Porsche 928

The Porsche 928 is an automobile made by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995, during which time it was their most expensive offering. There is some amount of debate pertaining to the 928's position as Porsche's flagship model, as some consider the 911 to have always been the company's flagship, even during production of the 928. It is often considered a grand touring car, although its combination of a powerful V8 engine and 50/50 weight distribution made it a competent sports car as well; ambiguous advertising on Porsche's part and the fact that the model was intended to supplant the 911 as the companies premier model adds to the difficulty in easily classifing the vehicle.

The 928 was sometimes called either Shark or Land Shark, due both to its shark-like appearance and its ability to 'eat up' large segments of road in very little time.

Conception

By the late 1960s, Porsche had changed significantly as a company, and executives including owner Ferry Porsche were toying with the idea of adding a luxury touring car to the line-up. Managing Director Ernst Fuhrmann was also pressuring Ferdinand to "greenlight" development of the new model in light of personal concerns that the flagship 911 was quickly reaching its maximum potential and that at some point in the next several years it would reach a point where it could no longer be improved upon; slumping sales of the 911 model only fueled his theory. Fuhrmann envisioned the new range-topping model as being the best possible combination of a sports coupe and a luxury sedan, something well equipped and comfortable enough to be easily driven over long distances that also had the power, poise and handling prowess neccesary to be driven like a sports car.

Ordered by Ferry Porsche to come up with a production-feasible concept for his new model, Fuhrmann initiated a design study in 1971, eventually taking from the process the final specs for the 928. Several drivetrain layouts were considered during early development, including rear and mid-engined designs, but most were dismissed because of technical and/or legistative difficulties. Having the engine, transmission, catalytic converter(s) and exhaust all cramped into a small rear engine bay made emission and noise control more difficult, something Porsche was already facing problems with on the 911 and wanted to avoid. After deciding that the mid-engine layout didn't allow enough room in the passenger compartment, a front engine/rear wheel drive layout was chosen. Porsche also feared at the time that the U.S. government would ban the sale of rear-engined cars in response to the consumer fervor over the Chevrolet Corvair, started by Ralph Nader via his book "Unsafe at Any Speed".