Let’s play a quick game of word association. If I said `Porsche” you’d probably reply `air-cooled’ or `rear-engined’ or, the obvious, `911’.
And that’s the point; the Porsche brand is so closely associated with the 911 in all its air-cooled, rear-engined weirdness, that the planet has forgotten that it ever did anything else. Well, some of the planet anyway.
The fact is, Porsche made some truly magnificent machinery over the years, and we’re not just talking Boxster Ss and Cayenne Turbos. Those, of course, came much later; the ones we’re talking about here are what are known as the transaxle Porsche (if they’re mentioned at all in 2025). The forgotten Porsches then? Not really, but underrated? Oh yes.
Let’s start with this pair and the 928, because that’s what Porsche did, launching it in 1977 while it would be 1981 before the brand pulled the wraps off the new 944 at that year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.
The folklore, of course, is that the 928 was designed to be a replacement for the 911. But was it really? I mean, with a front-mounted engine and a layout and specification that screamed Grand Tourer rather than outright sports car, did Porsche really underestimate the faithful so completely?
The real answer these days is who knows, and in any case, the 928 disappeared after four incarnations and was a chalk-outline in Porsche showrooms by 1995, while the 911 is still making headlines. But I’m inclined to think the 928 concept was, if anything, more than simply a 911 replacement; is it not possible that the car was designed for a broader audience?
Think North America and I reckon you might be getting close. Certainly, that would explain the bigger, wider body, the V8 engine and the more conventional packaging. And let’s not forget that the 928 was the first model to truly embrace the automatic transmission.
It’s also worth remembering, too, that new USA standards for crash safety and tailpipe emissions were driving the world’s car designers crazy. Perhaps the idea of an all-new model, rather than modifying and potentially crippling an older design, was smart thinking after all. Even if it didn’t quite turn out that way.
Originally a SOHC design with four-valves per cylinder, the engine grew from its original 4.5 litres to a full 5.4 litres with DOHC heads for the final hurrah as the GTS version in the 1990s. The detail stuff is pretty amazing, too. That V8 used all-aluminium construction at a time when that was hardly in fashion.
But even other designs that did use an alloy crankcase tended to drop steel liners into each cylinder. Not Porsche. Nope, it ran the pistons without sleeves while the crank spun in four-bolt main bearings.
Even though the 944 is the newer design of the two, in reality, it’s not. Pardon? Well, the 944 is actually an evolution of the 924 which hit the production line in 1975. Designed to replace the VW/Porsche 914, the 924 simplified things a lot by switching to a water-cooled, front-engined layout with a four-cylinder engine borrowed from sister company Audi.
That parts-bin approach didn’t go over too well with hardcore Porsche fanatics, but that was selling the 924 a bit short. Because Porsche did go to the trouble of developing the transaxle layout, and that, as much as anything else, allowed the 944 to emerge from the 924 in 1981. In fact, the 924 and 944 were built together until 1988 when the whole shebang was rolled into 944 production.
Initially available with a 2.5-litre engine making 120kW, the secret to the 944’s success (and it was the best selling Porsche until the Boxster came along) was that it was seen as a `real’ Porsche. And that was largely down to the fact that the old Audi engine was gone, and a Porsche designed engine was in.
Two-and-a-half litres was big for a four banger back then, so Porsche developed balance-shaft tech to keep it civil and designed it to be a torque factory rather than a race engine.
Fundamentally, it was half a 928 V8, although it’s not that simple and there’s not much part-interchangeability beyond the rocker cover(s). Like the 924’s mill, the 944’s was also canted over at an angle to provide clearance for the low bonnet line.
The 928 originally copped a bum rap because it was bigger, wider and heavier than any Porsche before it. But trust me when I say that if it had had an AMG, M5 or even a HSV badge on it and had emerged at the same point in time, we’d all still be worshipping at its altar of speed.
And the 944? Well, I reckon that if you wanted to go historic tarmac rallying and you chose any car other than a 944, you’d want to have a good financial or emotional reason up your sleeve. Even in 2025, the inherent balance of the 944’s 50:50 weight distribution is still other-worldly. Yes please.
But here’s the other thing about the `forgotten’ Porsches: True Porsche people get them. And buy them. George – who owns the two lovelies on these pages – is a man for whom too many Porsches are barely enough, and his bedroom wall as a kid and his psyche as an adult are both plastered with images of a 911. Which is why he has, for many years, had a 1980 911 SC in the shed at home. (And, yes, it’s bright red too).
But that hasn’t stopped him completing the ’80s set with his 1988 928 S4 and his – also from 1988 – 944 S. As an S4, the 928 has the five-litre engine and, as were most, is fitted with a four-speed automatic, which suits the GT thing perfectly.
The 944, meanwhile, is a 2.5-litre but as an S, gets the 16-valve cylinder head for 140kW. It’s a five-speed manual which is the vastly better version compared with the automatic option that afflicted too many 944s.
George has owned both cars for about six years, and both – remarkably – were bought with just 99,000km on their respective odometers. Which, if nothing else, proves that too many car owners have a psychological hang-up about the magic 100,000km and flog their cars when they’ve probably still got another 200,000km left in them.
Which is great for people who understand that service history is everything and that numbers on an odo are just that; numbers. People like us. And George.
“I’ve owned them since just before COVID, but each one took a long time to find. Many of them are stuffed. I bought the 944 first, because I already had the 911 and the 944 just looked cool. And then I had to have the ’80s set, so the search began for a 928.”
George admits that part of the reason he took so long to find the cars was that he was committed to buying only red cars. “Yeah, I made it hard for myself.” But get this: While the SC at home is Guards Red, the official colour of this pair is India Red. Is there a difference? Maybe, but you’d need to see the two side by side to pick it.
of Stuttgart stormers.
While George admits his heart is with the 911 and that it’s the one that will never be for sale, he likes them all “because they do their own thing so well. I drive them, too. In fact I rotate them weekly. I’ve had some epic drives. Every year I do the NSW and Victorian high country in one of them and we’ve done Tassie a couple of times with a group of mates”.
So what has he changed along the way? “Not much apart form servicing. The 944 has had new carpet, seat inserts and the D90 alloy-wheel option. The 928 has had a suspension refurb with Bilstein dampers. Oh, and one night I was looking online and found a 1988 Telecom mobile phone kit. I had to have it, and it’s now in the 928.”
Perfect.