Advice on buying early 70's 911

Newbie here, pleased to find such a good looking board!

I am looking into getting an 70-72 911T/E adn would like some advice from all you knowledgable people

One of the cars I am looking at is a French import to the UK a '72 2.4 911E, with 110,000 kms. This makes it LHD, undesirable in the UK. It also is a Sportomatic, which sounds like more to go wrong to me. How much do you think this affects the price?

Which years are preferred? Are the 2.4's more or less desirable than the 2.2's and why? Is the Bosch MFI reliable or should I consider a Solex carb 911T (seem to be rare)?

Thanks for any help

Early Sportos tend to be undesireable and as a result I'd stay away from it.

Although you might not go for the car, Layzee, getting a LHD car in the UK is not such a problem. There aren't many early RHD cars in the UK - and avoid all conversions! - and it's easy to get used to and it doesn't effect values because most early 911s are LHD in the UK.
Good Luck,
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa

Thanks, Saffs. I wasn't bothered about LHD anyway, but it is interesting to know most are LHD. The other one I am looking at is a 70 911E which *is* RHD, with alloys and leather. Might have gone already cos I haven't talked to the seller, but I sent him an email. take a look:



Looks nice huh?

I was more worried about the Sportomatic box though. I am entitled to ask for a discount because of this??

[This message has been edited by layzee (edited 12-26-2000).]

Looks OK the yellow 911. I think I saw it advertised too. Watch out for rust if it's always been a UK car - or poor *restoration*. I think a Sportmatic is definately worth less btw.
Good Luck with that yellow one is it's still there, be interested to know how it goes.
Cheers,
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa

You reckon it's yellow? I think it looks more Peachy/Pink than yellow.

BTW, thanks for the quick response.

Layzee: Good luck in your search. The early 70s 911s are light in weight and easy to work on. An excellent choice. I believe you will find the MFI gives less of a raw gas (petrol) smell inside the car. As long as the system is in good shape and tuned properly you will never want to go back to carbs.

The 2.4 litre cars are more desireable, but all early "S" and "E" cars are wonderful. If you buy either iteration of car, make sure that they have the correct MFI and try to stay away from the Sportomatic, although I know guys that love them. This trans will bring the value of the car down and it is not as common, making repares a bit more expensive.

You should try the guys at Autofarm (Josh Sadler) and there are a few other companies in the UK that are wonderful Porsche locators and restorers.

Hope this helps and happy holidays.

Cheers,

Marc

Thanks guys for the advice. The one I posted a picture of has gone

I am going to have a look at the Sporto though, but the fella didn't seem that bothered about selling but I might has well go and get the 'feel' of one.

Layzee, the sportmatics are definitely worth less than mauals but the overriding factor affecting the value of any early (pre-'74)911 here in the UK is condition.The generally accepted desirability rating seems to follow the route: 2.4/2.2/2.0 S/E/T but any '69-'73 911 will give a great deal of pleasure. A local (to me) guy has a LHD 2.2T for sale through World Wide Classics - contact Mark Waring at www.wwclassics.com.
Other UK dealers worth contacting are www.formulafuchs.co.uk & www.transend.co.uk.
Also the best selection of early 911s is available within the Porsche Club GB's monthly magazine/newsletter.
Good luck
Andy (UK)
'69 LHD 911E

andy,

thanks for the links, but wwclassics doesn't work and neither does formulafuchs.co.uk. I had a look on transend, but i really can't afford that kind of money. The one I posted a picture of was going for £5500 and that is the sort of price I was thinking of.

Originally I was interested in a 912, but saw a coupla 911E's for that sort of money so I thought a 911 would be better. Is it unrealistic to get a decent car for that sort of money? I want a driveable example but don't mind doing work to it as long it isn't bodywork etc.

Am I right in thinking that the value of 911's in the UK has been thinking over recent years?

Thanks
Phil

Not sure about the prices for the 911s in the UK, but for information on all of the models, including early 70s, and up to 993s, I strongly reccommend purchasing the book by Bruce Anderson. Full of useful information. Can check it out here: http://www.911handbook.com/index.html

The cheapest 911 in the UK are probably 2.7 engine variants made between '74 - '77, i.e pre SC. These carry a risk with engine durability - see numerous references to them on the PP BBS and elsewhere on the web. It you look at a car with a documented engine rebuild and it covers the engine weakspots with full receipts, then that's much better. My car is a '75 911S 2.7 Targa. It was a euro spec. car that went to the US. It 's shell is perfect with no rust. Very good externally, good interior, 2.7 engine that's had the hydraulic tensioner upgrade. It runs fine and drives very well. It cost £5,500 allowing the financial possibility of an engine upgrade - I'd go for a 3 litre I think - if needed. It has lots of minor faults, no heat, no blower, minor auto-elec stuff.
I'm just doing a web site for it now BTW!
Hope this helps: a 2.7 911 will the first things you see in your price range in the UK, but watch the engine! Anything else would be a little suspect or a huge bargin in that price range.
Check Autotrader (UK) for ideas too. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/cars/search/basicsearch.html
Good luck,
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa

Hi,

I'd avoid sportos. You'll spend your whole time wishing you had a manual!
The only excuse for an auto is the lack of a left foot! hehe

Some web sites that might be usefull: http://www.fuchs.co.uk
http://www.autofarm.com
http://www.911virgin.com
http://www.portiacraft.com
http://www.michaelticehurst.com
http://www.londongarage.com
http://www.karmenkonnection.com
http://www.cridfords.co.uk

There is also Tower Porsche: 0207 357 0911 (They dont have a web site)

You should also check out "911 & Porsche World" magazine. You can view the classified adds on: http://www.chpltd.com

I bought my car from fuchs and I found him to be very helpfull and have had few problems with the car. It's pretty much everything he said it was. I paid to much though I reckon. I paid £10K. But I think about £7.5K would have been about right. However I've also heard some bad reports about Fuchs, so the lesson is that it's upto you to choose the right car and not the dealer!

The three rules to buying a used Porsche are:
1. Always get an independent inspection.
2. Never buy the first car you see
3. Always get an independent inspection!

I as most of us here did broke those rules and got it right second time around!
(im just about to buy my second)

Have fun.

Alex.

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911 2.7S Targa
email:alex@cascade.f9.co.uk


[This message has been edited by Alex Counsell (edited 12-29-2000).]

Couldn't he just slap a 901 tranny from a 914 or something in it then? They're not very expensive. How much work is involved in dumping the sporto?

What the hell is LHD btw?
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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8

[This message has been edited by Kurt B (edited 12-29-2000).]

I looked into this once. I do not believe it's a simple matter of bolting in a tranny and a pedal cluster. I believe the central tunnel where the clutch cable and shifter linkage runs is different for the Sporto cars and would require modification to the central tunnel guides and mountings. Not an easy DIY project. If anyone has more details on this please post it.

Thanks for the links. You're right about autotrader, already had a couple to look at from there. Also been looking in the loot. Considering I have only been looking for a few days I have found a number of cars that sound interesting.

Considering this, The sportomatic definately seems like a no-go. I don't want a classic Porsche for a relaxing driving experience!

Layzee, sorry about the non-working links I gave you - forgot that formulafuchs had shortened their website address to fuchs.co.uk some time ago. World wide classics site link should work though - try typing the address in rather than clicking the link - it just loaded ok for me. I'm afraid that your figure of £5500 for an early (pre-'73) is very optimistic - you might be very lucky and find a much-modified non-original early 911T but I would be extremely careful with any 911 at this price. There are lots of potentially expensive problems with bodywork corosion &/or previous accident damage so follow everyone's advice regarding getting a recognised 911 expert to vet any such car for you BEFORE you commit yourself to any deal. Read any/every article you can find on 911 purchase ("Porsche 911 Guide to Purchase & Do-it-Yourself Restoration" by Lindsay Porter & Peter Morgan is worth getting as well as "Porsche 911 Performance Handbook"
by Bruce Anderson). Most UK Porsche dealers
source their early 911 stock from the US (mainly California) & in fact I purchased my '69 911E directly from a US dealer & brought it in as a personal import 2 years ago (total cost including shipping & VAT worked out around £5500) so it might be worth considering that route.
Good luck!

Andy (UK)
'69 911E

By the way Kurt, LHD stands for Left Hand Drive!

Alex,

I violated rules # 1 & # 3, and got away with it!

But, had I violated rule # 2 in 1972, I would have bought a '67 911S for $1995 ... still feel bad about that one!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Just back from seeing the sporto and that car is *lovely*. Needs the paint doing, but no rust at all and the colour is beautiful.

The fella reckons he has had it 8 years, and only used it rarely. It wouldn't start cuz he had had it standing (autocraft cover) for ages and the batteries were dead. Has factory fog lamps, electric windows and fuchs alloys. It is a '72 2.4E. Even has the owners manual in French and some receipts etc.

Took some photos. When I get em developed I'll post some scans. Got to go see some more now before I can decide