'Risky Business' Porsche 928 heads to auction

1983 saw the release of Risky Business – a coming-of-age flick that launched the career of Tom Cruise. Directed by Paul Brickman and co-starring 1980s heart-throb Rebecca de Mornay, the film grossed a massive $63.5m at the box office against a comparatively paltry $6.2m budget. For petrolheads though, the most significant thing about Risky Business is the Porsche 928 that Cruise can be seen driving through the Chicago streets. 

Brickman apparently chose the 928 for the role because he found the 911 “too mundane”. While some Porschephiles might contest this point of view, there's no arguing the fact that the sleek 928 epitomises perfectly the film's materialistic overtones: during the decade of greed and excess it was the darling of new-moneyed yuppies the world over. 

Three were used during filming and this one – VIN 9289201213 – is heading to auction at Barrett-Jackson's inaugural sale in Houston, Texas, which starts on September 18. Built in 1979 this particular model comes bolted to a 4.5-litre V8 engine muscling out 163kW. A laughable figure in 2021, back in the day it was good enough to propel the Porsche 928 to 100km/h in a claimed 6.8 seconds. On a long enough road you could top out at 230km/h.

Brickman used this 928 for most of the wide-shot driving scenes, including the film's signature chase scene. Further adding to the car's provenance are signatures from cast members (Curtis Armstrong, Bronson Pincho, Francine Locke and Joe Pantoliano) plus a collection of photographs of it on set covered in camera rigging equipment. According to the film's producer, Jon Avnet, this is also the very vehicle in which actor Tom Cruise learnt how to operate a manual transmission (or “stick”, as the Americans like to call it).

According to Barrett-Jackson this steel-skinned movie star is heading to auction without a reserve, however its enviable history should certainly drive up the hammer price.