Green '75 Euro Carrera Acquisition Story - Very Long!!

[wolfturbo]

Some of you wanted to hear this story, so here goes (I apologize for the length!):

Back in early October I noticed an Ebay auction for what appeared to be a very clean ’75 Euro Spec Carrera (technically Rest of World, but more commonly referred to as RoW). Many of you already know the charm of these cars: unlike their smog choked, CIS powered U.S. spec siblings, the ’74 and ’75 Euro Spec Carreras are powered by the same 2.7L MFI motor as found in a ’73 Carrera RS (type 911/83 for the Porsche geeks out there!).

Anyhow, I have always been fond of the Euro Spec Carreras as being basically the “poor man’s equivalent” of a real RS. Sure they don’t have the racing pedigree of the ’73 RS, but they actually have a better aluminum suspension and a little more in the creature comforts department. And fortunately for me, I don’t detest the impact bumper look of the ’74 onward cars as some others do. So for a fraction of the cost, they are a compelling alternative to a ’73 RS. And since I also have a ’73 RS, I can tell you firsthand that the Euro Spec ‘74’s and ‘75’s provide just as much excitement!

So back to the point. I watched this particular car fail to meet the reserve on 3 or 4 auctions even though the seller had posted a decent ad with plenty of pictures and more available upon request. Since the car appeared to be so clean, I was curious why it hadn’t sold, unless the fact that it was located in Holland was scaring people off. So I emailed the seller for additional pics, as well as more info on why he was claiming this vehicle was a “special order” from the factory. He promptly emailed me back about 50 pics and then faxed me a copy of the Cardex as well as a letter from the factory testifying to the car being a “Sondermodell”, which is German for special order.

The pics looked great and I wanted to learn more. Unfortunately all of the documentation was in German. I was able to use Paternie’s Porsche spec book to decode the roughly 15 options the car came with, but from there I was kind of stuck. Here’s where the fun began.

I posted on Pelican to see if any of my fellow Porsche comrades were fluent in German and able to help me with the translations. I promptly received a phone call from a great guy in Florida named Mike Van Bibber. Not only is Mike bilingual, but he is a serious Porsche enthusiast as well as a full time Porsche mechanic and he wanted to help me out. I faxed him the docs and he confirmed that the letter on Porsche letterhead indeed stated that the vehicle was 1 of only 4 special order Euro Spec Carreras manufactured in 1975. Whereas the car should have had a VIN that started 91156xxxxx, with the 5th digit being a 6 to denote Rest of World (RoW) Carrera, this particular VIN began 91159. Likewise, the motor number should have been 665xxxx to denote the 2.7L MFI type 911/83 motor. This car’s motor number began 695xxxx, with a “9” once more showing up where a “6” was supposed to be.

At about this time, I started to seriously consider buying the car. However, a voice inside of my head was screaming “Rob, don’t be a $(%&@^%(@ moron! How can you even consider buying a 28 year-old car sight unseen from Holland???” Undaunted, I started calling around to some of my RGruppe buddies to see if they could give me any color on the seller. I also mentioned to one of my buddies who owns a real ’73 RS that I was considering the car. It turns out one of his very good friends had thoroughly inspected the car and could vouch for it being very strong. Furthermore, my buddy had met the seller at Pebble Beach this last year and said he was a standup guy. I was starting to think that maybe the planets were lining up and this car was to be my destiny (so to get so sappy here!)

So basically I decided to violate every cardinal rule that has been etched into my brain as a car-guy: I negotiated a price and then wired funds to a guy I had never met on the other side of the world! I rationalized it by saying that even if the deal went sideways, it wasn’t the kind of money that would disrupt my life, other than really piss me off if I lost it all!

Everything was great until some of my car buddies found out what I had done and proceeded to tell me I was insane at least 10 times a day. I actually started to take the bait and begin to think they may be right and I was insane.

Meanwhile, Mike down in Florida had become real intrigued with the fact that the Porsche factory had confirmed this vehicle as a rare and unusual car, but they couldn’t tell us specifically why. It turns out that Mike’s father had worked at the factory for several years so Mike actually has some “moles” at the factory willing to help out with a wild goose chase. Mike went way above the call of duty to help a stranger in California that he has never met. He proceeded to type informational requests in German and email them to his factory contact. Apparantly they are much more receptive to requests in their native tongue, since they can simply forward them to somebody else without worrying about language issues if they don't have the answer.

Mike would then provide me with a typed English translation of his info requests, as well as forward to me the responses he got in German, once more accompanied by his typed up English translation. Mike was essentially making sure that we were properly documenting anything we learned as we went along. Again, huge thanks to Mike for being such a stud!

Unfortunately, the first few emails from Germany were merely updates confirming that the car was one of four “Sondermodell” RoW spec Carreras produced in 1975, but not telling us specifically what made the car special. Our factory mole did promise to keep researching the matter for us however. Then about one week ago, we got confirmation that the car was originally some kind of test mule equipped with a strengthened sportomatic tranny. At some point, the factory converted it back into a 5 speed and the car found it’s way into the public domain. Given the fact that the car is so heavily optioned, our German contact is theorizing that the car could have originally belonged to somebody important at the factory. He is presently researching who the original owner/driver was. Meanwhile, Mike is in the process of getting all of this documentation forwarded to me on factory letterhead, as well as providing me with a notarized copy of all of his emails and translations, as well as a summary of his personal background & experience in documenting Porsches. Do I need to say again what a stud Mike is???

While Mike was doing his research with the factory, I tracked down the shop in Berlin, Germany that had performed an extensive “freshening up” on the vehicle. After trading several emails with the shop owner and bartering a bottle of Silver Oak, he is now sending me work invoices for all of the mechanical work his shop performed on the car.

Fast forward to February 15th and after six weeks of waiting my baby had finally cleared customs in Long Beach. As I nervously drove up to take delivery last Friday, I had a pit in my stomach that reminded me of picking up a blind date in high school. You guys know the feeling – where you don’t know when the door opens if you’re getting a 5 foot 2 chick who weighs a buck seventy and has braces, or you’re getting a Claudia Schiffer lookalike who wants to play. Well, I’m happy to report that it appears I wound up with Claudia Schiffer!

The car is pretty darn nice. A brand spanking new excellent repaint of the original special order Emerald Green metallic paint with the following options: 7&8 Fuchs, Recaro sport seats left & right, black leather interior, black headliner, Carrera graphics, rear tail delete, rear panel loudspeakers, electric sunroof, headlight washers, rear window wiper, front fog lamps under the bumper, pneumatic collision dampers in the bumpers, Bilstein sport shocks. I have attempted to attach some high resolution digital pics, but if they don’t appear with this post then Denis H. will attach them for me in a reply.

The car drives straight as an arrow, out accelerates my ’73 RS and has real firm brakes. It is one of those cars that just feels “right” as soon as you get into it and start it up. In fact, I gave it a pretty thorough inspection with a few knowledgeable Porsche buddies this weekend, and perhaps the biggest flaw we could come up with is that it needs new sway bar bushings front & rear. Not bad for a 28 year old car!

Anyhow, I thought it would be nice to tell an Ebay story that actually has a happy ending for a change. I don’t plan on making it a habit to buy cars from Europe sight unseen, but I managed to take a chance here and live to fight another day. I hope all of my fellow Pelicanites are blessed with the same good karma in all of their future Porsche dealings. Sometimes doing a little bit of research can pay some nice dividends. Now I gotta go out into my garage to stare at my 28 year old mistress!

[Rob McKibbon]

What you have a Porsche for every daughter now?
Does that mean I get 4?
Great story, enjoyed the read
Good Luck with your newest (as if you need it)

[MarkP]

Great story Rob, thanks for posting and congratulations!

At what age can a car be imported without huge Federal and State regulatory stuff becoming an issue?

[Adam]

Rob, that is a great story! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I'm glad to see it turned out better than expected. It would now be exempt from Smog tests, wouldn't it?

[MotoSook]

Man, I get nervous buying a $50 item on Ebay. What a story. So happy for you that it all worked out, and you have documentation of a special car. You must have great Kharma. Enjoy!

[Jack Olsen]

You call that a long story? Try waiting for the download when I get a few pictures of my car getting new paint or carpet.

Great story with a happy ending.

[dickster]

enjoyed the read. its the kinda thing i would do - you know its wrong but what the heck. you gotta take a gamble sometimes.

[nick-moss]

Great story, I'm glad it worked out well and it's good to hear an Ebay success story at last.

I remember the discussions about that car here a few months ago, there were a few doubters out there (not surprising really, as the numbers did seem odd)

Keep us posted with any more info on the car.

[Cornpanzer]

Very cool story, so have you officially named her Claudia now? =)

[k9handler]

very good story and I am glad to see another proud 75 owner! Now I just have to catch up with you and that stable you have going...very nice. Thanks for the reading.

[Rot 911]

Wolfturbo writes: "I negotiated a price and then wired funds to a guy I had never met on the other side of the world! I rationalized it by saying that even if the deal went sideways, it wasn’t the kind of money that would disrupt my life, other than really piss me off if I lost it all!"

Wolf after reading this and seeing the pictures of your house in California, all I can say is you are living a life the rest of us Porschephiles can only dream of!

[wolfturbo]

Mark P,

In California, any car that you import that is over 25 years old is DOT & EPA exempt. That means you don't have to screw around with smog equipment, reinforcing doors, etc. However, if the is '75 or newer, you have to make it pass smog to keep the Calif. Air Resources Board happy. That means I will only have to go through the aggravation once!

[curtisaa]

Are you driving it Sunday to the run ???

[Kurt B]

Very interesting story. I enjoyed reading this. Sounds like a great car, can't wait to see pictures or a link to some pictures.

[makaio]

Sweet!

[Bob's Flat-Six]

Hey Rob, That little gold mine or should I say emerald mine is going to be hard to top. Story's like that make buying a car from the local dealer boring. There's nothing like having good research and the roll of the dice payoff.
Looking forward to meeting you and seeing your emerald green Carrera in the future.
Cheers and enjoy

[VincentVega]

Thanks for sharing, I love hearing about cars like this!

[emcon5]

Looks like a great candidate for Historic plates, for 1 year anyway.

Search the archives, last I heard no smog required.

Tom

[nostatic]

pictures of the green beast:

[Don Plumley]

Great Story and a Great Car! Thanks for sharing. There's an Autox on March 16 - bring one of your stable!