Tom Cruise’s ‘Risky Business’ Porsche 928 Returns For Monterey Car Week
“Porsche. There is no substitute.”
The power of cinema has had a very measurable effect on Porsche 928 prices, thanks almost entirely to the car’s appearance in Paul Brickman’s 1983 movie Risky Business. Three 1979 examples of the classic German grand tourer—all dressed in memorable Platinum Metallic paintjobs—were utilized in the iconic Tom Cruise coming-of-age comedy. One of the cars fetched $1.98 million in 2021—a ludicrous sum, considering the exact same 928 hadn’t even broken $50,000 at auction 10 years earlier. At the time of that 2021 sale, Hagerty placed an maximum value on a 1979 Porsche 928 in elite Concours condition at around $80,000.
Today, the classic car insurance company values the same year-make-model and condition at $120,000, thanks largely to 2021’s $2 million outlier. By the end of August, that max value will likely surge again, as another Risky Business 1979 Porsche 928 is headed to Bonhams’ Quail Auction during Monterey Car Week.
The luxe GT definitely achieved icon status during its nearly two-decade production run through 1995, but even with its silver-screen fame, it never reached the popularity of its rear-engine stablemate, the 911. Said fame stems mainly from the climactic Risky Business chase scene, the conclusion of which sees Cruise’s high school senior turn suavely to Rebecca de Mornay’s prostitute and utter the marque’s period-correct slogan, “Porsche. There is not substitute.”
According to the auction house, Cruise delivered that marketing tag in this very vehicle. With the help of producer John Avnet, the young leading man also learned to drive a manual transmission on its five-speed—an early, low-stakes example of Cruise performing his own stunts.
Bonhams has further details on the car’s post-Hollywood provenance:
Following its use in the film production, it was returned to California. While famous on screen, initially the 928 was just a used car. It was resprayed white and passed through a few California owners before it was rediscovered by documentarian Lewis Johnsen of Denver, Colorado. Johnsen had always loved the car from the movie and went about interviewing the film’s producers, John Avnet and Paul Brickman, as well as others. In reviewing production documents (copies of which are on file) that list the vehicle with its serial number, he next sought out to find the car, which took him to an owner in Cathedral City, California where an owner unaware of the history of his car was ready to rid himself of it to work on other projects. Purchased sight unseen in the mid-2000s, the car would head to Colorado and Johnsen would document his quest in the film The Quest for the RB928 (Risky Business 928).
The 928 would later move to a collection on the East Coast where it would receive substantial cosmetic and mechanical refurbishment, with receipts on file. Acquired by the current owner in 2021 it has been carefully stored in a climate controlled garage for the past three years.
As for performance, the 928’s 4.5-liter V8 sits over the front axle, sending 219 horsepower to the rear wheels. Hitting 60 mph originally took 6.8 seconds and top speed was billed at 143 mph—formidable for GTs of the time. Bonhams estimates that this one will fetch between $1.4 and $1.8 million at The Quail Auction on August 16.
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