There’s nothing revheads love more than a ‘barn find‘: a forgotten-about vintage car that’s laid dormant and preserved for years. They’re the automotive equivalent of time capsules; time machines, even.
Conversely, there’s nothing we hate more than seeing a valuable car that’s been totally trashed – whether that’s by vandalism, a traffic bingle or just letting them rot out in the elements. And it’s the latter that we want to talk about today. One crazy Californian car collector has done the unthinkable by letting a fleet of rare Porsche 928s simply waste away in a field – a huge missed opportunity.
The story goes that a TV producer, out scouting locations for the popular HBO series Westworld, came across this bizarre collection of over a dozen of these fine German racing machines in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. While he didn’t end up using this car graveyard for the show, the collection definitely gives off an apocalyptic vibe.
“One of the [land]owner’s friends asked to store a couple of cars. And pretty much never came back… The guy is still around who owns them, but seems to have lost interest in fixing them… I was told he won’t sell them,” Rhodes told Carscoops.
Imagine spending all that time and money collecting 928s, and then just letting them waste away – but also not even try to repair or sell them. That’s just foolishness. What, is he trying to plant them so that they grow more? A Porsche plantation?
Produced from 1978 to 1995 and originally intended to replace the iconic 911 as Porsche’s flagship offering, the 928 has always had a mixed reputation. Unlike the 911, which was rear-engined and air-cooled, the 928 was front-engined and water-cooled, as well as Porsche’s first-ever V8 production model. It won acclaim for its good looks and comfortable ride but its focus on luxury and deviation from the tried-and-true 911 formula led many purists to dimiss the 928.
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However, in recent years, car nuts have grown to appreciate the 928, and prices for the grand tourer have started to steadily increase – with pristine examples demanding price tags as high as AU$100,000. This Californian collection contains everything from early spoiler-free 4.5L cars to later model 5.0L S4s: while the elements surely haven’t been kind to these 928’s paintwork, the dry Californian weather they’ve endured means they’re unlikely to be seriously affected by rust.
In short, they’re perfect candidates for restoration… Which is why it’s so frustrating that this old bastard won’t sell the damn things.