I agree.. stock 4 bangers will become rare, due to all the six conversions, LS or Subi.
People will look at the cost of building one and just buy one already done.

maybe relevant to this discussion

Six conversion value for insurance?
914World.com - The largest online 914 community!

Hagerty Articles 2016
"Mecum offered a 914 upgraded to 2.2-liter six-cylinder power with 40mm Weber carburetors, Recaro seats, fender flares, Momo steering wheel and five-lug Fuchs alloy wheels at Houston in April. The trouble was that it wasn’t what it wanted to be – a 914/6. The bidders quit at $39,000, a telling contrast not only between real and make-believe 914/6s, but also the perils of spending vast amounts of money to make a 914 into a 914/6."

Curious insurance values / replacement cost is different than what your willing to pay for a conversion. I bought my 914 back in 2010 for $21k and it was steel flaired with a 3.2. I spent another $10k for 915 gear box and then another $15k for body work and paint job. No way, would I spend $45k for my car, but $10k at a time is easier to do. If I had the money, a well sorted 3.6 conversion for $40k would be more attractive.. I have yet to see a conversion sell for what they have in it. You can buy a much better car for over $40k. Cayman, etc...

worth more as parts than complete
 

a'yup - one VISA payment at a time - "... an E-ticket at Disneyland" :)

i have no comprehension of the rustoration crowd building tribute GT's on bodies that we happily junked yrs back :confused:

*****
.... a different perspective from March CarCraft op-ed: "the core of the classic car audience has been spoiled by the new car experience. Today’s auction block results prove most buyers will pay much more for a nicely resto-modded (...xxxx etc.) than a concourse correct relic sitting on skinny white walls." (~Johnny Hunkins)

******

fascinating discussion - i think this started as a thread about market value of conversions

- apparently agreed value insurance has little relationship to that

another quote - current issue of Classic Motorsports:
"remember what Hagerty's Jonathan Klinger told us a little while ago: "Car collectors continue to become more discerning, paying eye-watering amounts for very specific examples and refusing to even offer a bid for similar but lesser models"

as a market value comparison - i am looking at an $85K cash offer on my GT right now (currently best described as a resto-mod, albeit with rarefied roots & documentation)

- last year hagerty quoted $1800 to insure it for $100K - long way from the quotes i see above

https://pbase.com/emoze/914_6_gt&page=2

The Rusteration crowd does it because we can.. It's the journey for me.. It also means that the particular rust bucket was destined for the junk yard and you saved it. Sense of accomplishment..

Is your $85k GT a real six or conversion?
I am also seeing classic fords and Chevys with modern crate motors. Those makes sense, but I am not a fan of losing the whole front trunk to run a water cooled engine.

9140430919
 

9140430919

i think the preponderance of opinion here (but not consensus) is that nobody is gonna "make money" on a conversion car,

real question is "how much will i lose?" vs cost to build

it's a hobby - but hope springs eternal

i have long believed that the only guys making money on restos or restomods are the body shops, engine builders AND parts vendors

as said above - one can buy a whole lot of other modern equivalent-performance cars for the money or half the money

fwiw - i've been tracking conversion vs "real-six" sales for a long time - maybe i'll find time to make a list for this thread

Larry Lee has been tracking real-sixes forever almost

To keep this thread on the top page...

I asked this question on Facebook recently. The various answers are interesting. My car is a restoration candidate, I don’t pretend otherwise. What I think makes my car somewhat unique in the conversion world is that it was built using a crashed factory six. So, I have all factory parts sans VIN. While that means I’ll never get big money for it, it also means I didn’t pay big money for a running, driving, six. It also means I can drive it where I want with less worry about devaluing a higher dollar collectible.

+1 to Ben's (mb911) and David's comments. If you're building a conversion on a 914-4 VIN to make money, or even just try not to go under water relative to final value, you're going to drive yourself crazy.

We accept that "loss" every time we buy a new car, why would we think otherwise for a one-off custom build on a base car that's worth maybe $15k-$20k (if that) in stock driver-quality form.

Enjoy the project, enjoy the journey, enjoy the final product. Sounds like money well spent to me! If you want to skip to the end and just buy a finished one - that's fine too.

In my case, I jumped into an unfinished WRX conversion which is now ready for pick up next week. I have no illusions that I'd be able to sell it even for what I've got into it (much less the total money spent by the first owner), but I can't wait to pick it up & drive the snot out of it.

Rant over.. and now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Factory built special. I've always felt you've valued it too low.

what's it worth?
 

perhaps

- only one potential buyer has come offering a handful of cash in the last 3 yrs even tho it's availability has been no secret

- let's say it might get $100K at "well advertised auction" as the roadshow appraisers always say

(my friends who've experienced that venue say it's a crapshoot - maybe it will sell, or maybe not & in any case ya spent much cash to have it roll on the auction stage)

subtract the cost of auction prep & positioning, subtract the seller fees & buyer fees, etc etc

net cash in bank = about $85K - vs keeping it for it's "intrinsic value" as one of my 914 friends says

if i put it up FS on BaT or similar, the first thing that would happen is everyone on this site & World would start denigrating it, and debating "what's it worth?" (i have no stomach for that . . . )

- of course none of said commentariat would ever actually bid on it, cuz ya know, "the dog ate my cash stash last week & my kid needs braces" SmileWavy

fwiw Jurgen Rott of 2shores.com knows the car & the euro & collector market & says "$85K net is not bad" - i value his market knowledge

so i'm waiting to see if the net cash offer comes thru or if it's just another "big talk flipper" trying to find a bigger money euro buyer before he finalizes the deal

if no sale, it'll be at the SVR Concours June 9 & probably at the GGR Mammoth drive June 14 SmileWavy

I finally managed to get mine home this past weekend.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1560281603.jpg

It's got a Superec 2.8 built on a 75 7R case and a Wevo 916 conversion with LSD. It's built on an original 1970 470 chassis for vintage rules purposes.

Cool. Congrats. I'm in the middle of building one now... 930/02 engine.

Sweet, Matt! Do you know if that's an Al Johnson built car?

It’s not. Some place called Maverick Autosports in the Twin Cities area I believe. They built two identical cars, one for father and one for son. I think this is dad’s Car. I don’t have a ton of details beyond stories and a PCA logbook.

$19.5K for a narrow-body conversion with four-lug wheels and an RS-spec engine.

Thought about bidding on that one myself, it looked like fun...

That car was for sale on 914World for a while. I corresponded with the seller and almost bought it. Seems Nathanbs bought it.

I would have bid on it if it was a street car. Narrow body, 4-bolt, 2.7 pushes my buttons.

Still kicking myself for missing out on the original post.

Edit: correction to data