THE ASSASSIN FROM STUTTGART

The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. Consider the case of Ferdinand Porsche. His first automotive dabblings were with electric cars and petrol-electric hybrid cars, and more than 120 years later, look where we've all ended up.
He was keen on front-wheel-drive cars, too, which might seem a strange fit for a man who went on to design a number of immensely successful front-engined, rear-wheel-drive racing cars for Mercedes-Benz, and whose name went on - via the KdFWagen and VW Beetle, and through the whole 911 line - to be, for a huge chunk of time, synonymous with rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive cars.
So were we surprised by this front-engined, rear-wheel-drive 928 bearing his name when it hit the streets in 1978? You bet we were. If it wasn't its voluptuous shape that had us reeling, it was the notion of Porsche finally throwing the towel at the age-old, tail-heavy 911 (as it was then planning to do) and giving us in its place a GT of infinite grace and impeccable manners.
All in, it was a marvellous car. It looked terrific, it was quick, it handled brilliantly and it rode delightfully on what was then the best sticky, wide and low-profile tyre available, the Pirelli P7. It even won the 1978 Car of the Year award, which was quite something for a sporting, aspirationally priced premium car.
Further joy was beholden when we opened the bonnet and found an all-new, all-alloy, liquid-cooled V8. Initially of 4.5 litres, the fuel-injected V8 produced 237bhp, and the drive went via a five-speed manual gearbox or optional Mercedes-sourced three-speed auto. That front engine was set quite a way back, too, and at the other end, balancing it out and linked via a torque tube, was a transaxle.
Esta historia es de la edición August 31, 2022 de Autocar UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 31, 2022 de Autocar UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar

NISSAN LEAF
Original mainstream EV transforms into a family crossover for third era

Steve Cropley
Can there be a car more beguiling for value and versatility than the Dacia Jogger? I say no.

Outside influence
General Motors is all but absent from the European car market, yet it recently opened a new car design studio in the UK.

CUPRA TERRAMAR
Cupra injects some Latin flair into the bloated family SUV class

Loch and load
These epic new Aston and Ferrari V12s have brought a famous old rivalry back to the boil. RICHARD LANE goes all guns blazing north of the border

NISSAN MICRA
Can the magic of the Renault 5 also help spark a renaissance at Nissan?

THE ANTI-AGEING FAMILY SUV
Mk2 XC60 arrived in 2017 but only one thing betrays its age: its used price

BYD DOLPHIN SURF
Cheap yet fully equipped Dacia Spring rival arrives with 154bhp, 193 miles

Matt Prior
You might have heard that Caterham has found a new engine supplier in Horse (decent name, I think), a joint venture between Renault and Geely.

YOUR VIEWS
I finalised my purchase of a new Suzuki Swift Motion this week and had an interesting chat with the car salesman.