merope

Hi Shark owners,

As you may have seen, I bought a 928 recently and I am loving every minute of the experience. Going through the car's service history book and from the PO, I have been able to piece together some of its past. Due to its low mileage, it isn't too much. However, let's face it, when our 928-s came out, they were quite expensive and only those with great means could purchase them. Mine was originally bought by a local businessman (whose name I could easily google search), who is still donating to local charities and causes. From that person, it went to a dealer, and from there to the PO, who was the head surgeon at the local University Clinic. Now poor girl is with me. Not too interesting, but fun to research. Any of you have some fun fabled histories to share?

C531XHO

Mine was bought new by an English Lord who's daughter was married to the Queen's nephew

I bought it sometime later from a dairy farmer

Not sure where I fit in the social hierachy..😉

The Forgotten On

My 81 had no history when I got it but I bought it from a middle eastern man named Allah, so do with that what you will

928cs

My first 928 CS was ordered as a company car by someone who had around 30 Porsches over time. It was his third and last 928. She was replaced by a 964 Turbo S Lighweight (POS according to the gentleman who loved his 928 CS). Around 60,000 km in 3 years, no garage queen...

Second owner used to race with the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux. Train was faster when moving but had to stop more than the 928, who won

No idea about the past history of my current before i bought her, tired and neglected in Germany.
The owner had no idea that his 928 was special

prescott

Mine was first purchased by an OB/GYN in 1988 (now deceased). Then purchased by the owner of a dealership in GA (now deceased). Then purchased by a physician/farmer in GA where it sat for 10 years in a peanut barn. Yes, that third owner is now deceased. I'm going to write my will today....
Brian Courtright

merope

That's great! You have got your own little bastard. BTW, peanut barn? Seriously? How did it survive that?

Chalkboss

I bought the 87 from the second owner who only had it a year or so. Vansters son in law in LA. Prior to that it was purchased new in Mission Viejo Porsche by a medical Doctor of some sort. He drove it for about ten years then got sick and couldn't drive it any more so it sat forever while his daughter took care of it. Not terribly interesting but I did find his monthly payment schedule for the car in some paperwork... Around $975 a month!! That was some serious scratch back then.

gbgastowers

My 82 Euro was born for German market and came to Houston and was federalized in 87. Military owner I think. Then it went to Florida and stayed there till I bought it in 2007. It had been sitting for years outside in Florida with the drivers window partially down. Parked because of damaged cylinder. Piece of metal spring was stuck in the piston ring and gouged the cylinder wall. I bought it with the engine broken, clear coat peeling off and interior trashed for around $1000

dr bob

Mine was purchased new by a project manager for a big construction company. He used a bonus check to grab it from a SoCal dealer, drove it some, then had it stored while he was overseas on another project. He was trying to trade it in at the MB dealer but they offered him pennies so it went to storage. I met him on that same overseas project, and ended up buying it sight-unseen. I had it pulled out of storage by the local dealer in Denver. They had stored it... They did timing belt and bits at 9 years old and 18k when I bought it, and I flew in and drove it back to Los Angeles area where we lived. I've been the caretaker it since. It's coming up on 25 years and about 100k later. '89 S4. No royalty in the heritage of either owner.

drooman

One of ours was a special order for the owner of Brumos Porsche in 1984. Three others were factory use cars for a couple of years.

merope

I have been following along the Brumos thread!

icsamerica

My 928 was previously owned by and I purchased it from an interesting man named John Sibilias. He was PH'd nuclear physicist and engineer at Bell Labs that worked on the Masers for the Telestar 1 satellite program amongst other things over a long career. He's the one that personally painted the 928 green in his garage in NJ. He was so proud of the color as he handed me the left over paint still in old PPG cans when I purchased the car. I pretended to like it so as to not be offensive to an old man whom I knew nothing about as I was there to set off with his car that he could no longer drive. I trashed the paint when I got home but the color has grown on me and I wish I hadn't trashed it. He also gave me a small part of his butterfly collection and one of the long nets he used to catch them. When I went into his basement to collect some parts related to the 928 it was the den of a mad scientist but neat and tidy with electronic bits and pieces from an era long past. It was an experience I hope to never forget and wish I understood more about it at the time. Mentally I was just there to buy an old 928 that hadn't run in a long time. He also had a Red Porsche 924. I think it was an 1985. It was in OK condition and was offered to me for 500$ but I knew the 928 would keep me busy for a long time and had no interest in 924's. The owner had a nice sized home in a well-to-do area of NJ and I'm sure he could have afforded a 911 but his choice was a 924 and 928. That's interesting to me.

Sadly, this former nuclear scientist had age related Dementia. At some point the 928 was partially disassembled with the CE electrical panel in the rear cargo area along all the relays in a small wash bucket. The intake manifold, spark plugs and radiator were all moved out of there natural locations and stored inside the car. I purchase the car from him with members of his family near by and they accepted my offer which was 4x higher than the next highest offer at the time. I figured I could use the parts for a manual swap at the very least. The deal was that I would pay for the car but had to wait until the home was sold and the owner was no-longer at the home for the right time to pickup the car. I was dealing with the owners son and a family friend but it seemed odd becasue the owner knew I purchased the car, he personally gave me the left over paint, some spare parts and a small part of his butterfly collection. His collection was extensive, well organized and occupied multiple rooms the home. I asked about this odd arrangement and the family told me they didn't know how he would react to the car actually not being there. They assured me this was the best approach and the 928 would be safe in the driveway right where it had been for quite some time. After a few months I got a call, you can pickup the car. The key is under a rock in the drive way. I almost cut my losses and considered leaving it, having moved on to other projects this one seemed daunting. Glad I didn't make that mistake. Looking back, it was a very low price for a 5 speed 928 but seemed reasonable at the time. When I picked-up the car I asked what happed to John, the owner, and they told me he was in a home for the elderly.

When I got the 928 back to my garage and looked at it carefully I thought I made an expensive mistake. The 928 was in a very sorry state but I started putting the car back together knowing it would work out, this wasn't my first project from hell. Turns out... the Central Electrical panel in the trunk was a spare. The car's original CE panel was in it's rightful place but was devoid of all its fuses and relays. I got out some reference material for the 928's electrics and put the panel back together. One by one the car's systems were working. Then onto the engine, it turned over and ran on a flammable sprayed into the intake but no fuel pressure. A quick look at the timing belt indicted it was newish. Intake went back together and new spark pugs went in. I ordered a china fuel pump just to see if the car would run. It did so and perfectly after a short while. The car was mechanically nearly perfect, the only thing that didnt work was the central locks button on the console which was sorted soon after. Cosmetics still have a long long way to go. My kids enjoyed looking at the butterfly case now and then over the years. My oldest has become quite an accomplished artist and when I get around to restoring the car cosmetically she'll paint a nice butterfly motif on the car in honor of John.

I checked in with John's friend and Son via email every few months there after and sent them pictures of the car back together and enthusiastically informing them I got the car to run. I sent updates with the news it was back on the road with new tires and some photos of it out in the wild and on the race track. Last year when checking in, they told me John had passed. That was expected but still made me very sad to hear it.

merope

icsamerica, these are the threads I am here for! Tore at the heartstrings. Such a fantastic story and honestly, the color is great! It is really unique. How is the butterfly painting coming along on it?

Thanks for sharing this. As an astrophysicist, I appreciate the mad scientist bunker part of the story and hope my kids will deal with me the same way when I am old and senile.

Thanks!

icsamerica

I've got lots of upgrades planned for the car before the cosmetics are sorted and butterfly motif goes in. It's gonna be small, nothing like a fire breathing butterfly on the hood. Not exactly sure how the artistic aspect will play out and taking it slow. It will come to me. Soon this 928 will have a Devek front sway bar, an interesting piece from an interesting engineer. For me, that will also add to the mystique of the car.

prescott

From the work order receipts, the car travelled 100 miles in 10 years, and burned up a couple of batteries. When we did the intake refresh, a mouse nest loaded with peanut shells, yuck, and the remnants of the knock sensors was in the valley. Receipts from the GA farm are in the record. A quick search online shows the last Dr. owner passed away about a year before I purchased the car. This is a cool thread!
Brian