1976 911S Targa Should I pick it up?

[Germaneighter]

I have a chance to pick up a running '76 S Targa with about 100K miles on it. It was originally orange but repainted white. Paint on hood and fenders is peeling. Interior is kind of shabby. Body is straight. It may have floor board rust as it has been covered with a rotting tarp. Has original 6 X 15 Fuchs. I can get this car for around $3K, maybe a little less. I have the cash but that depletes my car funds. Should I get it and try to make a little $$ with it? Or should I run?

[Germaneighter]

51 views and no opinions? let's go

[jluetjen]

Go for it. The big dollar items if you were to break it up are the following. Total up what you think that you can sell them for and you'll have a pretty good idea about a good purchase price.

Engine (in pieces it may be worth more then together)
Transaxle
Suspension
Windows
Trim
Gauges
Seats?

If you can get it for less then 3K, you can most likely keep some parts that might be useful for you (like the heads) and part out the rest.

[DUK]

I would, if I were closer to tulsa. I need the tub.

[jkarolyi]

I'll give you $800 for the Fuchs if they're in decent shape and you'll ship 'em to me!

Other than that, '76 is pretty much the low-water mark in the history (and value) of 911s. Best of luck.

[Rouxzy]

I bought a '77 targa a few years ago that was rust free and running and inspected to go. I paid more than you and I have an annual budget that pretty much equals a car payment for updates and repairs. If you are going to drain your account to purchase then you'll probably never get to really enjoy it like you should. If your goal is to buy it then part it out then you may make a few bucks over time depending on the condition of the parts.
Tom

[aigel]

It will be tough to make significant money from this car if you have to recover 3k. If you can get it for $1500 yes, but for 3k you are looking at $5 / hour for your efforts max.

George

[safe]

Man I love your prices...
Over here you could not get rusty frankensteiner under 8k....

Prices are way over the roof. It's hard finding an early SC under 16-18K ...

[javadog]

Germaneighter,

If you want to part it out, you'll probably make a little. If you want to fix it up and keep it, or fix it up and sell it, you'll probably lose money on the deal. Do you have an indoor parking spot, where you could dismantle the thing, without neighbors or resident females complaining about the mess? If you have never parted out a car before, it's a bunch of work and a car takes up a lot more room when in a zillion pieces.

I am also located in Tulsa, so if you want me to look at it with you, let me know.

JR

[RIX 911RS]

I say pick it up.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by jkarolyi
... '76 is pretty much the low-water mark in the history (and value) of 911s.

Man, people keep repeating and repeating this stuff about the Mid Year cars and frankly - with no offense intended, they're full of it. There are a LOT of very, very nice Mid Year cars on this board. Sure, they had their problems...as have a lot of other era 911's. They're 30 yers old now, the problems with them are clearly known and fixable, just like SC Dilavar studs, just like 964 dual mass flywheels, etc. Let's not encourage the "death by dismemberment" of anothe old 911. In this case in repairable condition.

The usual "buy the best you can afford" advice applies. But if you want to get into the game and this car seems doable on your limited budget, go for it. Plenty of us have. Here's my car (a '76 - the "low point" - uh, yeah) and a sample of some of the great looking AND running mid year cars on the board.

Mine:



another:



Some others:







The tub is the tub on these cars. You can do anything to one that you can do to another. There are a lot of fine mid years out there, why not make one your own.

[javadog]

Dan,

I agree there is nothing inherently wrong with a mid-year car. By now, the good ones are probably sorted out. The ones in your pictures appear to be quite nice. However, if you take one with bad paint, a bad interior and it has been sitting outside under a rotting tarp, I'd say it is financial suicide to try and fix it up. Given the description, I'd be willing to bet that the top needs rebuilding, the engine isn't fresh and there will be a million little things needing (expensive) attention.

I seem to have made a second career of saving cars and bringing them back from the dead, so I am well versed in how much money you can dump into a tired one. Sadly, not all of them are worth saving.

Lastly, it's a targa, not a coupe. A targa tub has less value to most people, as a coupe is preferable for a race car or most project "clones." I own a targa (not my first) along with a bunch of coupes so I know the pros and cons of these, too.

Cheers,

JR

[wholberg]

If it runs well and everything works, I would buy it and put it on EBay. In good condition to the right buyer they are worth 10K? So a $5K reserve on EBay should move it. If not, then part it out, although I hate to see another Porsche parted.

[flipper]

If you dont buy it for 2500-3000, then let me know and I will. I live in spfd mo and as we non southern californians know, these cars are few and far between and they are not cheap. A carpet kit costs the same wether its a 76/77 or a 78-80. It costs the same to fix up a car in any of those years, and they only sell for a couple of thousand less so with this car you will have the luxury of controling the spending as opposed to just depleting a lot of cash at once. Just my .02

[safe]

76 is the first year that was galvanized, so there is a (good?) chance that its relativly rust free.

I have a mid-year car and I love it! Its a good car if its been taken care of.

[1yearonLy]

Let the mid times roll. These cars are fantastic and have the best sound of any era 911. Skip past the rust of the early cars, save some bucks over the later ones and find a 'sorted' middie.

[jkarolyi]

>agree there is nothing inherently wrong with a mid-year car. By now, the good ones are probably sorted out. The ones in your pictures appear to be quite nice. However, if you take one with bad paint, a bad interior and it has been sitting outside under a rotting tarp, I'd say it is financial suicide to try and fix it up.

That's what I was trying to say, no insult to middies was intended. Your car is quite nice obviously! And I love a lot of midyear cars, particulary the Euro 2.7 MFI Carerra and 3.0 Carerra. But a most likely still stock '76 has the thermal reactors, the lowest stock power output of any 911S, and only the late production '76s had the galvanization, so it's likely rusty too! Plus, out here in CA, 1976 is the first year of required smog checks, meaning you will have to smog it forever.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by javadog
...there is nothing inherently wrong with a mid-year car... if you take one with bad paint, a bad interior and it has been sitting outside under a rotting tarp, I'd say it is financial suicide to try and fix it up. ....I seem to have made a second career of saving cars and bringing them back from the dead, so I am well versed in how much money you can dump into a tired one. Sadly, not all of them are worth saving....

JR,
I think we mostly agree. As to your comment....that applies to all cars, not just Porsches and certainly not just Mid Year cars. I'm reasonable certain you would agree with that.

I too have made a "second career" out of saving cars. I spent waay too much on my parked-for-six-years-59,000 mile '87-944 when I found it. It wasn't smart to spend the money I spent on it, but it would have been a crying shame to let that car get parted.
My '76 (Sahara Beige above) was in questionable shape when I bought it.

Overall, I guess I am just bemoaning the parting of too many of these cars. I'd like to see more of us make second careers of bringing them back, but I know it won't happen.

[SandyI]

Bringing a Porsche into your life and loving it? There is no finer thing really. Doesn't matter what P-car it is. And the sweet thing about a '76 is that now in So Cal, it's smog exempt.

That being said, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR IF YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO TURN A PROFIT ON THE RESALE. Because you aren't. You won't.

Buy it to drive it. Buy it to obsess over the things you have done, the things you need to do, the things you'd like to do but can't afford to do.

Like the rest of us.

[1yearonLy]

I can see why the original middies get a bad rap as they can be money pits to update. Even a really nice one...

This was the first middie I considered. It's a 90k original mile car still with the thermal reactors from new. Realistically it'll need the motor totally gone through and updated. If I bought this for let's say $6000 (it runs/drives still) I'd soon be dumping another $8000 plus in the motor. I'd be $15-17k deep by the time I made it right. And that's for a car with a really clean interior and body!

Lucky for this one it will likely be saved in that it's so clean and, being a '75, can be bastardized to the moon and never held accountable for the smog ramifications.