Porsche 928 Walkaround

About six years ago I wrote about the 1978 Porsche 928 here, but didn't have much to say about its design.  So it's about time for a Walkaround post.

Wikipedia offers this background material.  Tony Lapine was Posrche's styling chief at the time the 928 was developed.  Wikipedia credits Wolfgang Möbius as being most involved with its design, though Lapine surely played an important role.

Interestingly, Lapine cites Giugiaro's 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo concept car as an influence for the 928.

It seems that the 928's front-mounted, water-cooled V-8 motor concept was decided on due to fears that cars with air-cooled, rear-mounted motors would be banned in the near future via government legislation.  So Porsche need to have an alternative available, just in case.  Porsche 911 sales were weakening at the time, and that was another reason for trying something different.

Porsche 928s were priced higher than 911s, and that kept sales counts down.  So did the drastic power train change -- something that upset many Porsche fans and potential buyers: "Real Porsches must have read-mounted, flat, air cooled engines!"

That said, 928s and variations were produced for many years despite their comparatively low sales, while today's Porsche sports cars continue to have air-cooled motors mounted at the rear or middle.

Photos of the subject car are via Bring a Trailer auctions.

Gallery

As mentioned in two of the above links, this 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Testudo concept car (RM Sotheby's photo) helped inspire Tony Lapine when he was directing styling of the 928.  The Testudo was built by Bertone and designed by the young Giorgetto Giugiaro, his first design project where he had a free hand, according to the Testudo link.  No doubt that was because it was a concept car, not a production model.  Oddly, the Corvair had a power train similar to that of the classic Porsche 356s and 911s, and not the 928.

Porsche 928s looked distinctly different from classic 356 and 911 models.  No doubt that was intentional, given the drastic power train difference.  Lapine probably thought he was establishing a new design language for the brand.  If that was the intention, I don't think it was strong enough or distinctive enough to have the long-term carrying power of the earlier Porsche theme.

As for Testudo similarity, I sense it mostly on the curved front fenderline that becomes the beltline at the door.

From this perspective, the most distinctive elements are the after side windows and backlight window with the narrow C-pillar connecting them.

Rear design is clean, with the elements relating to one another -- note how the hatchback side cutlines are repeated by the inner edges of the tail light assemblies.  Present-day rear end designs usually lack this coherence.

Also noteworthy is the complete lack of brightwork on this car.

Thanks to the wide B-pillar (a pseudo-"Targa" ?) and fastback motif, the after part of the design is "heavier" than, say, a notchback or bustle back alternative might have been.  That said, the fastback segment is nearly flat, not curved, so the potential visual weight is lessened.

All this considered, the Porsche 928 has a fine, professional design.  Though not, in my judgment, an exciting design.

Headlights pivot upwards when turned on, creating aerodynamic disturbance.  The sort of thing I experienced with my '71 Porsche 914.