Captain Clean (aka Andy McCulley) from flüssig magazine is back with an early Porsche 928 5-speed manual in a rather unique color.
Here we have a beautiful Cashmere on Cork (beige on beige) 1978 Porsche 928 with a 5-speed manual. I’d love to meet the person who walked into a Porsche dealer back in 1978, saw a nice red or black 928 and said “I like that car, I’ll take a beige one.†Joking aside, I have to say that I love the color on this nice example. It exemplifies the trends of the late ‘70’s. In fact, the only thing missing is a nice set of pascha seats and door inserts.
This particular car appears to be a pretty decent example. I have noticed a few imperfections that are not unordinary on a 37 year-old car. There appears to be at least one crack in the dashboard, there is some leather shrinkage on the front seats, the carpet has seen better days, the wheels seem to need refinishing, the gasket surrounding the lock on the rear hatch doesn’t appear to be a factory original piece, the anodizing on the rear window trim has mostly worn off, the illustrations on the window switches have worn off, and the jump post cover is missing. In addition, there appear to be covers of some sort on the interior door pulls and armrests/door card container covers. While this may seem like a long list, these are pretty minor imperfections given the age of the car. The door vents don’t match the center air vents, but you’ll find this on many ’78s. Earlier builds had door vents similar to the center vent. This is evident in the 1978 owner’s manual and brochures. A switchover occurred in mid production to the “later†style door vents seen on this example and much later these “early†center vents were phased out and replaced with “later†style vents that would match the door vent design seen here.
Click for details: 1978 Porsche 928 on eBay
Year: 1978
Model: 928
Engine: 4.5 liter V8
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 69,546 mi
Price: No reserve auction
Original and the first year of the sought after and increasingly valuable Porsche 928. Equipped with the rare 5-speed manual transmission and equally rare Cashmere Beige paint option. This 928 drives excellent with great power and sound. We found it in southern California and it is extremely clean and rust free. Drive anywhere with confidence.
Financing available, please inquire.
We encourage you to visit our showroom and see this car for yourself. We are located in Chicago’s bustling River North district.
For more detailed information please call (312) 624-8586 or email info@mancusomotorsports.com.
I talked to a salesman at McLaren Chicago who informed me that the car does not have a comprehensive service history, and that it is not a concours level example, but is a very nice driver quality 928. Nice driver quality ‘78’s are very rare, and I haven’t seen a concours condition 1978 928 for sale since 2009. All considered, this is certainly one of the nicest ‘78’s I’ve seen for sale since I began following the 928 market in 2007. Also, I speculate that if a buyer were to put forth a bit of due diligence, he or she could trace the history of the car and contact some repair shops or previous owners who may still have service records on file. This approach has worked for me on many occasions in my attempts to acquire full documentation on various cars. Unfortunately I did not ask the car has had any paintwork in the past.
As with most 928’s, it is very difficult to place an exact value on this car, but given where bidding currently is, and conjecturing on the demand for 1978 928’s, I can theorize that it will sell within the range of $16,000 to $20,000.
-Andy
No pascha. No good.
Know pascha. Know good.
Nice writeup Andy! Very informative.
Where did you get your info about the early center vents being phased out later in ’78 (wrt the door vents)?
FWIW, early 928s didn’t come with the jump post cover.
Also worth mentioning is the radio is not original but a period-correct aftermarket.
I really like this 928, pasha or no pasha it’s very striking! I would love to add a second set of pasha seats just for kicks and shows. Keep the originals for general use.
Hi Jim!
The door vent info was actually added in by Pablo (he reviewed the article prior to submission). I had initially mentioned that the vents did not match (the door vents are the later style while the center vents are the early style).
Did not know that early 928’s didn’t have a jump post cover. Just never noticed. Thank you for mentioning it! Looking for it has become a habit after being on Rennlist for a few years (its presence or absence is always the first thing mentioned when discussing 928’s on the market).
I think a nice set of cork/black and white pascha would look sweet on this car.
I read you Andy.
I’d go for the black/beige pasha. The black/white is really busy in person. Funny though, what most people think is black/white pasha is actually black/beige in reality.
Thinking about your article a little further, it may have been worth mentioning that without service history this 928 is not necessarily a ‘buy it and drive it’.
No matter how much one pays, this 928 will have the mechanical typicals of a 37 year old Porsche. Due diligence in the form of a prepurchase inspection may show some recent work, or may not. But one should expect for put another at least $5K into it within the first year.
This ’78 and another ’78 are both pulling strong at auction right now, and both of them actually need a fair amount of work before being ready for primetime driving.
What all this shows me is interested buyers/bidders are bidding with their hearts….
which is kindof new and kindof cool to see happening with the 928!
Again, great article
I personally prefer black/beige pascha as well, however, was this available from the factory with cork? I always thought that black/white (or light beige) was the only option available with cork. My favorite pascha combo is black/blue with a black interior, but that wouldn’t work on a beige car.
I agree with you that anyone looking seriously into buying this car should budget at least $5,000 for maintenance, but that’s the case with pretty much all 928’s at this point (and most 30 + year-old cars).
I think that the values on the early cars is beginning to increase, as nice examples of ’78’s are extremely rare (seemingly much more so than other model years). I’m curious to know who comprises the market demanding these cars (if they are the same people buying other ’70’s Porsche’s, or if they are only interested in 928’s). I’m beginning to think that ’78 928’s will serve as complements to ’78 + ’79 930’s, which have seen significant value increases in the past year.
Bring a Trailer is showing an auction for a very early 1978 (vin 9288200029) that is currently at $17,000. I feel the clean style of the early 928 is finally getting its due as a very important car in Porsche history. I’m glad to see these cars get their due, I’m just sad that I might be late to the party:)
I built a Tamiya 928 model back in the late 70’s. Painted it silver, with a black/white pascha interior.
I took a toothpick and using an Xacto knife, I shaped the end of the toothpick to make it square.
Then, I dipped the tip in the paint and touched it on the seats and door panels, making it sort of random like the real thing. Looked pretty cool.
It’s somewhere in the attic, I think.
@m491 – would you still consider it very early knowing that over 300 RoW ‘euro’ 928s were built before that US #0029?
@jim. I know these are low vin for the US models. Having Either way the early 928s from 77-78 are special in my mind and getting its due in the general collector market . I wish I could find one of those some day:)
ahhh Jim baby! nice to see ya chime in with a little nugget. the Blaupunkt in this 928, if my eyes serve me correctly, looks like a CR-2001 which was used in the early 911SCs. what I got to thinking was that even though the MY’79 didn’t come with this head unit, it could have very easily been swapped in at time of delivery from the dealer. that this radio has the Dolby button might have been the selling point…it was all the rage back then! incidentally, the 924 Turbo a few posts back also had this very radio, and that was a 1980 model.
I would love to have seen the order sheet on this old girl.
I saw this Porsche at the Manheim Riverside Auto Auction where the dealer bought it on Jan. 20, 2015. It is a VERY nice car and very well preserved. I did not like the saddle leather interior.
If it had black and white Pascha, I would have been very tempted.
He paid 7.700.– plus buy fee.