Man Maths: Porsche 928

I don’t know whose road, gate or key it was, but while I could drive – thanks to some fields behind the house at home and my not very trusty Morris Minor, bought for 20 quids’ worth of hard car washing for months – this was like being able to fly a Cessna and being told to pilot a Space Shuttle. But I remember gingerly setting off and settling down to a steady 12mph to which he replied that if I was going to continue like that there was no point to the exercise and we might as well swap back again. Which is how, in my very early teens, I found myself putting my foot all the way to the floor in a brand new Porsche 928.

It’s not the kind of experience that leaves you, and I’ve had a thing about 928s ever since. A decade later I started testing them in a professional capacity and while they were by then quite dated and flawed – at the end of its life I remember one being absolutely destroyed by an A80 Toyota Supra – that soft spot remained. And still does.

I still hanker after one, sufficiently so to cross the street every time I see one, but what I’m looking for is far too rare an occurrence: a car with a manual gearbox. Over 80 per cent of 928 production was automatic, using three-speed (yes, on early cars) and four-speed Mercedes gearboxes, which probably worked perfectly well on an S-Class but near enough ruined the 928 experience.

Manuals, by contrast, are terrific, with their heavy, oily movement and dogleg first layout. Later cars are better, particularly GTs and, if you can find one, GTSs and I’d give plenty to become reacquainted with one as my only recent 928 experience was in a slightly tired automatic car that didn’t really cover itself in glory.

But a manual GT? I can see myself thundering across Europe, that chunky V8 doing its thing, enjoying the sound, the occasion and, when I got to some corners, the delightful balance of its transaxle chassis layout. For over 45 years I have loved the idea of owning a 928.

So it’s sad to think that I never will. Truth is cars like this need braver owners than someone like me. The problem is that, for all its strengths and that V8 motor, the 928 has never really been a cherished model, likely to have been looked after and used both sparingly and carefully. They tended to have hard working lives, clocking up vast mileages and once residual values fell below a certain level, no longer looked after by the Porsche dealer network or dedicated Porsche specialists. Which means that today not only are almost all cars on sale automatic (those who have manuals tend to hang onto them), but in the kind of condition that could lead to bracing maintenance bills. And you can’t rule out the occasional horror either.

The better news is there is plenty of good advice and guides out there but I’d still be too nervous. Certainly I’d not go near one without someone who really knows these cars crawling over it with me. You can find 928s out there you could buy with little more than ten grand in a briefcase full of used readies, but I really wouldn’t. The best I thought I’d found was a 5-litre manual GT advertised on Car & Classic for £29,000 with a not terrible 109,000 miles on the clock and a huge history file. But then I discovered the PSD (Porsche limited-slip differential) dashboard light won’t go off, the aircon has packed up and it’s not done 500 miles in the last eight years. A lovely idea for sure, but one I’ll be leaving to those with souls more courageous than mine.

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