11 minute read
The EURO-928-2002 Meeting - Part 1
Ludwigsburg, Germany
STORY AND PHOTOS BY RICHARD ANDRADE
Imagine a chance to meet the faces behind the design of your favorite Porsche, to be able to ask what was going through their minds and to hear their answers. The Porsche Club 928 Germany opened their Euro-928-2002 twenty-fifth anniversary celebration to all 928 enthusiasts. Anyone who was lucky enough to learn about this event could register and attend. For me, this opportunity was too much to resist. As the recap of this event unfolds, I believe you too will agree that my expectations were fulfilled.
The story of the Porsche’s 928 program began on October 21, 1971, when Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, Porsche’s Technical Director, was presented with development chief Helmut Bott’s research results and recommendations for their next generation automobile. Porsche was still a small company then and had limited financial resources. Management had a real concern that the 911 could not meet the strict safety and emissions requirements that their largest market, the United States, was imposing on all automobile manufacturers. The 928 was to be their first clean sheet design and a departure from the past configuration of rear air-cooled engines. For their next generation vehicle, a front water-cooled engine and rear transaxle layout was chosen.
The Euro-928-2002 event was centered at the Hotel Nestor in Ludwigsburg, Germany, just 15 km north of Stuttgart and a fifteen minute drive from Porsche’s Zuffenhausen manufacturing plant. Rather than solely focus on technical and driving events most commonly held at car enthusiasts meetings, the club decided to add cultural and social activities in light of the importance of the 25th anniversary of the Porsche 928.
The event began on the afternoon of Thursday, September 12, 2002... Attendees were greeted by the Porsche Club 928 Germany in the Nestor’s lobby.
Porsche Club 928 Germany Event Team.
After registering and checking into our room we had a chance to mingle a bit with a very diverse group of 928 owners before dinner. Friday’s events began with an opportunity for all the attendees to congregate with a welcoming on the Porsche grounds in Weissach followed by a tour of the Maulbronn monastery. For the evening, we then traveled for dinner and wine tasting to Großbottwar, a village of about 8,000 people. Saturday was the big day, featuring a tour of many of Porsche’s Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen facilities; body and restoration shops, factory service and repair center, exclusive auto sales, parts sales, with an excellent lunch in the Porsche canteen. We then had open time to visit to the Porsche Museum and the only Porsche-owned dealership. After a full day at Porsche, the meeting crescendo was the banquet dinner where we were introduced to many of the key managers that created the 928 and heard their stories of its development. Sunday’s plans included a tour of the nearby Ludwigsburg Castle. After a full long-weekend, we then said goodbye to many of our new friends.
U.S. Attendees Dan Bise, Rich Andrade, James Komiak, and Fran Mulchy.
Hotel Nestor Arrival
The hotel Nestor’s building is over 120 years old. Completed in 1871, it was originally part of the Ludwigsburg residence castle grounds serving as the bakery for the garrison. It has been fully restored and is listed as a historical preservation site. As the many Euro-928 guests arrived, their 928s began filling the parking spaces. The low growling sound of the V8s could be heard throughout the evening as different groups arrived.
A very nice Swiss registered early 928.
There were many 928 GTSs in attendance. Hotel Nestor entrance lined by 928s.
Weissach
Friday’s daylight itinerary included a stop across the street form Porsche’s Weissach facility and tour of the Maulbronn monastery. We knew early on that the Porsche 928 Club Germany had done a very thorough job with planning and logistics. We were each presented a map with the route highlighted. They even posted discreet signs at each key junction pointing the correct direction to turn.
As we wound through the country roads outside of Schwieberdingen on the way to Weissach, a Porsche 996 pulled up behind me. Regardless of my speed, the 996 driver seemed at ease to keep up with the pace. As we pulled into the parking lot, the 996 followed me in and parked next to us. Looking to this mystery auto I saw yellow brake calipers - this 996 had the latest in Porsche’s braking technology - ceramic brakes. Ceramic brakes are an option only offered for 996 turbos and are standard equipment on GT2s and GT3s.
This was the first chance for all of the meeting attendees to park their 928s together. To facilitate in our comfort, Porsche organized catering with coffee, tee, juices, light snacks; naturally the napkins and sugar wrappers featured the Porsche crest. We had a great time looking over all of the cars and making introductions.
Friday’s Weissach waypoint. Professor Helmut Flegl, 928 project Manager from 1975 – 1976. Photo source Dan Bise.
Only later when he began to address the group did I learn that the 996 driver was Professor Helmut Flegl, Porsche’s 928 project manager from 1975 – 1976. He was a thirty-seven year Porsche employee, only retiring from Porsche this year.
Professor Flegl apologized that we couldn’t tour the Weissach facility explaining that a group of 200 people was just too large to accommodate. He explained that in the beginning, Weissach was only a skid track. It has since grown to include special projects, crash tests, wind tunnels, and transmission testing. After answering questions and autographing a few Project 928 books, the group lined up for the next visit, the monastery Maulbronn.
What a sight! 928s as far as the eye could see. A UK 928.
Traffic isn’t bad if the view is like this. Tjeert van Hogen’s 928 with Weissach buildings as backdrop.
Villagers were wondering just what was going on. Maulbronn village gate.
Maulbronn
Founded in 1147, the 856 year old former Cistercian Maulbronn Monastery is considered to be one of the most complete and wellpreserved medieval monastery complexes north of the Alps. It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated world cultural heritage site. We had a guided tour and lunch within the abbey at the restaurant Klosterschmiede (monastery smithy).
The Maulbronn Abbey dating back to the mid-1100s. Abbey Courtyard.
Wolfgang stated that Tony was the one who interfaced with management and fought the design battles with other groups, such as powertrain engineering. Thankfully for us, the design group most often won the arguments. He also picked up interior design while the responsible manager was ill during the last year of design. Wolfgang shared these interesting facts:
- the 928 design was to be something that no other manufacturer could do. Ground breaking work was done for the front fenders, no one had fabricated aluminum in such a way. It was a “timeless design” but there still had to be continuity with the earlier Porsches. Some examples are:
o headlamps: Porsches have “eyes” as a prominent feature. Other manufacturers went to concealed headlamps where as the 928 used the best technology of the time with the largest lenses (eight inch). The headlamps recess into the fender to preserve the Porsche look. o Narrow hood with wide fenders. This was a carry over design from the 911.
- the front and rear fenders were purposely beveled to make the car look smaller and different from any direction. Wolfgang’s favorite aspect of the 928 design is the front fender just above the tire, he especially enjoys how reflections are different from any angle.
- The front and rear designs were unique, they fully comprehended the U.S. 5 mph crash tests yet proved no visible clues of that capability. The original front design was so square for these requirements. The absence of visible bumpers front and rear was a big departure from the norm and a very controversial aspect of the design at that time.
- Porsche was very engineering focused at that time. As an example, the S4 front and rear design upgrade was only initiated due to the need for new manufacturing tooling. Engineers had more experience with crash effectiveness and plastic tooling so they were able to round out the S4 nose and give the car an even lower appearance. The S4 rear was given the lower lip to create some feel of a bumper.
- Phone dial wheels. Wolfgang oversaw the design. Originally the wheels were designed with five rectangular spokes. He felt it was too much of a contrast with the rounded body design, so he elected to go with the “phone dial” look which removed the appearance of spokes because the eye focuses on the round holes.
- Wolfgang was asked about the 928’s tail lights: “Why we can see rear lights in Project 928 sketches that look like those that were used in the newer S4 models?” Mr. Möbius answered, “No manufacturers were able to made such modern lights in the 70s. At that time, every lamp in the rear required its own housing.” That is the reason for the old looking lights used in the older models.
- the 928 was designed before computer simulations. The first iteration didn’t have the under hood cross brace. It was discovered that bracing was necessary when the front end was lifted without the engine in place.]
Wolfgang currently drives an old 911. He remarked that he is reconsidering after seeing the turnout for this event and all the nice 928s.
Wolfgang Möbius poses with Tjeert van Hogen’s 928.
Harald Wagner was sales manager for Porsche AG at the time of the 928’s introduction. His focus was on the European market. He recalls the 928 as a fine automobile that had a lot of respect.
City of Großbottwar
The Großbottwar Bottwartalkellerei (winery) is a cooperative owned by the regional vineyards. We were provided a tour that was followed by wine tasting and dinner. We had a surprise following dinner, we learned that Jörg Austen, a 35 year Porsche employee and manager of the transaxle development would join us.
Jörg Austen. Cover of Jörg Austen’s next book.
Jörg Austen was more than happy to meet us. We found a quiet conference room away from the group and sat down for a chat. When asked about his history with Porsche, he recalled that after college he sent a resumes to only two firms, and one of them was Porsche. He stated that Porsche is a rare company regarding patents. They always license patents, even to competitors. He is very proud of the patented synchronizer design that he oversaw. It was first was utilized in racing transmissions and then was used for Porsche’s production gear boxes. Our discussions covered:
- A/T equipped cars and thrust bearing failure: if the factory workshop manual preloading adjustment is not followed, thrust bearing failure is possible. He wrote the procedure that was implemented through model year 1984 and did training to dealer mechanics across many countries of the world. - 928 manual transmission synchros: he recalls no warranty problems, and knows of no reason why they should go bad unless the clutch isn’t adjusted or used properly. - There really isn’t a “Borg Warner” transaxle, yes they sourced the production but the design and patents are Porsche’s. - Porsche 928 A/T transaxle sourcing: yes they use Mercedes parts, it wasn’t realistic to produce a separate transmission for such a small manufacturing line. However Porsche worked to tune the design for the 928. - Porsche improved the drivetrain year by year, and as the engines gained power there were changes made to handle the additional power.
Jörg drove the 928 at the Nürburgring many times and loved the handling. He felt the automatic transmission was perfect.
He feels his most exciting work was with Porsche racing. He participated in four Le Mans 24 hour races. Porsche won contracts to support Matra and Ferrari with transmission work for their race programs, and Jörg managed these projects.
Following his retirement, he is now writing technical books about Porsches, the latest being a German language summary of technical specifications titled “Porsche 911. The technical documentation from 1963 to 1998.” Sigmund Walter is the coauthor. Porsche provides Jörg unlimited access to drawings and technical information. His new work that is nearing publication is about the transaxles of 944s and 928s. He hopes that this book will include English language captions.
