Will Porsche Finally Give Us a 928 Sequel?
Lo, the Porsche 928 has been absent from its lineup for a quarter-century, but a Panamera coupe could revive the nameplate.
Porsche. There is no substitute. Tom Cruise spoke that iconic movie line while sitting in a Porsche 928. This was just after he used it to outrun the armed man chasing him around the streets of Chicago. Cruise went on to be a mega star, and the 928 had a pretty decent career as well. However, Cruise is still cranking out movies, but Porsche stopped making the 928 twenty-five years ago. For nearly half of those twenty-five years, there have been rumors of the 928 making a triumphant return. So far, no car has materialized, but Porsche has not closed the door on the idea either.
Porsche already has the excellent Panamera in their stable. Surely, they can make a two-door version of that and give us a 928, right? As Jeremy Clarkson would say: “How hard can it be?” Well, Porsche may be considering doing just that. According to the good folks over at Motor1.com the question came up during the debut of the updated Panamera. Porsche remains non-committal, but they are not dismissing the idea, so we still have hope.
The Panamera Product Line Chief, Thomas Friemuth was asked about a 928 follow-up and his reply was:
‘We have not finally decided yet. So we are just discussing this topic for several years as you can imagine since other competitors also have two-door cars. But we’re not finally yet ready to decide whether to do this or not. We have quite a nice two-door car in our program called the 911. [But] We are always looking at new opportunities to get new markets and more customers. I can talk about it when we have the decision for it – not yet. I have a lot of ideas.’
Interesting. Porsche already makes just about every vehicle configuration you can imagine. A rear-engine 2-door sports car is well covered with endless variations. They also offer a mid-engine coupe and convertible. Want a sedan? Perhaps the Panamera will fit your needs? Want a bit more room, but don’t want to buy into the SUV hype? The Panamera Sport Turismo can take care of you. If you want an SUV, you can select small or mid-sized. They even make a coupe version of the SUV. Outside of a pickup truck, there are not many holes in the Porsche lineup. However, they do not have a front-engine two-door GT car. This is where a 928 would fit in perfectly.
The original 928 was a V8 powered German muscle car. Only the 928 had a level of refinement that no American muscle car of the day could match. Of course, it also had a price tag that no American muscle car could match either. It was the perfect car for endless high-speed cruising. The styling was like nothing else of the era, and all these years later still looks modern. The Panamera is turning into a better-looking car with each facelift it receives. However, it still can not match the sleek lines of a pure 2-door coupe. Losing a couple doors and giving it a more bulbous rear end would harken back to the 928. It would also give it a bit of a distinct look within the lineup. Porsche already has a lovely V8 from the Panamera GTS that they could use in the new coupe.
Without a formal announcement, we still can only dream about the possibilities. Hopefully, we get word soon that a 928-type project is underway. We would love to see our dreams turned into a reality. In the meantime, we will just have to keep watching old movies to get our fix.
Images: Porsche; Motor1.com
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