A Little Help on a 356 Offer Price
 

I might have an opportunity to pick up a 1964 356C; signal red; numbers matching, west coast car, 1720 w/ nice cam, all P & C, rebuild by very reputable shop 5 years ago, no sun roof, not a show queen but glass out repaint in 2011.

Obviously I won't pull the trigger without a PPI. However I have only followed 911 prices - what should a driver quality 64 with a good rebuild go for these days?

And is the market hot? Peaked? Bubble?

Any advice would be appreciated.

100% bubble. Is it a flipper, family car, been in someone's collection for longer then the last 6 months?!

I know of 2 similar cars for sale.. One I used to own (!!!). One will sell at Amelia with a $80K reserve (actual price to be decided). The other has a "buy it now" of $95K. It's hard to find a nice driver 356 under 80K now. Your best bet is a B notchback, but why??? ;-)

It's "game over" on 356s as far as I am concerned. They are super fun cars but that level of fun is only worth 40-50K to me, tops. 912 prices now....

And yes, the market on them has peaked somewhat IMO. I don't mean it's gonna drop but it's peaking, I think. And to be crass, we are about to witness a great die-off of original owners and see more cars FS (that's how a friend of mine scored 2 recently). But don't expect prices to come back down much, they are still rare, seminal and fun.

Food for thought:
I've had a C and A in row. Sold the last one in 05 (*Idiot*). But as much as I loved those cars, at the time I sold the A because I just wasn't driving it that much anymore (where do you park that nice a car? how often must you adjust drum brakes?) and I almost got killed in it twice (F350s apparently do not see 6V brake lights that are 10" off the ground). And now at those prices, as much as nostalgia's got me, I no longer want one, they have jumped my price/fun curve. I tell my friends to buy a SWB 912 and look far ahead while driving (so they don't notice it's not a 356)

I hadn't looked at prices on the 356 Registry in awhile. What they are asking and what they are getting would be interesting to know. A year ago it seemed the asking price for drivers was in the 40-50 range. Now well over that. I keep hearing when the old guys die off there will be many more for sale. Most of the old guys have kids or grand kids that want them and if not that know somebody that does.

Get the ppi and check it out. Drive it. They are fun cars.

I would guess that car is a ~$75k car.
Anything near $50k has rust.

AZ - not really a flipper. The current owner bought it when the prior owner passed away. The prior owner had it in storage for 30 years with a seized engine. Current owner had the engine built by a pro and I think that's also when it was repainted.

I think I can get this car for $65K. My brother and I have a plan to buy two interesting cars, that we don't think will fall in value, insure them well, DRIVE them, and trade them every 6 months with one another. The 2nd car is as yet undetermined - maybe a microbus.
So at this point in time, if I'm hearing you correctly, it sounds like this is a pretty good deal (subject to the PPI of course).

Yes. It's a pretty good deal "for the current market conditions", if you can stomach paying that much. I'd recommend a SWB 912 which will feel damn close (and be safer in terms of getting impaled) for 1/2 the money. You won't lose money, unless you have to sell in a recession or the engine blows... Good luck !

I get that you have a concern about the safety of driving a 356 these days, and aside from lighting issues, do you think they are that much more dangerous than driving an early 911?

Long or short wheel base ? ��

Don't mind me, I'm just jealous, I think... I truly had a few close calls with my A. Almost got crushed twice by big trucks who apparently did not see my brakes... Or my extra LED in the rear window.. In terms of safety, yes I think the 911 is better. The steering column is articulated vs a straight shot through your chest. The 911 also doesnt have a fuel petcock in the cabin... And it brakes better than a drum brakes car, mine at least... On a later C or SC with discs, it's similar... Handling on the edge is similarly suspect :-)

But don't let that stop you, have fun. Put LED bulbs in the back ��

If I had the cash I'd buy it in a heartbeat, safety be damned!

PPI shows it has had a front clip lap-welded into place. I can't see it; it drives/tracks fine, but does that matter? I "think" it was hit in the headlight but I'm not sure as to the extent of that damage, but the PPI does say the "Replaced Front Clip".

Is this a big deal with the 356's?

I get the 356 Registry magazine and always read the auction buys section. From what I've read, stuff like this, makes a smaller difference than you'd think in terms of price/value. Lap welded, that's just poor form. Look/test for bondo all over the car.

If you want to send me a message and tell me who is selling it, I can have one or two 356 experts check on it for you?

I would say in a general way that this would normally be huge negative or deal-killer on most vehicles but with the old Porsche market so crazy, many rules are out the window.

I'd take John Rogers up on his offer, he's the right guy to help you. :cool:

Replaced front clip and 65 grand.... I would walk away. That's going to be a hard resell, and the integrity of having to disclose such issue.

So I guess it boils down to this:

If you had two identical 64C's, how much of a deduct would you want for the one with the clip?

Was this car in Spokane in its recent past? A good friends father spent months working on a similar sounding car refreshing it after a long storage period. He had "first dibs" after getting it running right, rebuilding the braking system, etc. Through the course of this work they ordered a COA which didn't match the car and some other things came up. All very professionally done and probably many years ago. He ended up not making an offer to the folks who owned it.

No not PNW AFAIK.

Matching #'s and at least for a while out of Utah.

What do you mean by "matching numbers?"
356s have numbers on the hood, doors, and engine lid. Did you take the door panels off?

I know the engine matches the chassis, but you raise an issue I never thought to ask about:
- the body panels and doors also have the VIN # on them?
therefore
- the clip will not "match"

Do you know where the number is stamped on the front panel?

I will ask the guy doing the PPI if he checked the doors etc.