How much is this frankenstein car worth?

[preston_brown]

Hi Pelicans,

I've got a friend who is looking at taking as a trade for another vehicle a 1986 Targa that has been "backdated" (not sure what has been done other than engine swap) to a 1974 Targa S. The only changes I know for sure are that the motor is built on a "7R" 2.7 "racing case" (magnesium, right?) with triple barrel carbs and MSD electronic ignition, and that it has been "race prepped," whatever that means (if anything). Motor/car was apparently originally built for owner of "Peerless Automotives" in Pompano Beach, FL. Seller of course claims motor has had $6000 of work.

The exterior looks clean and to my eye like an unmodified 86 Targa. Here's the shot of the motor, which isn't very impressive to my eye, what with the totally grimy (chipped) air shroud, the missing tops on the air cleaners, varnish in the velocity stacks, and beat-up coil. But what do I know, that could all be cosmetic.


Please let me know what you think, give a ballpark range given the limited details. I'm guessing around 10k? I need to help advise my friend whether he should completely pass or not.

Thanks for any assistance,

Preston

[zotman72]

Tell your friend to run. Seriously, what good could come out of replacing a DME 3.2 with a carbed 2.7 in '86 Carrera? This car is not worth two shakes of a dog's tail certainly not anywhere near $10K. I will be the first of many to say so. I am just surprised not to see a Motormeister sticker on the fan housing.

[Rick V]

You missed the ghetto fabulious wiring. As beat as some of the componants look I would be mindfull of the rest of the car. That's just me.
I also don't like Targas.

[SLO-BOB]

Let me guess....someone with a 74 wanted a 3.2 in his car. He got a good deal on this carrera, buying it for the motor and thought-"Hey-I could put my old motor in this thing and sell it as a running car and get a free 3.2.

Nice try.

Very scary.

[PPilot]

Run,do not walk,away from this "opportunity" for all the reasons told so far. No bargain here......

[quattrorunner]

Do it for $4000.00 if the tub and surrounding parts check out. Or just figure it as a roller.

[cygtoad]

It's not so much back dated as it is desecrated.

I agree, this was probably treated as a parts car.   It remains just that.   It is worth about 3K in my eyes depending upon the condition of the parts that can come off the car.

10K for this car is a joke, and not even a good one.

[SC Schrauber]

3k might be a bit low considering the value of parts. Then again 4k seems a lot for a suspicious project like this.
Your friend should refrain from a sale of his POS opportunity - it all sounds very bad.

[pickupguy]

What is the engine worth alone??

[ischmitz]

run run run - this is as bad as it gets. The engine is a core (1500) the tranny is a core (500) and the the tub is for parts. Unless you have the time and patience to hack it all apart and sell the pieces this is a trainwreck waiting to happen....

Imagine requests like this:" ... I'll take the under-dash trim and the left window crank if in concours conditionm, pleaae send me twenty images first....." That will wear you down quickly

[jorian]

Completely pass.

[cygtoad]

Originally posted by ischmitz
run run run - this is as bad as it gets. The engine is a core (1500) the tranny is a core (500) and the the tub is for parts. Unless you have the time and patience to hack it all apart and sell the pieces this is a trainwreck waiting to happen....

Imagine requests like this:" ... I'll take the under-dash trim and the left window crank if in concours conditionm, pleaae send me twenty images first....." That will wear you down quickly

Exactly! I stick by the 3K figure. Parting out a car is work. Then you also have to have a place to put it to strip it.

Maybe you could get Chip Foose to drop a 572 Chevy engine into it then paint some flames on it.

[Geronimo '74]

Run Porschist run

[Joeaksa]

Agree with Ingo. This car is saveable but at what price. Its worth keeping on the road if they give you a good enough price but the wiring is shoddy, who knows what has been sucked in the engine with the air filter tops off and thats just what you can see right off.

If you want a project then buy it cheap, otherwise run.

[kach22i]

Where is the fuse panel?

I think the term backdate is reserved for the pre-1974 cars with the long nose. This is more of a backfreak.

[randywebb]

altho I agree with all the neg. comments above, it is always possible that the engine has some real goodies in it or done to it and that you've found a sleeper.

But - how to be sure? Other than a tear down, I dunno. Even if he has receipts, they _could_ be for a different car.

One quick way to kill the sale is to look at the heat exchangers. If they aren't SSIs then you can be sure he didn't spend more $$ on the inside...

If they are SSIs, then you know it is at least worth $3k if it runs.

[Mysterytrain]

I would love to see more pictures of this dog.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by preston_brown
The only changes I know for sure are that the motor is built on a "7R" 2.7 "racing case"

Um, isn't the 7R case the normal case for the 2.4 - 3.0 engines? I've never heard this 'racing' case claim before.

[Bill in OKC]

Those velocity stacks look like they have been run without the benefit of an air cleaner for many many moons. I would guess that the $6000 of engine work is worn out by now.

[preston_brown]

Thanks for all the replies, and it's pretty much exactly as I expected. Another POS.

The other pictures seem to show that it has spent too much time sitting outside...

I'll advise my friend to trade his Land Rover 110 elsewhere. It's a Beaut and nothing like this turd. Even with added cash.