The Kudzu 911 Get's Stranger- Chime in with your opinion

[Kudzu911]

If you been following along at home ( and I know you haven't ) I rescued a 1984 911 from a Kudzu monster about two years go. One of the strangest things on this car is that the VIN isn't a Standard 17 Digit vin that it should be. 1050TP911 ( might have a digit off I'm doing this from memory at the moment ) I had wondered if it was some kind of rebuild or state issued VIN for some reason. The car was purchased by a friend of mine about 14 years ago from eBay from the owners son as the owner had passed away. So I finally got the paperwork from the eBay sale couple of weeks ago. The plot thickens! So it's not a Porsche, it looks like a Porsche it's made of Porsche parts but it's not a Porsche. There is a about 5 page statement of facts from the manufacturer which is a race shop in Germany, to the importer. The paperwork states that Porsche is not the MFG and that no warranty from Porsche will apply, that the car cannot be registered with these documents in West Germany and the car was to be exported. It breaks down the engine, transmission specs, weight, tire sizes ect. The car is an 84 spec with the 3.2 engine ( I haven't compared specs from the paperwork to the stock 3.2 engine but everything on the outside says that it's an 84 not an earlier car. The car was sent to the states I have the bill for the DOT conversion, that the spoiler tail, front valence, recaro seats, sport suspension would be added in the states at the importers expense. So it has a vin plate from the race shop mgf, the stamped VIN matches the vin plate. I was told by a mechanic who came by at a car show that Porsche would ship tubs to race shops to build race cars or replace a destroyed body, and that in the 80's they would make bucks by flipping them into the grey market. I can't find anyone who has a car with a story like this. What do you think? raised value cool story or destroyed value it's not a P car ? Shout in.

[Cairo94507]

Pictures of all of those things would help us all figure this out- please.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Kudzu911

There is a about 5 page statement of facts from the manufacturer which is a race shop in Germany, to the importer. The paperwork states that Porsche is not the MFG and that no warranty from Porsche will apply, that the car cannot be registered with these documents in West Germany and the car was to be exported.

Clearly, the German shop was not authorized/recognized to manufacture cars according to the (very strict) local rules.

Originally Posted by Kudzu911

The car was sent to the states I have the bill for the DOT conversion

That, at least, has got to be helpful...

Originally Posted by Kudzu911

So it has a vin plate from the race shop mgf, the stamped VIN matches the vin plate. I was told by a mechanic who came by at a car show that Porsche would ship tubs to race shops to build race cars or replace a destroyed body

Porsche indeed used to sell "bodies in white" (still listed in PET, although pretty sure they hang onto any they have left for their own purposes now).

No idea what the criteria for ordering one from the factory at the time would have been though - maybe as simple as "you can pay? sure".

Originally Posted by Kudzu911

I can't find anyone who has a car with a story like this. What do you think? raised value cool story or destroyed value it's not a P car ? Shout in.

Ruf used to order "bodies in white" from Porsche to build cars from, although the majority of Ruf cars were customer conversions, I believe. But they (Ruf) are recognized in Germany as a manufacturer and assign their own VINs.

If you have a Ruf with a Ruf VIN, it certainly adds value - because there's relatively few cars - a few dozen I think - from that era. And it proves most of the work was originally done by Ruf. There's a bunch of cars that had actual Ruf conversions done by a Ruf dealer (which could range from cosmetic bolt-on doo-dads to a full BTR/CTR conversion) - and a bunch of cars with Ruf parts bolted on by the owner or his shop.

The controversy rages among some as to which is a "real" Ruf - and it all gets pretty murky with lots of shades of grey. Did the Ruf dealer do the work? Did Ruf fly a mechanic to your car to convert it?

Some obscure/unknown shop in Germany without the authority to issue a VIN or register the result in their own country? Can't personally see that adding value at all, even if registering it with your local DMV/state doesn't present too much of a problem.

[djpateman]

I would certainly like to see the VIN stamping; privately if you wish.
The German states will often issue their own ID #'s under the TUV authority. These numbers generally start with TP though. Bodies in white, or replacement body shells, usually have a production # stamped into the chassis, and I can tell a bit about the body from this #.
Dave

[onboost]

Sounds like a euro-spec car, obviously brought into the states. The vin # on the chassis is the one to address. Vin plates on the A-pillar tended to vary depending on who imported the gray-market vehicle. I have seen many different types/styles, some even placed/glued to the top of the dash in the corner of the window, some being nothing more than a name plaque with the vin etched into it.

As for bodies in white, that was more of a thing done in the 70's for race customers, and as far as I know, only for Ruf during the mid (87ish) to late 80's.