With all this talk about the bubble in Porsche values, you’d think there was not a single affordable Porsche for the whiners to purchase. Sure, it sucks that not everybody got their hands on a 911S for $12,000 in 1990, but are you in this for the money, or the cars? If you are looking for Porsche engineering with a low cost of entry, you have to find the cars at the bottom of the depreciation curve. Back in the 1990s or the aughts (did we ever decide what the last decade was called?), 911 targas and 914s were the accessible Porsches. Ten to twenty years on, the accessible cars are 924s, 944s, and 928s – and who knows, perhaps in 20 years, someone will be complaining about the bubble in 928 values. Want to get in on the ground floor? Check out this 1979 Porsche 928, for sale for $3900 in San Carlos, CA.
Those Gotti J55A wheels looked tacky at one point, but on this car they look period-correct and kind of tough. The smog check history shows a nearly solid record of passes since 2003 with only one failure, but strangely also shows multiple passes on different dates for the same year, and a four-year gap before the latest pass last May. That said, this black on black car looks to be in great cosmetic condition, with no fading and a complete, good-condition interior.
A manual transmission is part of the package, which should appease the diehards, even if this GT car is well-suited to an automatic. In addition to the wheels, this car gets an S4 spoiler, which helps diminish the bubble butt rear, as well as a good sounding custom exhaust and rear end re-geared for low-end thrust. The odometer shows 136,000 miles, but is in need of repair. Tires still have 80% tread, and appear to be expensive.
The Porsche V8 is not commonly recognized as having one of the better engine bays, perhaps because it is so cramped, but that set of intake tubes is a great distraction from everything else. It must be fun changing 8 sparkplugs on one of these, or doing anything else that involves going more than an inch deep into the engine bay. Some pictures show the headlights up, and some show them down, so at least you know those work. The seller does not give any further details as to how the car runs, or what work it needs, but seems to be welcoming to inquiries.
The interior to have on these early 928s is the crazy pasha pattern, but if you don’t have that, you could do a lot worse than this car’s seats, which are in great shape. Everything looks clean and well cared-for, although the dash mat suggests cracking up front. The stereo looks to have been upgraded to a modern unit, and it’s handy to have rear seats that can either flip down or accommodate small children or adults on a very short ride. This appears to be a well-loved GT at a bargain price – perhaps with a careful PPI, you could get the Porsche GT experience for less than half the price of a good 914, and put your savings aside for any repairs.
Rusty But Trusty 
June 3, 2014 at 9:15 am |
You’re money would be better spent on a cocaine binge.