Junkyard Find: 1980 Porsche 928
The last time we saw a Porsche 928 in this series was 2014, and it has been a half-decade since our last Porsche of any kind (a 1987 924S). We're overdue, and so it's a good thing that I spotted this braunkupferdiamant 928 in Carson City, Nevada, a few days ago.
The first-generation Cayenne is by far the most numerous Porsche in American car graveyards right now, followed by the Boxster. I still find discarded 924s and 944s regularly, with the occasional basket-case 914 mixed in, but it appears that most of the early 928s have been restored or crushed by now.
Judging from the well-roasted interior, I'd say that this car spent a decade or three sitting in a driveway or yard, awaiting a revival that never came. These cars are not cheap restoration projects.
As the years of the 1970s went by, it was clear that the car company founded by SS-Oberführer Ferdinand Porsche needed a replacement for the 911. This wouldn't be a Volkswagen- or Audi-related machine like all previous Porsche cars but a state-of-the-art grand tourer designed entirely at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.
That car ended up being the 928, which had a front-mounted (unlike the 911) V8 (unlike the 911) water-cooled (unlike the 911) engine and a somewhat usable back seat (unlike the 911). Did I mention that it was unlike the 911?
Naturally, Porsche zealots were enraged, and so the 911 has remained in production ever since. This wasn't fair to the 928, which was an engineering masterpiece with distinctive styling and plenty of snob appeal.
Sales of the 928 never approached Stuttgart's expectations, but the car stayed in production all the way through 1995 (with 84 cars sold for the final model year).
This is the sixth 928 I've documented in a boneyard, after a '78, a '79, an '80, an '82 and an '85. The '79 was in the very same Nevada junkyard as today's car, just two years back.
The MSRP for this car was $37,930, which comes to about $164,269 in 2026 dollars. The 911SC coupe was a steal at $27,700 ($119,965 after inflation). The 928 would have been better for a comfortable high-speed Autobahn drive, while the 911 did a far superior job at holding its value (although that same $27,700 invested in real estate would have paid far more by now).
This 4.5-liter DOHC V8 was rated at 220 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque. The 1980 Corvette with the 5.7-liter L82 engine option had an output of 230 hp and 275 lb-ft, and you could have bought a pair of L82 Corvettes plus a Chevette for the cost of a single 928 that year, but the overlap between Malaise Era C3 Corvette and Porsche 928 potential buyers wasn't large.
All of the junkyard 928s I've found prior to today's car had automatic transmissions, but this one has the five-speed manual.
And the transaxle is still in the car, which I wasn't expecting. It would have lasted about a day or two in a big-city junkyard in California, but it was still unpicked nearly three months after arrival at the Carson City Pick-n-Pull.
The interior is horrible. There wasn't a lot of rodent nesting material, for which I was thankful. Nevada has many fewer hantavirus cases than Colorado, but that doesn't mean the incidence is zero.
The radio was gone, but it appears to have been a proper mid-1980s-vintage JVC unit.
Nothing even comes close to a Porsche, although the engine in the Jeep DJ-5G came extremely close to the engine in the 924.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
1980 Porsche 928 in Nevada junkyard.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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Okay whose the boat commander?
Slight correction: this is a SOHC V8. The DOHC upgrade came in 1985. Still, quite possibly the best engine from any OEM on the market in 1980.