1979 930 - Is this the car for me?

Kitjunkie · 01-31-2010, 04:13 PM

Good afternoon everyone. I posted this is market place questions, but perhaps it's better suited here. I am new here and relatively new to Porsche's. Up until recently, I owned an '08 Boxster, but have never owned a 911. We are getting ready to relocate back to Arizona (Scottsdale), and I've decided to buy either an SC or a 3.2 Carrera as a daily driver. I work out of my home for the most part, so it won't be a commuter car, but it will get used almost daily. I stumbled across this car and had a conversation with the original owner yesterday. He is selling it for the 2nd owner. He felt that this car was "too much" car for my needs. I have two questions, 1) is it too much car? and 2) is the $32K price realistic? He said that he has spent a fortune modifying this 930. The Franz Blam total rebuild was performed at 12,000 miles. The description is as follows:

1979 930 Turbo. Original paint, 48,000 miles, Franz Blam 350 HP built motor!

This Turbo is impeccable. I purchased it new, and am offering it for sale for the second owner. It has a paper trail for every service, and part from new. It has an interesting history, its fast, and near perfect. No disappointments!

Thanks for your advice.

Steve

mark houghton · 01-31-2010, 05:25 PM

Steve, if I read you right the car isn't yours yet. The last owner probably spent at least half of the total asking price on engine work, most likely, of course you'll want to check out just exactly what was done. If the rest of the car is as impeccable as you say, with the miles it has on it I would say 32K is a pretty good deal.
Too much Porsche for you? Now, tell the dude to get real! If you've never driven a normally aspirated 911, then you won't have any point of comparison. Yes, the 930 is in a power league all it's own, with pro's and con's 930 vs. 911. But you'll never get the same pucker factor and adrenalin rush off a NA 911.
These cars make great commuters, with the added benefit that when the mood grabs you...you grab back with some boost!

Kitjunkie · 01-31-2010, 05:39 PM

Mark,

You are correct, it's not mine. The original owner has a shop in Oregon and he sold the car to a local about 5,000 miles ago. He said that everything is documented and nothing was left undone. I live across the country, but I may make a trip out there to check it out. Do you think this car would require more maintenance than a well-maintained NA 911 of similar vintage?

Thanks,

Steve

A930Rocket · 01-31-2010, 05:42 PM

48k now and engine rebuilt at 12k or 12k miles ago at 36k? Big difference. Either way, you can check with Franz Blam in Atlanta on the rebuild.

Looks like a nice car, but get a PPI.

BTW, why is the guy selling it for the owner? Why isn't the owner selling it himself? That just seems like a red flag to me.

steven c · 01-31-2010, 05:48 PM

AC is going to be a problem.... if you want decent AC? Comapred to a Boxster it doesn't work!

turbo3six · 01-31-2010, 06:52 PM

Boxster to 930...having never owned an air-cooled 911, YES this is probably too much car. The learning curve will be steep. The price? Probably fair...if not cheap. Maintenance will be considerably more than a NA 911 of similar vintage and condition. The AC in either A NA or Turbo of this vintage is marginal at best... when working at its best in OE config it will be maybe 40% of the efficiency of the Boxster. But, if you buy it you will LOVE it if you are willing to spend the $ to properly maintain it. IMHO.

WPOZZZ · 01-31-2010, 07:06 PM

I sold my concours 79 930 with 51k on it for $32k in 2008.

mark houghton · 01-31-2010, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitjunkie

Mark,

You are correct, it's not mine. The original owner has a shop in Oregon and he sold the car to a local about 5,000 miles ago. He said that everything is documented and nothing was left undone. I live across the country, but I may make a trip out there to check it out. Do you think this car would require more maintenance than a well-maintained NA 911 of similar vintage?
Thanks,

Steve

That topic has been discussed and re-discussed on this forum (do a search if you have the time). The answer....yes, and no. Routine maintenance isn't really any different than a NA 911, but labor might be a bit more because of all the stuff that has to be removed for things like basic tuneups. The cost begins to escalate when things wear out. Turbos, pistons and cylinders, clutches, etc. that aren't common to 911's are more expensive to replace. The 930 is a high performance engine, and conditions in and around the motor are more brutal (heat, primarily). But notwithstanding the engine, things are pretty common...though a bit beefier suspension wise and with a bullet proof transmission....with a 911.

My opinion, proper and regular maintenance may run just a little more but not out of this world. Just my opinion, and so far it's held true with my car...so far!

Kitjunkie · 02-01-2010, 04:16 AM

Thanks everyone. A ppi would definitely be in order. My biggest concern is the a/c. Being in AZ, functional a/c is key. I appreciate the feedback.

Steve

Reaper930 · 04:55 AM

For a few $k you can have the AC blowing unbelievably cold - if thats what you want but the biggest factors to decide are the following:

-Do you appreciate the 934 & 935 history behind this beast?
-Do you understand and get goosebumps thinking about why they call these cars the "Widowmaker"?
-Do you want to own the original supercar as being celebrated by the Supercar Experience in Miami above all Lambos, Fcars and other exotics?
-Do you crave attention
-Do you adore visceral feedback

Perhaps the best way to put it is this:

What woman would you rather spend your time with
1. A nurturing brunette that would do things for your comfort, look after your well-being and ensure you were well tended to and cuddle after sex that you would take home to your parents and introduce to your grandmother.
2. A wild red-headed slut who ties you up, leaves you breathless and bruised, calls you by someone else's name, literally tries to kill you every time you "get it on" that you really want to introduce to your friends but you can't seem to stop long enough to get out of "bed".

If you answered Yes to #2, the 930 is for you....if not, buy another boxter.

These cars are old so maint. will be required however for an SC or a turbo, the costs are within a few $k of each other per year if you don't mod the hell out of it.

Buy it and join the brotherhood or spend the rest of your days wishing you did

good luck. Don't just take my word for it - these aren't meant for everyone, and i'm one of the more afflicted of the people here.

Kitjunkie · 02-01-2010, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

BTW, why is the guy selling it for the owner? Why isn't the owner selling it himself? That just seems like a red flag to me.

I forgot to add that the reason the original owner is selling it on behalf of the 2nd owner is that he owns a shop and sells Porsches, as well as the fact that he is intimate with every detail of the car's history and can articulate it whereas the current owner cannot. I don't think it's a red flag.

Kitjunkie · 02-01-2010, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reaper930

For a few $k you can have the AC blowing unbelievably cold - if thats what you want but the biggest factors to decide are the following:

-Do you appreciate the 934 & 935 history behind this beast?
-Do you understand and get goosebumps thinking about why they call these cars the "Widowmaker"?
-Do you want to own the original supercar as being celebrated by the Supercar Experience in Miami above all Lambos, Fcars and other exotics?
-Do you crave attention
-Do you adore visceral feedback

Perhaps the best way to put it is this:

What woman would you rather spend your time with
1. A nurturing brunette that would do things for your comfort, look after your well-being and ensure you were well tended to and cuddle after sex that you would take home to your parents and introduce to your grandmother.
2. A wild red-headed slut who ties you up, leaves you breathless and bruised, calls you by someone else's name, literally tries to kill you every time you "get it on" that you really want to introduce to your friends but you can't seem to stop long enough to get out of "bed".

If you answered Yes to #2, the 930 is for you....if not, buy another boxter.

These cars are old so maint. will be required however for an SC or a turbo, the costs are within a few $k of each other per year if you don't mod the hell out of it.

Buy it and join the brotherhood or spend the rest of your days wishing you did

good luck. Don't just take my word for it - these aren't meant for everyone, and i'm one of the more afflicted of the people here.

Is there a blonde option in there somewhere???

totle · totle's Garage

Go for it :-)
The power that this car produce is just plain fun, and will keep you smiling all the way.

WERK I · WERK I's Garage

My 0.02. Don't rush into it. If you have not driven the early 911's before, find a very good 911 SC and a 930. Take them for test drives in the city and countryside and decide which car best suits your tastes. You being a former Boxster owner, my guess is that you will find the SC the most entertaining. The SC is more "sports car-like" of the two, light, nimble, unbelievable feedback. The 930 is the autobahn killer, seemingly endless speed, a little snarly, forgiving.... until you're at 10/10's. You'll feel the mass of the 930 compared to the SC, but at speed, the 930 feels literally like its on rails, very hunkered down and ready to do business.

Either way, you just can't lose. They're both winners in my book!

tj930 · 02-01-2010, 08:44 AM

You need to take both cars for a drive. But - as they always say in such situations - drive the Carrera first (otherwise you'll be waiting for a "woosh" that never comes).

Bryan O, got to take issue with your use of the word "concours" - yes, it looks a damn fine car (and a beautiful hue - Guards Red - my favourite, as you might have guessed). But it had 964 'Cup Wheels' on it (not the black Fuchs it came with in 1979 - damn fine year, too

)

Any modification from the day it left Stuttgart means it's modified. What you mean is a beautifully tidy, clean, technically sound car NOT concours. (Just devalues the word.)

EmptyGarage · 02-01-2010, 09:20 AM

Hello kitjunkie,

I can't help you with the sc vs 930 dilemma but I've been looking for my 930 for 6 months now and this car has been one that temped me most. If it was black i would have bought it long ago! I'll be sad to see it go as it's my "back-up wife" LOL

The car is in excellent shape, i never did ask why the position of the mirrors where changed and this did concern me as the aesthetics of the metal plate over the old mounting holes is not great. if you go for the test drive let use know what you thing of the car and 930 power.

icemann427 · 02-01-2010, 10:19 AM

Steve,

If you plan on making that 930 your daily driver, especially in the Phoenix area, you will need to do a couple of things with it. As Reaper stated, you will need to spend at least three or four thousand dollars on upgrading the AC. I live in Tucson which is on average about five to eight degrees cooler than the Phoenix area in the summer, and even here is too hot for the stock AC. Secondly, you will need to tint the windows...Including, possibly a good tint strip along the top of the windshield, because the sun will bake the interior and the interior will take much longer to cool down once you start driving it if your windows aren't tinted. Thirdly, you may need to upgrade your oil coolers, or at a minimum, add fans to one or more of them, as stop and go traffic will make your oil temp peg around the red if you don't. Lastly, you may want to change those mirrors over to the stock ones. The stock ones work pretty good, and I would guess you will need pretty good mirrors around all of that insane traffic around greater Phoenix.

The nice thing about the 930 is it can be either a nurturing brunette or a wild red head. It just depends on whether you stick your foot in it (and hold it there) or not. The SC nor the 3.2 have absolutely nothing on the 930.

If you do buy it, you will come to that place like the rest of us...Where we just love looking at it's wide crouched front end and it's incredibly big fat a$$ (I just can't figure out why I like it's big a$$ when I like my brunettes and red heads with nice tight little ones...Woops, too much information, here! lol).

Good luck, Steve!

drmatera · 02-01-2010, 11:29 AM

the decision is really very easy...

A- yes, buy it
B- no, find an SC (then regret that decision everytime you happen across a lunatic, snarling 930 with one foot wide tires in the back and an ass that would send J-lo crying to mommy

Answer this question honestly - Do I like brutal speed? A or B (refer to above chart)

but hey, who am i? make your own decisions

really? is there even a hesitation?

WPOZZZ · 02-01-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj930

You need to take both cars for a drive. But - as they always say in such situations - drive the Carrera first (otherwise you'll be waiting for a "woosh" that never comes).

Bryan O, got to take issue with your use of the word "concours" - yes, it looks a damn fine car (and a beautiful hue - Guards Red - my favourite, as you might have guessed). But it had 964 'Cup Wheels' on it (not the black Fuchs it came with in 1979 - damn fine year, too

)

Any modification from the day it left Stuttgart means it's modified. What you mean is a beautifully tidy, clean, technically sound car NOT concours. (Just devalues the word.)

She had factory Fuchs when I had it in the Concours. Got bored and put on Rota Fox, FRH and finally the Kinesis Supercup.

David · David's Garage

If you want cold A/C, a '79 is a bit tougher to make work. An '86 or later car already has large dash vents and a few other goodies.