test drive opinions

[Jibha]

Okay, so I'm test driving lots of cars. And the most recent one I drove, I have a few questions about.

It was an '80 Targa with 200,000 miles. 1st and foremost, this was the fastest car I've driven yet. I mean leaps and bounds. It seemed as if was 25% more powerful than the car I had drive the day before, which was a '75 Targa with an '83sc 3.0 in it, that supposedly had 8000 miles on a rebuild. The '80sc was all original, the owner didn't even know what an "upgrade" might be, but he had service records for the last 80k. So is there something, like advancing the timing or unhooking the smog, that might make a big performance diff?

The other thing about the car was the way it shifted. As I said, I've been driving a few different cars. The day before I drove a car with a short shift kit and this car was stock. So sometimes when I shifted into 1st or 2nd I would find myself pushing (or pulling) hard to make sure I was in gear. This would cause a slight grinding noise. Does this signafy simply bad linkage adjustment or could it mean synchros might be going.

BTW: int. 4 out of 10, ext. 9 of 10. Is $9950 too much?

[GrindingGears]

You gotta get a PPI first before you can judge if it's a fair price or not. Does it have chain-tensioners, pressure release valve, tired synchros (as you indicated), et cetera. Once you know that information make a decision on the price.

IMO the 9 out of 10 for the paint/exterior is very appealing. I'd rather buy a car with a very nice paint job and marginally mechanics over a car with $hity paint and good mechanics. Why? B/c I have no problem spending money on upgrades and fixes, I have the desire to learn to do mechanically fixes, and I can't stand the thought of paying someone $6k to take my car away for six weeks so it'll look pretty.

Good luck, #1 rule for 911 shopping: patience.