• S4 spec with 320bhp • Desirable 16-inch alloys • Stunning Meteor Grey • Good history
The Background
Without the 928, Porsche may well have not made it past the end of the 1970s.
It was a car born out of a need to evolve. In the 1970s, Porsche had concerns that the 911, its flagship, was reaching the end of its lifecycle. Certainly, there had been a decline in sales of the model to suggest as much.
Something had to be done, and Porsche’s managing director Ernst Fuhrmann, was confident he had the answer. Porsche would build a grand tourer. A car that would be the perfect blend of sports car performance and of the luxury found in executive saloons. It would be bigger, it would be more conventional in construction and it would be the car to pick from where the 911 would leave off.
This presented a challenge for Ferdinand Porsche, but he and his team were determined to meet it. As such, the 928 became a significant point in Porsche’s history as it was the first ‘clean sheet’ car the company would design. Remember, the 356 evolved from the Beetle, and the 911 from the 356.
Various ideas were floated, such a mid-engine layout. However, in the end Porsche settled on the conventional front-engine, rear-wheel drive arrangement. And the engine, a V8, was of Porsche design.
The resulting car was a long, low sports grand tourer that could, at a push, seat four. Early cars boasted 237bhp from the naturally-aspirated 4.5 V8, upped to 4.7-litres and 310bhp for 1983. In 1987, the S4 appeared, which is what we have here. It had a 5.0-lite version of the V8 and a healthy 320bhp.
But it wasn’t the power that sold the 928 - it was the looks. The sleek, fuss-free, bumperless design was like nothing else. It used aluminium wings, bonnet and doors and had circular pop-up lights. It was a spaceship in 1978, and still is today.
History, and contemporary Porsche showrooms tell us the 928 didn’t take over from the 911. Instead, it did something more significant. It bolstered and expanded the Porsche range, it demonstrated what it could do with, quite literally, a clean sheet of paper. The 928 was, make no mistake, a hugely important car.
First registered on the 14th of August 1987 by supplying dealers Swinford Motors of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, the 928 was delivered new to a Mr Baker of Wolverhampton, as a company car for his business.
It then had two long term owners – one in Lancashire and a another in Norfolk, based on the locations of the service and repair invoices. The owner in Norfolk had it for at least a decade, with bills from a very highly regarded Porsche specialist in Norwich suggesting he also maintained it diligently.
In 2009 it went to Northern Ireland and returned to England again in 2015, to an owner who kept it for six years but barely used it.
The current owner acquired it this summer and never bought it as a ‘keeper’ – he lives inside London’s ultra-low emissions zone, and he wanted to try and enjoy an S4 as a last hurrah while he still could. But now it needs to go, to make way for a historic class car that is ULEZ exempt.
There is a current V5C in the vendor's name and a valid Mot certificate expiring in May 2022.
The original Porsche folder is present containing the driver’s handbook, service history, dealer directory, audio guide and an old Approved Used policy booklet.
Servicing appears to have been carried out by main dealers or specialists through the 1990s and through the 2000s by a Porsche specialist in Norwich. There are invoices for work carried out most recently in 2016 and 2018, where the car was fully serviced and has only covered a few hundred miles since.
Finished in smart Meteor Grey, this is a great looking car in one of the best colours.
The paint is good overall, but with a few areas where there are microblisters, suggesting it has been repainted (or partially so) in the past.
It appears solid in all the important areas – the sills, the arches, the door pillars are all fine – though we were unable to get underneath the car to fully report on the chassis condition. It has a good MOT history, though, and looked very sound as far as we could see.
The wheels are all in good fettle and look great – the 16-inch S4 ones always do – and the tyres are all decent and legal.
Trimmed in contrasting cream and black, the 928’s futuristic cabin is in good used condition, with no major deterioration and a gentle patina to the leather, steering wheel and major controls, the worst being a crack in the boot release button by the driver’s seat.
The cream carpets are protected by grey over mats and are in fine order, as are the dashboard and door cards, while all of the control (including those wonderful pop-up lamps) work as they ought to.
The 5.0-litre V8 fires up instantly and sounds great, settling to a steady idle almost immediately and holding good oil pressure. It’s a little smoky when first started, but this soon clears and it runs well.
The vendor reports that it drives exactly as it should, engaging all gears and steering and braking as it should, with what he describes as ‘impressive performance’.
Interest in 928s is on the rise, and good examples are starting to attract some proper collector attention. It’s a car that deserves that, too, as it is such an important model in Porsche’s history, as well as being a wonderful, weird and delightful car to own and drive.
This is a great example. It’s not concours, but it’s a very smart one and is the best specification for its era, with the biggest engine and the most power.
We’re seeing that 928 values are only going one way, so now is the time to grab a depreciation-proof investment that’s also enormous fun.
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1988 Porsche 928 S4
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