Porsche 928: Ahead of its time and ripe for a return

Porsche's 928 was arguably somewhat misunderstood by traditional fans of the German automaker when new.

Despite that fact, the long-legged grand tourer with the space-age looks lasted nearly 20 years.

The 928 was built between 1978 and 1995, surviving essentially with one major stylistic overhaul.

The original 928, like this red example, looked like a flying saucer when it landed at dealers in the '70s.

The 928 was among the first cars to feature integrated bumpers like this. Today, it's a commonplace feature.

The 928 was a two-plus-two, meaning two generous seats for driver and passenger and a pair of small rear buckets that were best left for packages.

This cutaway shows the front-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout and the V8 powerplant.

One of the 928's most distinctive features are its "pop-up egg" headlamps (shown here in the retracted position).

Here's the 928 doing what it does best -- blurring scenery.

By the time it left the market in 1995, in GTS guise, the 928 offered 350 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque.

That was enough for a 0-to-60-mph time of a smidge over 5 seconds. Top speed was 171 mph. Those numbers still feel remarkably contemporary for a car that left the market a quarter-century ago.

The 928's reputation and esteem have seemingly only grown since the model went out of production. Misunderstood when new, the 928 is now respected as one of the greatest GT cars ever made, and its values are climbing.

Rumors have persisted for years that Porsche would bring out a new 928, but even with plenty of platforms to base it on, that seems unlikely in today's SUV-happy market.

That's a shame, because a new 928 might actually sell better today than it did back when it was new.

Keep clicking or scrolling for more images of the Porsche 928.