Pershing 80, the Classic Pershing Yachts Open Before the X Era

Pershing yachts before the X Generation

Before Pershing yachts went carbon and adopted the X names, the Mondolfo yard built a line of big open performance yachts identified simply by length. The Pershing 80 was one of the most important of them. The first hull, fitted with ASD surface drives, was handed to a Spanish owner in April 2007, and Power and Motoryacht reported that nine were expected to be finished by the end of that year. The model reached the US in force at the 2010 Fort Lauderdale show, and Yachting tested the first one brought into America in 2011.

Pershing replaced it with the Pershing 82, announced in January 2012, which borrowed elements from the 80 and added a hidden sundeck. That makes the 80 a used-market proposition only, and in 2026 it is one of the most affordable ways to buy an 80-foot Pershing that still runs in the high 40s.

A little history explains the attitude. The yard sits on Via J.J. Pershing, named after General John Joseph Pershing, and the Pershing missiles named after him inspired a line of yachts that Yachting called rockets in their own right. Every Pershing since 1985 has carried lines by Fulvio De Simoni.

Sixteen cylinders a side

Standard power was a pair of MTU 16V 2000 M91 diesels rated at 2,030 hp each. The upgrade was the 16V 2000 M93 at 2,345 hp, which is what Yachting's 2011 test boat carried, for a total near 4,700 hp. Both drove surface drives, as every Pershing does.

On the Fort Lauderdale trial, Yachting's tester ran the boat with a 40 percent fuel load, full water tanks, seven people aboard and air temperatures in the 80s, and still topped out a touch above 46 knots. The builder reported 50 knots in cooler conditions with a lighter load. The boat planed quickly, accelerated with little trim through 30, 40 and 45 knots, and stayed on plane when throttled back to 16 knots, about half its comfortable 30-knot cruise. Yachting's later brokerage note confirmed that the optional 2,345 hp boat cruised at 30 knots.

No published fuel curve came out of that test, so we do not quote a cruise burn. Expect a big number: two 16-cylinder MTUs at 30 knots consume fuel at a rate that makes the 1,572-gallon tank necessary rather than generous.

• LOA 80 ft 5 in, beam 18 ft 1 in, draft 4 ft 7 in
• Displacement 139,000 lb, 22 degrees deadrise
• Fuel 1,572 gal, water 343 gal
• Top speed about 46 knots as tested, 50 knots per builder light

A roof and glass that disappear

The feature that made the Pershing 80 stand out was how completely it could open up. The aft end of the salon is nearly all glass, with doors to port and starboard. Slide the doors to the centerline, press a button, and the whole assembly drops away. A panel in the hardtop slides aft over the helm and dining area, and the cantilevered aft end of the hardtop slides forward to put full sun on the centerline lounge. Yachting described the result as something close to an open day boat when the weather is right, and a sealed-up yacht when it is not.

Inside, a centerline settee and an L-shaped lounge can be rearranged into a U-shape, with an ottoman that flips from table to footrest and a pop-up television to port. A triple helm seat faces the windshield. Up front, a U-shaped foredeck settee with a folding convertible-style canopy and a large sun pad make the bow useful at anchor or stern-to in a Mediterranean-style marina. Aft, a big platform covers the drives and a stern garage carries a RIB and a personal watercraft.

Three or four staterooms, and real crew space

Both layouts share an island queen VIP forward, a full-beam king master amidships with large hull windows, and a twin cabin to port. All three have their own heads; the master's includes a tub with shower and a bidet. The choice lies to starboard, where buyers chose either a second twin cabin sharing the port twin's head or a sitting area open to the passageway.

Crew quarters were unusually good for a European yacht of the time, with two crew cabins sharing a head and a galley equipped with Sub-Zero refrigeration and Miele range, oven and dishwasher, plus a proper laundry with working space. The engine room impressed Yachting with safety cages around the stub shafts between engines and drives, an interchangeable dual-pump fire and bilge setup, exhausts supported from the engine beds and a watertight engine room door.

Some boats were customized heavily. The test boat had an onyx-faced island bar behind the helm and a fiber-optic starlit wenge headliner, and one berth in its fourth cabin had been swapped for an exercise bike. Expect individual boats to differ.

A crewed boat in practice

Yachting judged that a couple could handle the 80, with room for a captain and mate or chef when wanted. In the US market, most owners keep a full-time captain, and at least a mate during the season. Combine two crew salaries, an 85- to 90-foot slip, insurance, MTU 16V service, surface drive maintenance, paint and teak care, and fuel, and a realistic annual budget runs about $320,000 to $600,000.

Engine work is the big swing factor. A major overhaul on a pair of MTU 16V 2000s is a six-figure job, so the timing of the last one matters more than almost anything else on a used 80.

Buying a Pershing 80 in 2026

When Yachting looked in November 2020, eight Pershing 80s were for sale between $1.9 and $2.5 million. Six years later, most boats should sit between about $1.4 and $2.3 million, with the best-documented, upgraded-engine boats at the top. Compare that with roughly $5 to $8 million for a used Pershing 8X and the appeal is obvious, but so is the risk: these are now 14- to 19-year-old high-performance yachts.

Insist on a survey by someone who knows Pershings and surface drives, engine surveys with oil analysis for both MTUs, and a sea trial at full throttle. Check every motorized feature, because the drop-down glass, sliding hardtop panels and garage door are where deferred maintenance shows first.

Pershing 80 versus the 82 and the 8X

The Pershing 82 that replaced the 80 kept a similar size and MTU 16V M93 power and added a hidden sundeck with an electro-hydraulic staircase, with a promised 45-knot top end. The current 8X, launched in 2019, moves to carbon fiber and 2,435 hp MTU 16V 2000 M96 engines, reaching 46.5 knots in Power and Motoryacht's test, at several times the price. For buyers who mainly want the experience of a big open Pershing at speed, the 80 delivers most of it for a fraction of the outlay.