Tom Petty says that you don't have to live it like a refugee, but then he probably hasn't ever seen today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe 928, in which an SBC has taken refuge. Will that and its price have you saying, there goes my girl?
They say that living well is the best revenge. I say the best revenge is a wedgie. Living well is still right up there, however according to 70% of you, that lifestyle shouldn't include yesterday's 1984 Fiero-based Lamborghini Countach, at least not at its current price.
That kit car was Chevy-powered, which was a nod to the common man. Chevy's ubiquitous and much venerated small block has set the standard for cheap, reliable power in everything, from old Deuce Coupes to Corvettes, for decades now.
Porsche has built a number of V8s over the years - a small number to be sure - but the design of each and every one of them has differed from Chevy's blueprint in just about every way other than cylinder count.
A couple of the most important deviations involve longevity and cost to repair, and that's most likely the reason that you'll find Chevy's pushrods haunting the engine bay of this 1979 Porsche 928 rather than the car's original all-aluminum 219-horse, SOHC 4.5-litre.
In fact I would go as far as to say that when not properly maintained, the stock Porsche mill could be considered a Pooh's nightmare. That is of course where heffelumps and woozles suck up all of Winnie the Pooh's honey, only in the 928 engine's case, it would be your bank account and a some catastrophic failure.
That's hardly ever the case with the small block Chevy. According to the ad, the engine in this 928 is a fresh 1973 4-bolt 350 bored .30-over. It drinks through a Quadrajet and farts through what look to be a set of headers and some custom pipes. The engine is a Renegade conversion the cost of which presently tips the scales at $1,425 for the manual transmission kit.
As you will recall, the 928 rocks a water-cooled V8 up front, but like most of the company's more traditional fare, it still has its gearbox in the back. Speaking of back, this 928 has a big wing on its, and that - as well as the rest of the car - has been painted in racing livery. The ad says that it's the 1979 Profile Formula winning front engine Porsche colors, and as proof shows a picture of a model Ford Capri painted the same manner. Gold baskets keep the tires from rolling away.
There's apparently also a model of this car painted the same way and that magazine Capri so there you go. Let's just say that to drive this you've got to be a bit of an extrovert. On the inside, things are a little more wild west and the sight of a Grant steering wheel, dash cracks, and torn seat bolsters might make you want to hit the junk yards (yes, they're full of these cars) for some better bits.
It does seem like something Jeremy Clarkson would pick for a Top Gear challenge that involves driving across a country that he finds unspeakably beautiful but for whose people he feels only distain, only to eventually destroy it by somehow accidentally lighting his own fart inside, hence setting the car ablaze.
What's wrong with it? Well, there's apparently a pretty significant leak in the steering rack that needs repair, and then there's the fact that you would be shunned by every Porsche Club in America if you owned this car.
And what would it take to gain ownership? Well, right now, on the Craigslist, the asking price is $7,500. I'm going to ask you to weigh in on that in a sec, but first I want you to note this ad, which has expired - yes, like the milk in your fridge - appears to have offered the car at $4,500. What's up with that?
Okay, now it's $7,500, and I'm over the older ad. What do you think about this be-Chevied, and be-liveried 928 for its current $7,500 asking price? Does that seem like a deal to be your own renegade? Or, is this Porsche's price not petty enough?
You decide!
Lasalle IL Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to CHICAGO635CSI for the hookup!
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