Autoblog

Retro greatness in UK promo film for 1980 Porsche 928

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Porsche, Luxury

Porsche invested remarkably in the 928, introduced in 1978, planning for it to supersede the by-then 15-year-old 911. It had a transaxle to keep weight balance 50/50, an instrument binnacle that tilted with the steering wheel, sun visors for rear passengers, polyurethane bumpers that, compared to the chromed monstrosities of the day, actually maintained the car's lines, and some of the coolest pop-up headlights ever. Its front-mounted V8 with 297 horsepower got 82 more ponies than the Ferrari 308 GTB. We also particularly like how much the 928 looks like a futuristic spacecraft mixing it up in period traffic, as it makes every other car shown look like it was drawn with an antique T-square.

To sell the car to UK customers in 1980, Porsche put together an eight-minute clip that spent as much time on the innovations as it did on women shopping, golfing and driving through a lot of castle driveways - lifestyle marketing clearly isn't new for the Stuttgart automaker.

If you're ready for "an impression of what motoring in its finest form is like" from the days when you could just "phone your local Porsche dealer, tell him you want a drive and he'll take care of the rest," there's a video for you after the jump.

Continue reading Retro greatness in UK promo film for 1980 Porsche 928

Retro greatness in UK promo film for 1980 Porsche 928 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Motorcyclists take revenge on hapless Porsche 928

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:56:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Safety, Videos, Porsche, Motorcycle

The roadways can be a dangerous place to be, no matter what type of vehicle is moving you and yours to and fro. Though cars and trucks are getting safer year after year, the same can't necessarily be said of motorcycles. While advances like anti-lock brakes, traction control and even airbags have made modern motorcycles easier to ride, it's no surprise which vehicle generally wins when a car and a motorcycle collide.

That's where the proper safety gear comes into play. In order to maximize safety when riding on two (or three) wheels, a rider needs to cover him or herself in the full spate of riding apparel, and companies like Icon Motorsports fill that need. Thing is, motorcyclists tend to be an interesting bunch, and appealing to their sense and sensibilities isn't easy.

Hence, the video you'll see after the break.* In it, a super cool dude with a ratty Porsche 928 has locked himself firmly in the '80s and doesn't give a single thought to anyone else, including a pair of Harley-Davidson Sportster-mounted bikers, ably played by Rob Carpenter and Chris Rayburn. Mayhem ensues. Oh, and as is often the case in the real world, the motorcyclist gets the girl.

If you like the production values, check out a couple more Icon videos that we've featured on Autoblog in the past.

*Professional riders, closed course, etc.

Continue reading Motorcyclists take revenge on hapless Porsche 928

Motorcyclists take revenge on hapless Porsche 928 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Porsche 928 revival on Panamera platform rumored anew

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:56:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Porsche, Rumormill, Luxury

Porsche 928S - Click above for high-res image gallery

Take a look at Porsche's lineup and you'll notice one great big gaping hole. There are sportscars of every flavor - hardtops and convertibles ranging from the Boxster to the Cayman and nearly every conceivable iteration of the iconic 911 the inventive minds in Stuttgart can think up - along with two differently sized crossovers and one high-performance sedan.

So, what's the problem? There isn't a single grand touring coupe in the mix.

As such, it's not surprising that rumors of a Porsche 928 revival have been spreading like wildfire across the dry plains of the internet over the last several years. The logical reasoning sees Porsche shortening its Panamera platform and ejecting the rear seat to make such a grand touring coupe, which would leave the manufacturer with a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive machine in the tradition of its old 928.

According to the Brits at Autocar, such a beast could be christened, rather imaginatively, 929 and be ready for the market as early as 2014, coinciding with the launch of the second-generation Panamera. For those not keeping track, it's widely thought that same platform could spawn a new coupe to join the Bentley Continental, and if that's the case, development costs could be split between Bentley and Porsche, which both operate under the massive Volkswagen umbrella of influence.

Just as interestingly, rumor has it that, in addition to compacting it for a coupe, Porsche has ideas of lengthening the Panamera platform and is also considering a shooting brake.

Porsche 928 revival on Panamera platform rumored anew originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rumormill: Porsche to collaborate with Bentley?

Jeff Glucker — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:38:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Bentley, Porsche, Rumormill

Porsche and Bentley are related under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, and a new rumor suggests that the two might become kissing cousins. Autocar had a chance to speak with Porsche CEO Matthias Müller, and the head honcho of the German sports ~~car~~ vehicle brand says that a collaboration with Bentley could help push future Panamera variants foward. Per Müller,

"I think we have to discuss with Bentley whether we can put together our performance, our engineers. It should be possible."

He goes on to state that sticking to just a four-door sports car is boring. The Panamera should be revised into a handful of iterations, and Müller uses terms like "van", "combi" and "longer." If you are a Porsche loyalist, we'll give you a minute to restart your heart.

One variant we hope the Brits and the Germans can breathe life into? A Porsche 928. There have been rumors and speculation for years now, so perhaps this inter-brand teamwork is just what the doctor (would have) ordered.
[Source: Autocar]

Rumormill: Porsche to collaborate with Bentley? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

eBay Find of the Day: Turbine-powered 1982 Porsche 928 spits flames, takes names

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:07:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions, Videos

1982 Porsche 928 with a Boeing T50 turbine engine - Click above for image gallery, watch video after the jump

How often are you going to see the phrase "Flame Shooter" in an eBay Motors description? And of those instances, how often will the seller be referring to flames that emerge a Boeing T50 turbine shoved under the hood? This is one of those instances, wherein a fellow has installed a 350-horsepower turbine from a Vietnam-War-era QH50 helicopter drone in the engine bay of a 1982 Porsche 928.

In addition to the coupe retaining its conveniences like heating and air conditioning, the car is supposedly used as a daily driver. You might be able to do the same, but since the Porsche generates 130 dB at idle and the temperature around the exhaust is 517 degrees - before you turn on the afterburners - it might only be meant for daily driving in places with very kind neighbors. Or another planet. It does, however, get 17 mpg... of jet fuel.

You'll find a gallery of images below, and be sure to check out the start-up videos after the jump. The seller wants $20,000 for it, and while that might sound a little steep, it's a Porsche with a frickin' turbine, and professionally done at that. FYI, it doesn't come with a warranty. But you probably suspected that anyway.

Gallery: Turbine-powered 1982 Porsche 928

[Source: eBay, YouTube]

Continue reading eBay Find of the Day: Turbine-powered 1982 Porsche 928 spits flames, takes names

eBay Find of the Day: Turbine-powered 1982 Porsche 928 spits flames, takes names originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Has Porsche accidently revealed the next 928?

Dan Roth — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:36:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Porsche, Rumormill, Design/Style

This is not a new Porsche 928. It's just an interesting sketch, found posted on the internet at Porsche Consulting's website. There are some new rumors about a two-door GT in the same vein of the Porsche 928, and this sketch is similar to some of the renderings that have been floating around. Of course, you toss a bunch of Porsche design elements in a blender, and it wouldn't be hard to come up with this vehicle.

The takeaway here is that there are likely hundreds, even thousands of drawings floating about in Stuttgart that show cars with no true bearing on production reality. Despite rumors that Porsche is working on a new 928 that may be a Panamera variant, it'd be a stretch to believe that this sketch represents anything about that project, barring specific knowledge. If it helps you sleep at night, go ahead and ascribe undue importance to it, but until anyone knows more, remember that this is just a cool picture on a website. Thanks for the tip, Ian!

[Source: Porsche Consulting]

Has Porsche accidently revealed the next 928? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More rumors of Porsche Panamera 928 GT

Sam Abuelsamid — Wed, 12 May 2010 09:31:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Porsche, Design/Style

Not long after Porsche announced that it would be building the car that ultimately became the Panamera, rumors of a revival of the 928 began. Porsche's last front-engine GT went out of production in 1995, and it certainly would certainly make sense to reuse the new front-engine car platform for a coupe. If the car, which could be called the Panamera GT, does come to fruition, it will likely go on a shorter wheelbase and perhaps be lighter than the four door.

Hopefully, if the coupe is built Porsche's designers will decide that it's no longer necessary to accommodate six-foot-three-inch former CEO Wendelin Weideking in the back seat. That would allow for a far more graceful roof-line than the humpbacked Panamera. Now would be the time to start crossing all those fingers and toes.

[Source: L'Automobile Magazine]

More rumors of Porsche Panamera 928 GT originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 12 May 2010 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rendered Speculation: Porsche 928 successor

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:27:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Porsche, Luxury

Click image above to enlarge

If all the rumors, wishes and Internet chatter about a new Porsche 928 can actually make the car happen, we are all for it - there are few automobiles we miss as lustily as the 1992-1995 928 GTS. We do know that Porsche has seven new models in the works and a 928 successor could be one of them, but until we have something more substantial to go on it looks like we're in for a slew of crowd-sourced renderings.

The above is from Teamspeed forum member Wildspeed, who's done a thorough job of melding Panamera and early 928 cues with a bit of flourish around the front wheel wells. If it comes in a manual version we'll consider it. You can have a better look at it in the high-res image and let us know what you think of Wildspeed's 928 and the GT's speculators in Comments.

[Source: Teamspeed via Carscoop]

Rendered Speculation: Porsche 928 successor originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rendered Speculation: More Porsche 928 noise

Jonny Lieberman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:27:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Porsche

The Brits at AutoExpress (essentially The Sun of car-related sites) have rendered Porsche's supposed 928 successor, and as expected, their report is rife with speculation, innuendo and conjecture.

According to AE, the big sports car would basically be a two-door Panamera positioned above the 911 because it hauls more luggage. Put another way, this reborn 928 would be an actual grand tourer and compete with the likes of other GTs. Think of it as a Ferrari 599 more than a 458 Italia. Naturally -- and with the big turbocharger not so naturally -- all of the Panamera's engine choices will be present. The range topper gets AWD just like the high end Panamera Turbo. And a hybrid powertrain using an Audi supercharged V6 and an electric motor will also be available. Hey -- why not?

One thing AutoExpress can't answer is what Porsche will call the car. 928 might seem nice and logical to us, but remember what Porsche has been doing since the Boxster -- using actual names. Boxster, Cayenne, Carrera GT, Cayman and lastly Panamera. So it goes to figure that only the 911 will be retaining it's numeric naming convention should a new car come to pass. We're going to go ahead and suggest Soldado, especially if they're sticking with the Spanish theme (Cayenne, Panamera). Again, hey, why not?

[Source: AutoExpress]

Rendered Speculation: More Porsche 928 noise originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Loder1899 heats up Ford's already cookin' Focus RS

Jonny Lieberman — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:29:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Performance, Europe, Hatchback, Ford

Loder1899 Focus RS - click above image for hi-res gallery

Here at the Autoblog, we get accused of many things. From somehow making a living off of the Ford Mustang to dating other male journalists to "FAIL!" we've heard it all. In fact, we hear the latter a lot. One that particularly sticks in our collective craw is the accusation that we somehow prefer American aftermarket tuners to foreign ones. So untrue. It's really a matter of access, as in all the American tuners live here in America (where we do) and they let us drive their cars around. It's hard to do that when a PR budget is tiny and the car's in Dusseldorf. Also, sometimes, things are lost in translation -- we'll get to that later.

Case in point - here's a car we'd give canines and molars to drive - in stock form. Meet the Loder1899 Ford Focus RS. The oddly named German tuner took Ford's 300 horsepower hottie Focus and, to quote Emeril, kicked it up a notch by BAMMING the output to 345 hp. Which is exactly as much horsepower as the Porsche 928 was making in 1995, the last year of its run. And the Porsche had a 5.4-liter V8.

The Loder1899 Focus RS has but five cylinders, less than half the porker's displacement (a scant 2.5-liters and one humdinger of a turbocharger). However, they've added a Y-pipe for greater growling, a new air filter for better breathing and dropped the ride height by 35 mm (a bit more than an inch). The tires are filled with nitrogen and we love the wheels, too. Plus, they left the Insanity Green or whatever that color's called. Sounds and looks like this side of fantastic to us.

Oh, we promised you more the lost in translation part later on. Well, while Loder1899 has a whole bunch of information on their hopped up Ford Focus RS on their website, it's all in German. But we're living in 2009 baby - no problemo. Just run that stuff through Google's translator, right? Not exactly... world's first NSFW press release after the jump!

Gallery: Loder1899 Ford Focus RS

[Souce: Loder1899 via EVO]

Continue reading Loder1899 heats up Ford's already cookin' Focus RS

Loder1899 heats up Ford's already cookin' Focus RS originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rumormill: Porsche reconsidering Panamera-based 928 successor?

Noah Joseph — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:27:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Hatchback, Porsche, Rumormill

Porsche 928 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Despite previous reports to the contrary, new reports suggest that Porsche is indeed planning a front-engine coupe to fill the void left in its line-up by the old 928. The original front-engined V8 GT was built by Porsche in various iterations between 1978 and 1995 before it was dropped. Since news of the four-door Panamera's development began circulating, so did rumors of a two-door variant to pick up the 928's mantle, but now that the Panamera has made its official public debut in Shanghai, new accounts suggest that Stuttgart is working on it already.

In this case, according to UK magazine Auto Express, any potential 928 successor would run in parallel, not as a replacement to the 911 (natch). Expect a fastback profile and the mechanicals to carry over largely from the Panamera, while reportedly reduced demand for lower-end Porsches like the Boxster and Caymen would dictate that the new GT would be positioned significantly higher, taking aim at the likes of the Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin DB9. Is there any truth to the reports? Only time will tell, but in the meantime we've assembled a new gallery with high-resolution images of the original Porsche 928 for your nostalgic reminiscence...just click the thumbnails below.

Gallery: Porsche 928 (1978-1995)

[Source: Auto Express]

Rumormill: Porsche reconsidering Panamera-based 928 successor? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

eBay Find of the Day: Porsche 928 T -- as in "Turbine"

Alex Nunez — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:32:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Etc., Europe, Porsche

Click above for photo gallery, watch video after the jump

It doesn't get much simpler than this. Turbine-powered cars are, as a rule, extremely cool. So too are all vintages of the Porsche 928. Therefore, a turbine-powered Porsche 928 is positively... Arctic. Owning this might well cause snowfall in your garage, and you can actually find out, because this divinely-inspired combination is up for grabs on eBay. Better still, the bid at the time of this writing this is a little over six-thousand bucks. I paid more than triple that for each of the last two used cars I've bought, neither of which is a Porsche 928, and neither of which has a Boeing 502-6 turboshaft engine underhood. Sure, it's not for everyone, and the video after the jump suggests that your neighbors might not like the noise so much, but come on. It's a turbine 928. This rules on several levels. Don't miss the hilarious item description and seller Q&A, either. Apparently, this thing use to be new. Neff should buy it to replace his Alero.

Gallery: Turbine-powered Porsche 928

[Source: eBay]

Continue reading eBay Find of the Day: Porsche 928 T -- as in "Turbine"

eBay Find of the Day: Porsche 928 T -- as in "Turbine" originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 May 2008 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Spy Shots: Porsche Panamera and GT Coupe

John Neff — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:03:00 EST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Sedan, Performance, Porsche

While spy shots of a Porsche Panamera mule wearing the skin of a BMW 5-Series are hardly enough to get the gasoline in your blood to boil, shots of a mule reported to be a coupe variant just might. After the debut of the Panamera sedan in late 2009, Porsche is expected to unveil a new front-engine GT coupe in the tradition of the 928. The spy shots of the GT Coupe show a heavily modified 928 body with extended fender flares and a host of technical development gear. The coupe will share around 60 percent of its parts with the Panamera, according to The Car Connection, and ride on a shorted version of the sedan's platform. It will also share the Panamera's engine line-up, transmissions and suspensions. Porsche appears to be aiming the GT Coupe directly at such expensive two-doors as the Bentley Continental GT, BMW M6 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

[Source: The Car Connection]

Spy Shots: Porsche Panamera and GT Coupe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments