Here’s a very cool classic Porsche project, the lies of which we definitely do not see every day at the DSD Motorwerks Porsche workshops in Essex, UK. This superb Porsche 928 S4 Coupe recently arrived at our service workshop for recommissioning following many years lying unused in storage due to an engine noise.
Knowing our reputation for high quality Porsche engine rebuilds, the owner had the car transported to DSD Motorwerks. We stripped both heads off the Porsche V8 engine, sending them to our machine shop for rebuilding while we investigated the rest of the car and serviced it ahead of a fresh MOT.
The history of this particular Porsche 928 S4 may be quite interesting to racing fans and classic motorsport enthusiasts. This car was originally bought new by the Toleman Racing team, who were responsible for giving many Grand Prix legends including the great Ayrton Senna their first Formula 1 drive.
Founded in 1920s Manchester, Toleman later moved south to Dagenham, before finally settling close to Brentwood in Essex in the 1960s. Early forays into racing were all on a customer basis, with off-the-shelf Ralt and March chassis’ used in European F2 racing, before MD Ted Toleman hired Rory Byrne to design Toleman’s first race car.
Byrne would go on to design many winning Ferrari Formula 1 cars, but his first effort for Toleman was not up to much. Drivers Derek Warwick and Brian Henton rarely qualified for races but nonetheless, Toleman succeeded in attracting numerous sponsors over the years before eventually bringing in Ayrton Senna, who claimed the team’s best ever result: second place at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix.
Toleman eventually sold its operation to Benetton, who then sold to Renault, who then sold to Lotus. The current Lotus F1 team comprises many former Toleman mechanics and engineers, so maybe one of them remembers this Porsche 928!
The Porsche 928 engine rebuild was recently completed and this beautiful coupe with just 62,000 miles on the odometer has been clocking up its first miles in over a decade at the hands of DSD engineers. No 928 should ever be released back into the wild without a thorough check of its systems: better to know all those complex electrical circuits are working as intended before the customer has it back in time for the summer.