Dad leaves his family a Porsche 928, though it’s not a golden goose

When car lover Umberto Antonacci passed away in November 2020, he left several classic vehicles in his garage. One, covered by a sheet, turned out to be more special than the others.

According to The Daily Star, of Oneonta, New York, Umberto’s favorite ride was a gold-painted 1979 Porsche 928.

“It was his pride and joy. He babied that car,” says his wife, Maria Antonacci. “When he first got it, he would just drive up and down the driveway, then around the block. He loved cars and collected them.”

Umberto’s son, Al Antonacci, says that although his father pampered the Porsche for a long time, by the time the cover came off it had been sitting for about 10 years. Mice had destroyed some of the wiring. Al wanted to get the car running again, so he took it to a local dealer he had used before. The mechanic considered the 928 a rare vehicle, but we’re not exactly following that logic except to say that a 928 with a five-speed manual is more desirable than one with an automatic transmission.

A 1979 Porsche 928 (with a 4.5-liter eight-cylinder engine) has a #3 (Good) condition value of $24,000.

Umberto’s wife says her husband—who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy as a child—owned a business in Queens, and he searched for a German-speaking mechanic to work on the car … by listening to people talk. “Every place he went, he would notice an accent and ask if (that was) German in his accent,” she says. His plan worked; Umberto found a German mechanic in the Monroe, New York, area.

In addition to the Porsche, one of the other two vehicles in Umberto’s garage was a 1982 van (make and model unknown). The Daily Star says Al Antonacci hopes to restore the van and use it himself, but he may have to sell the Porsche in order to make that happen.

We’re guessing it won’t be easy to let the Porsche go at any price, but the car’s backstory may be worth its weight in—you guessed it—gold.