Interesting SWB on EBay

[jluetjen]

Did anyone notice this car on Ebay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=601707114.

At first glance (except for the chrome airbox ) it seems like an interesting deal. Whether it is a "good" deal or not will depend on the reserve.

I'm not on the market, but it struck me as being a cut above for an ebay car.

[SchnellBoy]

I know there might be somethings "wrong with it", but it's a nice looking car, especially for a 911 on eBay. You're right, it's definitely an above average eBay car, but of course, the owner said nothing about rust, car mileage, etc. It does look nice, but in my opinion, I would rather buy a stock 68 S without all the RS look-alike added on. Then when Nasdaq hits 5000 again, I'll be looking at getting a real one......too bad it won't occur in my lifetime.

[cstreit]

Does it sit high, or is it just me?

[pbs911]

Is it just me or does the exterior side view, viewed from the rear, look like todays 996?

[StuttgartDavid]

I've seen this car listed elsewhere for a long time (autotrader?) for approx. $20-25k.

It also looks a lot like a car a former PCA acquaintance of mine used to own in San Diego in the early 1990s. If it is the car I'm thinking of, it is (was!) a very nice car - a properly done restoration with all the right S parts, but not an actual S. I don't recall his name, but he was a carpenter who lived in North County and had the car taken care of by Lee Wister, a Porsche Master Tech at Hoehn Porsche and a mechanical wizard. The car, engine and gearbox were like a swiss watch - jewel-like, always well maintained, and really high performance. If this is the car I'm thinking of, it could be a great way for someone who doesn't care about originality to get into a hot SWB driver or racer candidate for a good price, because it is neither an S nor very original, which should really hold down its price, no matter how nice.

If not, oh well.

[304065]

There is no arguing over matters of aesthetic taste, at least not by me. The chrome air cleaner is certainly "one of a kind."

[pwd72s]

This one is a puzzle. '68? No S models were legally imported that year. So, we're into a $9k current bid on this car..of questionable taste in modifications, but apparently in good shape.
If one is willing to accept the things done in bad taste, it MIGHT be a solid buy, based on how much more you had to put into it, as an enjoyable car. On the other hand, we have another post..a guy obviously wanting to sell a '69S Targa..a real S, numbers matching, for roughly the same amount. Let's see, his dash is cracked (Original replacement? $700 or so...not counting labor) it has "leaks" of oil..who knows what that entails?...and he's admitted rust through on the bottom of the doors & other "minor" problems. MY choice? If I just wanted a P car to drive, didn't want to spend more than $10K? I'd look at this car, and ignore the '69 S Targa. But if I wanted an "owiginal" '69 S targa, produced in low numbers, but had no plans to enter a concours or a show? Then I'd look at the car I knew I'd have to put $ into...possibly a LOT of $. Really, it all depends on what you want. But on the '69S, I don't see a "few thousand"...I see a possible stack of repair bills that FAR exceed that..easily into double digits of thousands...I have a few friends who have been sucked into that minefield...then were forced to abandon the project. Better to let somebody else get into that "restoration" area...and if they did it wrong? If the mechanicals are sound? Then you can pick up a fun driver. I suspect this '68 (911? 911L? The only two models legally imported in '68) is one of those cars. But I'd sure want to have a PPI and a thorough look at it, BEFORE I bothered to bid.

[cegerer]

Although the workmanship looks really good, this car doesn't know what it wants to be! It's part RS-look, part original S narrow-body look, part 'safety-bumper' look (rear bumpers and painted US-spec headlight rings), part Euro-look (sidemarkers and turn signal lenses), part showcar (engine details) with some newer aftermarket seats thrown in for good measure. I suspect this has a very high reserve based upon the amount of money claimed to have been spent on the restoration. Unfortunately, the car's lack of focus will make it a tough sell. Then again, there's a buyer for everything. -- Curt

[pwd72s]

Curt? On this '68 car? I couldn't agree more, Everything was done in poor taste. But judging by the ad, it was done with skill...So, which would you rather have for $10K? Makes for interesting debate, yes?

[cegerer]

First, I don't think this guy will take $10K for the 68. I'll bet he's got a $15K reserve! When I look at the car, I envision the costs involved in 'fixing' it. It would make an ideal candidate for a 911R replica though!!! But it would probably cost $5000 or more to do it correctly. The 69S? I don't think I be interested at all. Rust never sleeps, right? -- Curt

[pwd72s]

That's it Curt...the '68? Looks like everything was done well, as far as quality of work goes. But in not in such great (to be polite) taste. It may have been considered to look cool back in the 70's, but today? YUK! And then the '69S Targa, numbers matching..equally YUK! because of condition that was (semi) honestly advertised, Me? If I was really looking? I'd try to save more than $10K. Then look for something better to come along. These two? Rejects...After all, there are always cars (and houses) for sale. And who knows? One might find a great early T for that $10K price...that's getting hard to do, but still possible..

[69 Soft Targa]

Originally posted by john_cramer
There is no arguing over matters of aesthetic taste, at least not by me. The chrome air cleaner is certainly "one of a kind."

Well... maybe "two of a kind"... When I purchased my '69 it had a chrome air cleaner. But then, the restoration was started in '84.

This '68 does have Weber 40IDS Carbs which are '67-'68 "S" application. May not be original. Was there an engine number? My '69 is also running 40IDS. MFI not there when I bought it.

[69 Soft Targa]

No Engine #
No VIN

[1969_911S]

Thanks for the fresh perspectives, guys. Sounds like it's worth fixing the door rust if I get serious about selling, based on all of your reactions.

But in the end, I love my car, and I'll probably stick with it a while longer. I've never been in a Porsche I like better (test drove SC, Carrera, 964, 993 as recently as two years ago). It's just hard to see an old friend get too old to be a daily driver.

By the way, the reason that '68 looks like it is riding high is because it has 205/50/15 tires. The text says 16s, but you can read the tire size on one of the pics. 205/55/15 is about as small as you can go without getting that "tiny tire" look.

[emcon5]

Well, I kind of like it. All you would need to do is get rid of the Carrera stickers and find a proper black air cleaner.

The color is good, the interior seems OK, if it checks out, I think it would be a lot of fun.

Isn't this better?



Tom

[Soterik]

Paul and others...

The 68S was legal to import if you did it on an "individual" basis...my father sold several of them legally in the US. Also servicemen could easily bring them in. In 68 and 69 you could avoid EPA altogether importing on an "individual" basis, and only had to do DOT...lights, glass, side markers (on 68), seatbelts, headrests, gauges, tires, etc.

Note that those side markers are correct for any US model 68 911 series, and is also where my fathers conversion company mounted them as well (using correct parts) in Holland.

regards,
Eric

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

Nice car, maybe a good driver.

It was restored using only the very best materials and components including a 2.0 liter factory S motor

If you look close you see that there wasn´t any attention to the detail.

Overspray on doorjambsticker. Missing doorpocket ( just cut off on the base ) show the easy kind to do a "restoration".
Also love the way the speaker wire is routet, why using the factory provided holes ? Oh they are only accesible if you remove the door.



Also no proof for the factory S engine. Porsche sales them with a bill showing the engine#
They don´t give them out without any bills.

Many of the parts such as the rear amber European tail light lenses were sourced from overseas at great cost.

Love that ! we shiped them from the staates becourse they had been 50% of the price there

"old school" Sicilian craftsman

Love that too. Maybe the guy also use the sicilian variante to draft his money ?

The tachometer carries the highest factory red line tach(7200RPM) until recent high tech models

OK thats nice but what is the meaning from it ? Its the correct Tach for the engine but the rev limit isn´t done by the tach.

The stainless window trim is original

Yeah, maybe a one off ?

This car is so mixed ( personalized ) that it will atract a "right" buyer who just likes it like it is.

It is to much modified to bring it back to is classic look and it needs to much to make a real hot car out of it. Also not interessting for Raceing ( what class ? )

Niot to forget the S engine is just used for short hops as a serious use would have needed a external oilcooler ( as factory delivered S )

Generaly by the looks not a bad car but ain´t fish no bone and the saler is praising it over the facts ( thats saleing ) or don´t know them.

Grüsse

[Wayne 962]

It basically can't be an 'S' because it's a 1968 (911L only, right?). So it's either an L or T. The T Cars are good and reliable, but we all know they don't hold their value as much as the 'S'...

-Wayne

[Soterik]

Well.....

68S was legal to import...but not available from the dealer. 68 had 911 as base model and 911L as "luxury" model. The 911T was ROW as I recall.

This car is probably a base 911,....note the 911 dash script on the glovebox says "911", and the dash is aluminum. Believe the 68S and 68L had black vinyl inserts on dash.

As far as an oil cooler...they started on 69S.

Eric
67S
69S

[Kurt B]

It's a beautiful car, but any superfluous chrome is silly. Personally, my ideal early model has things like a paper airbox. In fact, everything that can take it, ought to be made of some kind of tough paper to keep that weight down.

10 lbs per 3 hp. Dream of that. Live by it.