'77 ('78) Porsche 928, "Number Six", Preproduction Press Car (Updated 3-18-13)

[Jadz928]

Just wanted to let everyone know I'd recently purchased a classic, historic 928. Serial number places it at ROW #16, but Porsche stated it was the "sixth vehicle built". The car is all original, as it left the Porsche in '78, aside from what was required by NHTSA and EPA (California) for importation/federalization. I intend to restore it, and this will take some time to do right. I will use this "living document" thread as a blog to discuss this "Number Six". Here's what I know about it so far... ____________________________________ VIN: 9288100016 Engine Code: M28-01 (confirmed) Engine Serial Number: 8180026 (visual inspection confirmed 8180026) EDIT: The Engine Serial Number: 8180021, listed on the Porsche letter (see below) was "boilerplate". I know for a fact because I own the 928 which has engine S/N 8180021 Transmission Code: G28-03 (confirmed) Transmission Serial Number: 1280006 (visual inspection confirmed 1181867) References: Projekt 928, Brian Long's Porsche 928, Road & Track Porsche 928 Portfolio, info furnished by seller, and visual inspection: W series prototypes were built and being used up through March '77 "W12 ... final 928 prototype, a technical match for pilot series cars begun in the meantime..." - Projekt 928, pg38 Press cars built through February '77 "Eleven cars were duly built for the 1977 Geneva Show and press fleet duty, the final one being completed 22 February..." - Porsche 928, Brian Long, pg50 Porsche Confirmation "...sixth vehicle built and was used by Mr. Manfred Jantke of our Press Department for demonstration purposes. It is one of 10 pre-series vehicles which were used for quality observations and of course testing purposes... sold in October 1978..." - Letter from Porsche Technical Department, 5.6.1992 (see below) Build date "...the car is a 1978 ROW 928, but is titled as a 1977 928. It was manufactured in January of 1977, according to the sticker on the car." - visual inspection "...been presented to a selected circle of international journalists near Nice at the end of February 1977. - Projekt 928, pg 51 “...manufactured in 4-1977...” (This date is incorrect) - Letter from Porsche Technical Department, 5.6.1992 Provenance - a Porsche Werks vehicle and Weissach test vehicle (1977-78) "only eleven pre-production prototypes had been built for the Press Launch, most of these had been commandeered for further testing at Weissach..." -Motor Sport, May 1977 - was used for the first Road & Track, June 1977, article “Porsche 928 Technical Analysis & Driving Impression Tomorrow is here” by Joe Rusz - was cover photo for Sport Auto magazine, April 1977 - was featured in the annual German Motor Revue magazine 1977/78 (Thanks Nicole! ) - was featured in Car Styling Quarterly #19, July 1977 Confirmed by license plate shown in picture, S-CX 2137. This is the same license listed in the Letter from Porsche Technical Department, 5.6.1992 where is reads “Original selling dealer: Factory Company Car (S-CX 2137)" Noteworthy Official production of '78 MY 928 began in May 1977 for ROW cars, and August 1977 for US. -Projekt 928, Brian Long & Erkka Vilhuer April was Porsche's model/year changeover (not sure if it still is). Any preproduction car built before April would have been assigned 4/77 by default. -Source at Porsche Earliest Porsche 928 known to exist is Number 1 (SN 0011), owned by Jim Doerr, located in Richmond, VA -Read up on this car here Next earliest Porsche 928 known to exist is Number 8 (SN 0018), owned by Eilif H., located in Oslo Norway -Confirmed by email exchanges with current owner Next earliest Porsche 928 know to exist is Number 10 (SN 0020), owned by Joe N, located in Germany, used as the pace car for the '77 Lemans. -Confirmed by email exchanges with current owner The tab sticking out at the bottom of the license plate was used on all Porsche factory cars, and signaled the guys at the Werkstor (factory entrance) that a company car was approaching. -Source, Nicole M. "only eleven pre-production prototypes had been built for the Press Launch, most of these had been commandeered for further testing at Weissach and Herr Nornig (Gunther Hornig, Porsche Press Officer) was left with two on his Press fleet, upon which demands were being put by journalists from all over the world" Note: 1 of the 2 was Number 10, S-CX 2141 -Motor Sport, May 1977 For more information on early MY 78 VINs, see Post #65 of "Master VIN Thread" __________________________________ Number Six may also be seen at 928Registry.org http://www.928registry.org/jim%20doerr.html Post #398 with magazine, etc compilation

[Jadz928]

Early 2003 ebay ad photo:

[Jadz928]

Done shown in italics

------------------short-term maintenance-------------------
1. Get the car safe and preserved
-R&R CE panel, clean grounds, and repair 14pin connector
-drain and flush fuel tank, replace all rubber (drained, removed, prepped)
- clean WUR/fuel dist. screens
-replace fuel pump
-replace all rubber fuel hoses, return to stock all fuel lines
-drain and flush coolant, add coolant & acid neutralizing additive
-drain and flush brake/clutch hydraulics
-replace aluminum lower ball joints
-replace rear hatch lock

2. Return to ROW spec
-replace headlamp w/ H4's
-remove corner marker lights
-remove catalytic converter and other non-original emissions equipment (cats, lamda control, frequency valve, etc.)
-install original stock exhaust system
-replace MPH speedo w/ KPH speedo. Adjust to current miles & document
-add euro front number plate

3. Return other items to original build
-gas cap, stainless steel
-early style HVAC vents (louvers)
-replace a couple fuel lines (either missing or spliced)

------------------short-term restoration-----------------
The car is amazingly all original, and I believe there is something special in that fact alone.
I've looked at tons of these early cars over the years, and it may not suprise you what some people will do to their cars.
A hole cut in the roof to add a "pop up" sunroof, aftermarket seats, horrific stereo replacements, the list goes on. It's sad really.
Number Six, for better and worse, had nothing done to it. My preliminary maintenance shows a car somewhat taken care of, mechanically. All the fluids were fresh at least.

The paint is far from perfect, but there's alot of potential for a refresh.
With some isolated single-stage paint repair, some paintless dent removal, and a good "cut-n-buff', this car may be a sharp looking 10 footer! With *ahem*, patina.

The interior had experienced a fair amount of sun damage, and dry storage "rot".
Bob Budd for Classic 9 Leather took time out of his own weekend to stop by the farm and assess #6's interior.
The verdict was a complete redo would be needed for a full restoration, but the existing interior could be revitalized for the near term.
We believe that newly recovered seats & steering wheel, new carpet and a massive cleaning could really bring back the interior.

What does this all mean? Number Six is going to be refreshed "survivor". They're only original once!
This is going to happen over the next couple years (2012-13).

The intent is for #6 to be a driver, and travel to and from Porsche events. I'm thinking it's first event will be Sharks in Hell (MI), hopefully followed up by a trip to Sharks in the Mountains (NC).

Next trip to Michigan, mid-October 2011.

----------------------long-term restoration-----------------------
Plans have been transferred over to my earlier 928 "Number One" VIN 928 810 0011

---------------------------parts list---------------------------------
Parts wanted:
-front license plate bracket EURO (need early body style, not S4>)
-full exhaust w/ROW dual-in, single-out muffler
-HVAC vents, both center console and armrest, early '78 only (got most the parts, just need pieces)

Parts found:
-gas cap, stainless steel (thanks Mark @ 928 Intl)
-rear hatch lock (thanks Mark @ Nine Source)
-rear license plate bracket EURO (using S4> style temporarily)
-seats, front & rear, manual, brown vinyl w/pasha
-dash & armrests, brown vinyl

[Jadz928]

I have visual confirmation of all 12 pre-production press cars at the press launch.

______________________________________ Late Prototypes ______________________________________


White - early stock photos



Petro Blue - S-CW 4526, early sales brochure - this was an early press car workhorse. Can be seen in many early magazines



______________________________________ Press Cars ______________________________________

White - S-CX 2132 #1 serial# 0011, owned by Jim Doerr, located in Richmond Virginia (photo courtesy of Joe Rusz and Road & Track)



White - S-CX 2133



White - S-CX 2134 (photo courtesy of Leonard Turner)



White - S-CX 2135, Christophorus Magazine No. 130 from August 1977, on page 7, Sekurit bronze glass ad



Red - S-CX 2136 - stock photo



Red - S-CX 2137 - #6 Serial# 0016, owned by Jim Doerr, located in Saginaw, Michigan



Red - S-CX 2138 - stock photo
[IMG]hhttp://members.rennlist.org/jadz928/928_preproduction_red_cx2138.jpg[/IMG]


Silver - S-CX 2139 - #8 serial# 0018, owned by Eilif Hansen, located in Oslo Norway (photo courtesy of Leonard Turner)



Silver - S-CX 2140 - stock photo



Silver - S-CX 2141 - #10 serial# 0020, '77 Lemans car, owned by Joe in Germany, in restoration.



Petrol Blue - S-CX 2142 - press launch (photo courtesy of Leonard Turner)



Petrol Blue - S CX-2143 (at press launch, confirmed by John Rettie)



______________________________________ Later Builds _______________________________________

Red - S-DA ??25 - Geneva show car (I believe it was built just following the first 11)


Silver - S CY 4137 - stock photo (CY is much later)


Petro Blue - S CY 4138 - stock photo (CY is much later)

[Brent]

Congrats Jim. What a great historical save this will be.

[Rob Edwards]

Jim- That is way cool! Take about 10,000 pictures of everything, especially all the crayon and chalk marks, part #'s, etc. It's an archaeological dig, a glimpse into the original intent of the 928.

[SeanR]

Way too cool, looking forward to the updates.

[bronto]

Yeah, we were tracking this car recently.

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...6-on-ebay.html

When I searched on the VIN I also found it mentioned in this thread:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...ear-model.html

[M. Requin]

Great score! Congratulations! I gotta get to Richmond one of these days...

[S4ordie]

Great find. Looking forward to the wealth of historical information springs from this. Congratulations and good luck with the restoration.

Dan

[Jadz928]

Thanks eveyone for their kind words. I'm very excited to say the least.

The car will be stored at my Dad's farm in Michigan for five years.
My father has graciously accepted the postion to foster the car in the meantime. His job is to drive it to "keep the blood flowing".
This will give me some time for historical research, restoration planning, parts procurement, and saving $.

The biggest thanks to my Dad (Herb) for sharing in my passion and seeing the opportunity to preserve a real piece of Porsche history. I hope to see big grins on his face being behind the wheel of a classic! Love ya Pops!

HUGE thank you goes out to Larry (Aspkiller) for taking the time to look at this car twice, once at his shop where he got it up on the lift to verify serial numbers and chassis integrity. I couldn't have made this happen is it wasn't for you. Hope you find the WSM's useful.

Lastly, I want to thank Range Rover for posting a thread on RL which tipped me off to the availability of this car. Thanks man!

[Tass 928]

Jim, the letter says "black vinyl" interior with velour. The pics look brown.....I have that interior in black with brown/black pascha. There is a chance I would part the car...its got some good front end damage but the interior is factory fresh.

[BRB-83-911SC]

Congrats Jim! You are now a curator. I am happy to see this car find it's way into your hands.

[Jadz928]

Originally Posted by Tass 928

Jim, the letter says "black vinyl" interior with velour. The pics look brown.....I have that interior in black with brown/black pascha. There is a chance I would part the car...its got some good front end damage but the interior is factory fresh.

Tass,
Interesting and gracious offer!

The letter also reads "(color not recorded)" which to me means they were guessing.

I spoke with Rob Budd at the Frenzy, and he has the stuff to do the job.

We also spoke about the whether or not it necessary to be "all original" to the n'th degree. Can liberties be taken?

I have to do alot of research on original restoration. Long way to go.
Experience and opinions are welcome!

[bronto]

With a special car like this I don't think liberties should be taken. At least not unreversible ones. If it were me I'd look in to the reproduction pascha available if a pristine set of originals aren't available.