Porsche Perfection – The Nardone 928

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Dale Vinten

In the midst of the current trend for electrifying classic cars it’s refreshing to see a company still doing restomods the old fashioned way; by improving and updating what was already a pretty special car, bringing it up to modern standards and squeezing as much usable performance out of the thing as possible, all the while remaining true to its original spirit and retaining that beating, petrol-filled heart. Imagine our exuberant joy, then, when French restomod startup Nardone Automotive decided to give the Porsche 928 a bit of a tickle. And by tickle we mean a full on fingers in the ribs, feathers on the soles of your feet kind of deal.

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The project is spearheaded by Thierry Nardone who not only lends his name to proceedings but also his significant passion and exuberance for Porsches in general. A die-hard fan of the transaxle 928 Nardone’s fervour borders on obsession, a word he himself uses to illustrate his feelings towards the award winning German Grand Tourer.

The 928 has always been a little different from other Porsches, a stand out track if you will. It was the first time Porsche had ever utilised a V8 in a production car for one, something they wouldn’t do again until the Cayenne SUV in 2002. 45 years after the 928 debuted in ’77 with its eight-cylinder engine there are now currently seven Porsche models in the range that have a V8 under the bonnet: three different iterations of the Panamera and four versions of the Cayenne. Oh how things have changed.

Back in ’77, when the 928 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, punters and journalists alike were astounded by the car’s futuristic looks as well as how technologically advanced the thing was. With an aluminium engine, rear-mounted gearbox and galvanised steel and aluminium aerodynamic body the 928 looked good and drove well, thanks largely to its perfect 50:50 weight distribution – a result of its transaxle layout helping to distribute the bulk of the drivetrain to the rear.

Intended as a successor to the 911 the 928 became Porsche’s flagship model and although it was a more laid back affair, despite similar real-world performance to the 911, purists didn’t take to this new setup, instead lamenting the move from a rear-mounted, air cooled six-cylinder. Much like Thierry Nardone today, Porsche saw room for improvement and in 1980 it increased the capacity of the original 240bhp engine from 4.5 to 4.7-litres, upping power to 295bhp and sticking an “S” on the boot.

Further performance improvements were implemented over the 928’s 18 year production run culminating in the GT and GTS models in the ’90s. Having expanded to 5.0-litres with double the amount of valves per cylinder in the S4 in ’87, the V8 had now peaked at 5.4-litres producing around 350bhp. What Nardone is doing, then, is effectively picking up where Porsche left off and continuing the evolution of a car that never got the successor it deserved. That is until now.

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The Nardone 928 isn’t just a case of a few bolt on parts and a mechanical fettle. What Thierry and his team are doing is re-imagining the 928 as a tailor-made GT car, all the while retaining the refinement and excitement that made the thing so special in the first place and focussing on comfort, performance and contemporary luxury. To do this he has surrounded himself with the crème de la crème of professionals from all realms of the automotive landscape, helping him to bring his dream to fruition.

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Engineers have fully upgraded the V8 engine and installed a modern ECU to produce 400bhp of refined, usable power. This isn’t an ego project chasing ridiculous horsepower figures, far from it. Performance is in keeping with the ethos of the original 928 as a luxury grand tourer. Now mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and limited slip diff too the Nardone 928 has all the ingredients it needs to be a truly satisfying and engaging drive. The suspension, steering and braking systems have also been overhauled and modernised. No stone has been left unturned here.

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It’s not just the oily bits that have had a shake up either. You may think that the body of the 928, with its timeless design by Wolfgang Möbius and Anatole Lapine, should remain untouched but Nardone would disagree and the body has been almost entirely re-fabricated using carbon fibre. The lines have been subtly reshaped, accentuating the car’s character without dramatically altering its silhouette. The wings are more muscular, the front and rear lights have been specifically designed and built and the forged 18-inch wheels are a modern take on the original “manhole cover” style alloys.

The interior has also been completely redesigned and master upholsterers have carefully crafted and installed brand new Foglizzo leather and Alcantara, but much like the exterior it’s all still very much 1980’s Porsche inside, at least from an aesthetic perspective. There’s a digital gauge cluster and a modern instrument panel in the centre console that looks period-correct and the car comes with the Porsche Classic Management system (PCCM) as well as a modern a luxury Hi-Fi system and Apple CarPlay.

As expected this all comes at a price. A rather hefty one. Take a deep breath, dear reader, because the Nardone 928 can be yours for €480,000, which doesn’t even include the donor car. Or taxes. Ouch. But then think about what you’re getting. It’s a brand new 928. A bespoke 928. And that’s something rather special.

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There are other people walking the Porsche restomod line; the Singers and Magnus Walkers of the world, but their sole focus is the 911. Nobody is really doing anything like what Nardone is doing with the 928 and that makes an already unique car even more special, especially considering a planned production run of just eight initial examples. Coming in 2024 the Nardone 928 is an ’80s icon for today’s world, and we absolutely love it.

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