[DFWX]

In my view, the 928 sold the 944 just as the Carrera sells Boxsters. Maybe we are in agreement with that, and I fully agree that even at their price, the 928 was a money loser itself in terms of automobile sales and could not be anything but one.
My view is that it was the combination of the 928 and 944 Turbo that caused GM to throw in the towel for its own purposes in that Porsche could have opened a hornet's nest across the auto industry. In that era, there were both open and closed negotiations over horsepower limits, performance limits, design limits etc in the early DOT and EPA regs years and GM was the heavyweight to the extreme and Porsche virtually non-existent directly, but of indirect huge nusance potential.
The reality that a small company like Porsche raising the massive, massive sum to tool virtually from ground up is an amazing feat - and they pulled it off (rather than folding with an Edsel result).
The 928 also radically departed from all previous Porsche and not merely in being front engined, but extremely (even excessively) lavish for the era.
What your comment disregards is the political-legal DOT/EPA battle going on at the time.
Ferrari is its own world. Generally, supercars are for the purpose of selling lesser models on the reputation of the brand. The 944 did not appear as a supercar in movies or as a supercar on posters. The 944 did not bring Porsche the supercar imagine, the 928 did.
The 928 directly was a money loser. But it was a huge success in the value of the Porsche name, Porsche logo merchandising and the value of a Porsche dealership license. As for income from car sales, it was the 944. But profits for a manufacturer are not limited to car sales.
The 928 also gave Porsche a diverse line up, more than it has now.
I believe Porsche very deliberately limited the 928 production as they certainly lost money on each one sold.
Do you believe Porsche actually made $$ on the GT1 even at $500,000 each? It is impossible.
Porsche is an expensive car and people buy the logo on the car, not just the value of the machine.
Somehow, I think we agree on principle, though possibly not historical significance.
What supercar did Porsche make - where supercar is defined by public perception - prior to the 928?
Of all Porsche in the used market, my view is that the unquestioned best deal for performance, support, parts and looks are the Turbo 944. But, just as the 928 sold 944, so did the 944 turbo sell 944 (non-turbo).

Actually, this began with a rant of lack of support for recognition of the 928, which I contend was a watershed success for Porsche in terms of general public perception of what Porsche is to this day. An older guy, I am a bit familar with the political/legal muscle of the early 70s. GM devastated the car industry, though people blame environmentalists, insurance companis and safety freaks.
Prior to the 928 (or I suppose the 924 early release), Porsche was a small niche market of German sports car and little more to the public. What was the Porsche world recognized supercar prior to the 928?

Thanks for your thoughts.