1987 Porsche 928 S4

Unfortunately it’s a sad tale this one, the previous owner had a terminal illness and only purchased the 928 in March of this year. Regrettably he didn’t get the opportunity to use it as much as he wished, before passing away at a young age. Mobile Porsche Specialist Rob Murray, who looked after the 928 for him, is now selling it through The Market on behalf of his widow.

The car has had 10 owners in total and has now covered 137,662 miles from new. These big landsharks are beautifully built beasts and can carry large mileages in their stead if looked after. There’re a large amount of invoices and service stamps in the history folder that demonstrate the attention this example has had over the years.

Rob says of the car: ‘it has been used but it’s a good condition B car. The engine runs sweetly; it’s mechanically strong, and ready to have lots more adventures. We inspected the cambelts and they’ve been recently done, so as new. It has adjustable suspension fitted and it really does handle superbly. The previous owner had the air conditioning system redone, although it doesn’t have any gas in it as it requires an R12 conversion – it’s not a big job, though.’

His company has also carried out a large body of recent work on the car to ready it for sale – you can find the list in the photo gallery. These include a raft of electrical fixes and other items.

For sheer brutality of line and road presence there’s little comes close to a 928. Bulbous rear end, wide thickset stance and pop-up lights combine to intimidate and visually berate in equal measure.

From a distance the Nautilus Blue paintwork looks good, but get up close and it does wear its years on its sleeves (so to speak). Panel fit remains good, and the galvanized structure appears without issue, but if we’re being honest, there are light scratches on most panels and the occasional small dent, as well as signs of minor repairs. There are the usual stonechips on the nose and others on the wing mirrors, and the respray on parts of the door frame is not great. In addition, if you spend the time looking then the various qualities of paints present on the exterior will become clear. The integrated bumpers each sport minor repairs, but appear tightly fixed and generally straight; the front chin spoiler is coming away from the lower valance panel on the n/s, although that’s likely just a fixing issue. At the rear, the big boot spoiler is still in decent health. The silver five-spoke alloy wheels look tidy and all sport a decent amount of rubber (especially important on those big rear boots).

You could continue to use it as a big GT smoker – parking it anywhere and everywhere without worrying about someone opening a door into it. However, if the next owner wants to take it to the next level then a part or full re-spray would be the way to go.

The blue-piped cream leather remains in very nice condition, although the driver’s seat and rear seat have had repair panels fitted. Door cards and carpets are in decent nick, and there’s a three-spoke ‘Brooklands’ type steering wheel fitted. Lift the carpets and the floorpans look to be nice and solid.

Up front the dashboard housing has a crack in it, and there are a few faded areas including the leather gear knob. The electrics have a couple of gremlins (these cars really need to be driven regularly to keep everything up to speed), but given the work recently completed is most likely due to lack of use. Rob is coming to fix the ABS light illuminated on the instrument panel. In addition, we note that the radio and the electric mirror are not currently operational. The windows, seats, interior fan and sunroof are all good though.

The engine bay is nice and presentable, all cooling pipes look to be in good condition although some of the brackets and clips towards the very front could do with being re-passivated, and the bonnet hinge fixing point could also do with a cosmetic tidy up. Our brief test drive showed a car that mechanically solid, all working as you would hope and expect given the recent specialist attention.

Get down on your knees and you’ll find an underside representative of the mileage covered. 

There’s a bit of surface corrosion on the exhaust system and suspension components, but nothing that appears immediately untoward or that you wouldn’t find on a car of a similar vintage and mileage.

Within the history file you’ll find an invoice showing that the last owner paid £15,000 for the vehicle – substantially more than the £10,000-£12,000 estimate that we’ve given it. The V5 certificate is also present.

There’s also a thick wad of previous MOT certificates, as well as the last one, which is good until August 3, 2019. It has just one advisory on it and that’s a perished o/s/r driveshaft outer CV boot. Also included are the original Porsche driver’s manual and Blaupunkt Stereo instruction book. 

The service book includes a comprehensive number of stamps and these are backed up with various invoices for work over the years. They demonstrate that main dealer Evans Halshaw initially cared it for, before subsequent owners moved on to a number of independent specialists. The last stamp in the book shows a fairly recent brake fluid and coolant change carried out by Mobile Porsche Specialist on January 16 of this year.

Life’s a bugger sometimes and it’s a real shame the previous owner didn’t get the time to enjoy this 928 S4. That said it’s now time for someone else to take up the mantle and start driving it again. After decades in the doldrums interest in the model is now super strong, and prices for top examples have accelerated northwards in recent years.

Good usable examples have followed suite, but can still be had for a reasonable amount of cash. This example’s paint is a little scruffy close up, but believed to be mechanically resilient and, despite the mileage, has a good interior.

If you appreciate fine engineering, brutal performance and a touch of luxury then this example could be for you. This 928 offers some choices: you can factor in a bit of bodywork TLC or go the whole hog and go for a respray; and you can get hands on if you wish, or utilise one of the many independent specialists.

As discussed, we’ve put the estimate between £10,000 and £12,000. Lower mileage cars can fetch much higher prices, but for a hopefully decent reliable runner this could prove to be a bit of a bargain buy.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.