Should I pull the trigger on a 914?

[charleskieffner]

howard the 914 is a hanger queen and just sleeps in the hanger. very very rare it gets driven. and when it does its to shop and back. its truly that clean and never will be for sale. it hurts my eyes, its so clean. we scored big time on that one. just picture coco mats that smell new!

day after labor day we will be finishing my 911 up w/some tarrett sway bars/elephant rack spacer(tires rub) realign, and finish trading out oem tan leather interior to black leather. my birthday is 9/22 and doing a road trip was supposed to happen back in july w/the colorado guys. but alas too many wear part glitches and one major BFE breakdown, and running out of time didnt allow us that treat. soooooooooooooooo MOAB sounds pretty cool right now. our weekend jaunts after shoveling dead prezidents into 911 have yielded some more lil things on the list but id have to say after sunday's blazing fast run at dawn, up to prescott city limits and back to my house showed no problems or surprises. after a steady diet of cash and new wear parts anything can be fixed. and remember sooner or later everything will be new again and then nothing breaks...................right? come on agree with me on that ......................please! our goal ................pir/firebird raceway late oct. or november.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
The only non-911 Porsche (well except for a 356 which is out of my price range right now) that I have thought about owning is a 914. I found one for sale locally, 1973 2.0 L which the owner says is pretty rust free, specifically the "hell hole" under the battery box he says has no rust. There is a one inch hole in the rear trunk which will need to be fixed but he says that is the only major rust on the car. Runs and drives, interior looks ok from the pictures. He has put coil over Bilsteins, new brakes and new tires on the car. It needs paint, badly. He apparently started prepping the front end for paint and then quit. So the front decklid is primer gray, the rest of the car is yellow and the driver's side front fender has been sanded so primer is showing through.

He is asking $4k for the car. I am thinking about buying it and sticking it in the garage until next year when I will have the cash to restore it. The plus side is that it is a 73 2.0L which, from what I hear, is the most desirable 4 cylinder model.

Thoughts?

Only if you want an expensive project on a very old Porsche.

[Howard Agency]

Charles, one thing I have learned. There's no substitute for cubic $$$.

[Drago]

While I am a fan of teeners, I'd wait and see if you can get into the '73 911E. To bad it doesn't have the MFI still intact though.

$4000 is to much for that car. Board member teenerted1 bought his virtually pristine example of the same extact car in black on black for only 1K more.

[Nathans_Dad]

Ok, thanks for all the great input guys. I'm debating whether to even go over and look at it, the rational part of me is winning out and saying that 73 2.0L 914s will still be available in 12 months and I'll be in a MUCH better position financially. I could pull the cash out of savings right now, but our cash flow will be much better in Dallas. After surfing around and looking at ads, I think he has too high of an opinion on the car, as you guys have said he is certainly high on the price and he really sounded against negotiating over the phone...

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally posted by Don Wohlfarth
There's a big difference between doing the necessary stuff and driving it and restoring it. If restoring is your goal you don't want to put the car on the track. If you still insist on restoring it you need to be able to do all the work yourself. Otherwise you could easily spend 10-12, maybe 20K turning this car into a nice 8-10K car.
This car has been for sale for 6 weeks. If it's such a deal how come it's still for sale? Buying this car now and letting it sit for a year or longer doesn't make a lot of sense.
Figure out what your goals are before jumping on this one.

Good point. Restoring is probably the wrong word. What I would like is a nice car which is very presentable but not a trailer queen. Hah, a 914 trailer queen is a bit of an oxymoron, unless it is a 916. Decent paint, decent interior, runs well, looks good but not afraid to hang it out on the track either...

[FrayAdjacent911]

Personally, I think right now, I'd rather have a 914 than my 911.

Eventually, I'd love to have a 914 as a fun car. They just have an odd appeal to them.

[nostatic]

I can get a clean teener for $5K? Hmm...

[charleskieffner]

howard...........its been the same drill for everything we have laid our eyes on and bought. lots of hidden issues that even the P.O. doesnt know about. i dont care if its planes trucks bikes cars. btwn the lil 1/2 day to full day runs and the track or in the dez you shake something loose and have to fix it or it leads you to something else. but really if you do allow time and cubic dollars to do the job right, you really to get some amazing memories. its a lot of trial and error. we swear by the simpliest test during the summer. hope in vehicle a/c blasting if it has it, and go sit in traffic. stop and go, then jump on freeway or long straight road to cool down, and if it doesnt overheat or break.................your good to go. the best test is the grade up I-17 to sunset point on way to flag and prescott. that grade will KILL ANYTHING that isnt in proper running order! yes we are on a first name basis w/local CATCH -22 tow company! its rare but it happens and you find out all about what needs fixin! LOL............real quick!

[Nathans_Dad]

Here's another question for the teener knowledgable ones on the board. Given the condition of the car in the ad and what I know about it, what sort of price do you think would be appropriate? Ballpark?

Funny thing, I took a look on Craiglist and the guy has a primered 944 for sale too, you can see the 914 in the garage in the 944 pics...

[Howard Agency]

It's the right car, and like that he lifted the carpet to show. There are other places of concern (behind soundproofing, etc.) that should be looked at by someone familiar with these cars. If it checks out with a PPI, that's a fair price.

But as Charles knows, 'Cars and anything that floats, fuchs, or flies will cause you grief.'

[Howard Agency]

This might be a better deal. ebay

[Nathans_Dad]

Howard, I saw that one on e-bay as well. The only thing with that one is that the bidding will START at $6k, plus they add in a $500 documentation fee plus TT&L and I would have to pay shipping which would probably be another $500-750.

[jyl]

You should always try to buy a minty original, or failing that, the car someone else has restored.

Restoring a car yourself hardly ever makes economic sense, unless it is a genuinely valuable car. May make sentimental sense, or maybe you just plain like restoring cars. But not economic sense.

Supposing this car needs minor rust repair, full prep and paint, some interior, general mechanical freshening, no major mechanical components - basically a best-case scenario - you could be looking at $5K I would think. Plus your time, considering your profession it is worth quite a lot, anyway wouldn't you rather be driving than scraping rust?

What would $4K + $5K = $9K get you? I'd think it would get you a beautiful cherry 914 that someone else has dumped $12K into.

If this was a car potentially worth $50K or $100K when restored, that might be different. But it is a 914 and they made bazillions of them.

[speeder]

SHEISS!! Why did I have to open that ebay link? I had a Marathon Blue '73 2.0 back in '76-'77 when I was a senior in HS, it had 28k stewardess-owned miles on it and was tighter than a frog's ass. Seriously felt like it would take 100k miles to properly break in. Torquey motor and handled like a go-cart. That car haunts me in my dreams to this day, no car or bike has ever meant so much to me since.

Sigh.....

[speeder]

$495 for a doc fee is highway robbery IMO, but I guess all that matters is the final price. The ebay car has some real value if it checks out, I predict it goes for ~$8k. It looks really original and like it would pass the smell test.

[URY914]

How many guys have replied to this and have never owned a 914? Too many non-914, 914 experts.

If you want it buy it. Change your mind later, sell it. It's done all the time.

[charleskieffner]

nathan the one howard showed on e-bay is sweet. sure its got some miles on her but its not a nightmare full resto. restos lead to excessive drinking bad credit pissed off g/friends/wives/kids/dogs etc. keep your eyes open you will find one. cannot think of anything better than owning 2 porsches. but right now i have my hands full with one. also check with jim patrick@patrickmotorsports.com hes a 914 NUT! sometimes you give up one for the other. perfect body vs. higher mileage or vs. versa. but bottom line get one you can have some instant gratification. even if you only get to drive it a few times, stuff in shop or your garage and prioritize components to make road worthy. the day i bought mine and todays pics are two totally different beasts and im only 7+months into it. 3000 miles driven vs. what ive dumped into it , do not look good on debit credit fun factor spread sheet. and i got a very nice one that would have been fine putting around town like the previous owner did. but i had greater VISIONS (delusions) OF GRANDEUR! LOL!

[Nathans_Dad]

Ok, went and looked at it tonight. Overall the car was worse than the pictures show (as usual) and not as nice as he made it sound over the phone:

The Good: It is a 1973 2.0L which started right up, no smoking and not too much oil in the garage after he backed it out. Idled well. I did not take it for a test drive. Interior is very good, seats not too worn, carpet is excellent, dash is intact and not cracked. Center console did have a few spots where the stitching had separated but overall not bad at all. It had 4 matching Fuchs and a matching spare in the front trunk.

The Bad: A bit more rust than he led me to believe over the phone. The rear trunk floor was rusted at the seam where it meets the body panel about 1/4 of the way across. It would need to be replaced. There was also a hole in the driver's front fender at the bottom where it meets the door, might be able to just weld in some new sheet metal, not sure. Also was rust where the sail meets the body on both sides, not rusted through but a pretty deep hole. The entire body had been sanded down and many areas had been sprayed with primer.

Mileage was 113k, which he said was original, speedo works.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that with the seat all the way back I had TONS of room, actually more room than my 911. Very encouraging. Headroom was good too, I bet I could even wear a helmet in there.

Overall, I am more convinced than ever that I want to buy a 914, just not THAT 914. I am not an expert on the 914 market, but from what I have seen out there he should be asking $3000 for the car and selling it for high 2s with the amount of bodywork that is needed. Maybe I'm way off base, like I said I'm not an expert.

So, I will keep my ear to the ground, I'm glad I at least went over to look at it. Thanks for all the help guys, if you see a nice 73 2.0L keep me in mind!!

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

looks like **** to me... You can get a nice 914 for $4000, look around