp five-litre V8 was used to great effect, despite factory engineering boss, Ferdinand Piëch, lobbying for the adoption of a 4.6-litre V10 based on an Audi design. One can only imagine what that flavour of the slippery grand tourer would have been like.
In almost every conceivable way, the original ‘land shark’ was light years ahead of the big-engined sports cars being offered by rival manufacturers. Even today, more than four decades on from launch, the 928 — complete with its unusually integrated bumpers — is unlike any other car. Combining sporty performance, long-distance cruising capability and class-leading comfort, the front-engined, V8-powered Porsche even bagged the coveted European Car of the Year award in 1978, the only sports car
to have done so in the entire history of the competition.
The earliest 928s (Pasha trimmed, if you’re lucky) made use of a 4.5-litre engine, but by the time the last-of-the-line 928 arrived in the form of the GTS (read our buying guide in the March issue of 911 & Porsche World) in 1992, the watercooled, eight-cylinder unit had grown to become a 5.4-litre evolution of the same lump. Between the first and last 928s, but before the five-litre S4 and after the arrival of the 4.7-litre S, lies the S2, a 306bhp model available from 1984 and benefiting from Bosch LH Jetronic fuel injection, a twin-head distributor linked to a high-output EZF ignition system (allowing a higher compression ratio and increased torque), ABS brakes (the first for a Porsche) and a raft of improved safety features.
Interestingly, the S2’s V8 was the final version of the engine to include only sixteen valves. Hydraulic tappets are used, and the camshafts are belt-driven, resulting in what was the longest timing belt ever seen on a series production car. The block is made from Alusil, a hypereutectic aluminium-silicon alloy allowing the 928 to make of incredibly tough cylinder bores suffering low wear — the 928’s V8 is a superbly engineered, low-stress unit capable of covering huge mileage with ease, rewarding with largely fault-free motoring and, in S2 guise, a whopping 410lb-ft torque.
Most 928s (more than eighty percent, in fact) are equipped with an automatic gearbox befitting the nature of a grand tourer, but where early 928s feature a three-speed unit, the S2 was blessed with a four-speed that continued to be used throughout 928 production, well into the 1990s. Developed primarily by Mercedes-benz for its popular SL range, the four-speed is known for its ‘lazy’ operation, but if the unit is used to its full potential, an equivalent 928 with manual transmission will require an extremely skilled driver to keep up.
WALKING THE DOG
The manual gearbox offered on the S2 was a five-speed with a dog-leg racing shift pattern (reverse is where first would ordinarily sit). Like the automatic, the manual gearbox is a robust bit of kit. A
limited-slip differential was also offered as a cost option to original buyers, so keep an eye out for this desirable upgrade when scanning the classifieds.
928 interiors have always featured leather, with most cars displaying cloth pin-striped seat centres. Full leather was, of course, available as an option, and included a trimmed dashboard, centre console, roof lining and sun visors. This is incredibly rare specification costing a huge sum of money when new. The seats are hardwearing, but check to make sure the claimed mileage of the car ties in with the condition of its upholstery.
Like all models in Porsche’s transaxle family of cars, the 928 S2 offers performance and practicality in equal measure. A huge, covered luggage area will keep your suitcases hidden with room to spare, while the rear cabin is far more generous than a same-age 911. If all of this has you rushing online to check popular auction websites for available S2s (and why wouldn’t it?!), we recommend you look for cars built from late 1986, when Porsche began fitting four-piston calipers and bigger discs to the chin-spoilered, rear-winged wonder. Commonly referred to as the ‘86-anda-half in 928 enthusiast circles, it’s the model with all the bells and whistles prior to the introduction of 1987’s S4.
Prices of 928s have risen in recent years, with interest spiking on the occasion of the model’s fortieth anniversary. Since that time, however, the 928 has kept largely under the radar, allowing prices to remain stable. There’s a big jump in what you’ll be required to pay between models, though — tidy examples of the very earliest cars can fetch upward of £30k, as can S4s (though digging around can bag you an S4 in need of attention for £20k) and GTS. Expect to pay nearer £50k for a GTS. Pleasingly, an S2 can be bought for £15k. You’ll pay more for one with a manual transmission, and low-mileage, show-ready examples are certainly creeping up in price right now, but a late S2 with all the bells and whistles remains an exceptional grand tourer at an affordable price point.