Otter, I vote for the one in Hawaii. I volunteer to help you drive it back!!!!

If you do a test drive, keep this in mind: Try to keep the tach above 3000.
At least for part of the test drive.
That means staying in gear longer, and downshifting as a turn approaches.
This will give you a better feel of how these cars are operated.

@timmy2, now that you've taken care of the little things, want to sell it? ;)

@Westy, if I pick up a car from the west coast I've got s lot of mountain roads that need driving between there and home!

@sugarwood, I'll keep this in mind today. The car lives in the middle of corn fields and the only turns are at intersections, but I'll do my best.

Also, are there any readers in San Jose (CA), Vancouver, southern Ontario or Austin who might be able to check out a car for me? Forgive me if this is against list protocol.

San Antonio / Austin, I can help.

Austin I can help but not until I'm back there end of June

Why would you have to get an older 911 get it in terrific shape right away? And spends thousands right away? I have had my car for 5 years. Needs stuff. New headliner and could use a top end. But it will still take me and my Wife on many long trips and be great fun to drive. It looks good to me but I guess it is a " ratty " car.

+1 Agree.

When you have seen an original mint garage queen up close, it cannot be unseen.

Everything is so crisp and perfect that you can appreciate why the car cost a solid annual salary to buy.

Nearly impossible to replicate. Forget it. Shine it and keep it clean. Spruce it up slowly.

I have a problem helping people spend their money,,,unless it's my best bud who has cost me many thousands!!! :mad:

Many of us have explained to the OP what he is in store for when he starts to 'refine' his vehicle, but he has a plan, and the decision is obviously up to him. I would have offered him my car for a lot less than what it would take to get a 20k car up to the same level, but refrained because it's his money. Maybe he simply can't afford a well sorted out car, and will do it over the next 3-5 years as finances improve. That I well understand, unfortunately!! Regardless, I respect him for his perseverance and willingness to stand by his 'plan'.

Nick, I certainly agree with you on that point, and its always been the approach I've taken on, for instance, my Fiat. I don't need a car to be perfect now, or even ever. For what is most important to me it should be very good, and for the rest good enough is good enough for quite a while. I can live withpaint that is OK but not great, or a worn interior or rough headliner or whatever.

Westy, what you refer to was part of the heart of my original query - can I get a good enough base for my self imposed limit? . I can easily live with a lack of refinement, but I don't want to I've with big mechanical bills in the first year for stuff that I'd rather be taken care of already.

Westy, PM me about your car.

Otter, did you look at the car this morning?

Yes - I will post about it tonight when I am home. Not practical to do ob my phone....

David

Hi Otter! Like you I was a little late to the party. By that I mean my lifelong since a kid desire to own a porsche finally became doable but I quickly found out about the crazy appreciation these cars had seen in the past couple years. basically the 15k I would have thought would get me something decent turned into 20 - 30 grand real quick and is still growing every day.

Bottom line is there's lots of good fairly priced cars out there still but you'll need to do your homework. Theres also a lot of slimy types out there that are trying to cash in on current prices and sell junk cars for top dollar.

Look at the ebay auction's and you'll learn a lot. Lots of the ebay cars with "reserve not met" (no asking price) are listed locally and Ive been able to find them through diligent searching and at least see what they want for the car on multiple occasions without going through a 30 day auction to see what they go for. Obviously buying from an original owner private seller is best but you gotta be ready to move right now when those deals come up.

I found my 78 Targa on ebay and found it to be local and was able to close a deal with the seller off ebay. others tried to do the same but lowballed him and I offered what I thought was a good deal for both of us and we made a deal. I didnt want a Targa but the condition was just to good to pass up. Werent any good coupe's in my price range at the time.

However I remedied that and bought a 80 Coupe friday morning off YUCK ebay again lol. You gotta be real good with the mouse with about a couple seconds left to get one there. these are the cars I found....

78 Targa, 109,000 miles , original owner in Immaculate condition $25K


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1434249933.jpg

This 80 Coupe is a grab bag. Bought it sight unseen. It'll be coming to Huntington beach from Rhode Island next week. Wanted a blue coupe and the 65,000 original miles got me. It will need a paint job. i think in the end it'll be a solid car and a good investment.

Again as I stated above I found the car's asking price on the ebay listers website and ended up getting it for about 4 grand less than asking but had to deal with the white knuckle bidding deal down to the last second . paid $28,300 for the Coupe.

Can I afford both ? Hell no! Will I keep both of them? Maybe !

Good luck with your quest! Hope you get your dream fulfilled!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1434250681.jpg

Otter, I just stumbled across your thread and wanted to let you know I have decided to sell my pristine 78 SC (only because I found a 930), but did not know if you were interested in an all metal wide body conversion. Fresh Euro 3.0 engine, trans rebuilt, 94K miles on body. If so, please PM me and I will send you all the details. Located in Los Angeles area.

Rob

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1434261276.jpg

Pardon the crappy Iphone pic.

This 80 Coupe is a grab bag. Bought it sight unseen. It'll be coming to Huntington beach from Rhode Island next week. Wanted a blue coupe and the 65,000 original miles got me. It will need a paint job. i think in the end it'll be a solid car and a good investment.


Needs paint? Looks good from here...

The car spent the majority of its life in Texas so the sun beat it up pretty good. I had access to lots of photos.

The paints original petrol blue with areas of oxidation, fading, discoloration, plus all the normal chips and dips, scrapes and scratches etc etc.

Other than paint i believe it will be a very solid purchase and im looking forward to it sitting in my driveway.

So, if you buy a rough one, I would not try to restore it. Just drive it. http://loanwebfast.com/green/images/48.gifhttp://insuranceautocars.com/insurance/images/37.gif

This oops like an example of the difference between people like, say Westy (not picking on you, you're just the first to come to mind!) and maybe Scott, for whom excellent paint is necessary, and people like me and manbridge, for whom not-terrible is good enough :)

I'm Crushed!!!!

Hey! Weren't you supposed to show us some pics? The suspense keeps building.


Hi, I'm Westy, and I'm a paintaholic!

Yes, I'm going to post on the car, but it's tedious to upload the pics and I was busy not talking about cars on the internet last night :)