Look at what I found!

[Paul_Heery]

Those of you that are familiar with me know that I have been on a nationwide quest to find a 2.0. I had the ideal car in mind, but was not stringent in holding to my ideal. I was looking for a 1973 or 1974 2.0. It had to be mechanically sound, and most of all, relatively rust-free. I had a first and second choice in colors, but would settle for anything that met my base requirements.

Well, I’ve been searching, researching and looking. I actually wrote an agent that would automatically go out and bring me the results of my queries on over 50 web sites and newspaper-industry databases. Throughout my quest, I’ve driven up and down the East Coast from Virginia to Maine. I’ve been out to Kentucky and Illinois. And, I have even hopped on an airplane and looked at 914s in California and Colorado. I’ve looked at a lot of cars. Some of them were, how do I say this…interesting. All in all, each and everyone of the cars that I looked at had some “shortcomings”. So, I walked away from each of them.

Now, a very wise man once told me, “Never be in a hurry to buy or sell a Porsche”. I took this advice to heart and resigned myself to the fact that the search could take years. At least I was getting to see the country. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I found one in my own back yard.

Well, I really didn’t find it. It was through my friends on this forum that I was pointed to the one in my back yard. On April 3rd, I made this post to the forum.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64653

I was planning on driving down to NJ to take a look at a car that popped up as the result of one of my searches and was looking for some input. If you take a look at that thread, you will see that Joe A. asked if I was asking about a particular persons teener. Well, I wasn’t, but asked Joe if he knew about any 914s for sale. His response was that “Yes, he did.” The evening before at the meeting of Connecticut Valley Region of the PCA, a long time member announced that he was thinning his collection and the 914 was the one to go. Joe sent me the owner’s contact information, and I went to look at the vehicle two days later.

Let me back up for a second. When I contacted the owner by telephone, I went down my list of questions. Then, when I got to the one where I politely ask, “Tell me about the rust situation with the car”, I took the response with a large grain of salt. I was told, “There is no rust”. OK, I thought. The owner is either oblivious to the rust on the car, or is lying about it. At this point, I had to see the car.

I drove out to take a look at the car. It was less than an hour from my house. On the drive, I remember thinking that there was no way a rust-free 914 was this close to me. Especially one that I didn’t know about. I got to the house, parked in the street and then walked down the driveway. As I turned around the corner of the garage, I can remember getting quite excited. Sitting there was a Ravenna Green 1974 914 2.0. (My first color choice)

Well, to shorten this story a bit, I looked over the car with a skeptical eye. It was clean, straight and all there. The engine pulled strong. And, I couldn’t detect rust anywhere. This was turning into one of those situations where I had that uneasy feeling that this was too good to be true. I told the owner that I would like to have a PPI done. He said that he would expect nothing less.

The vehicle was gone over with a fine-tooth comb by a local 914 expert who has earned a reputation for successfully campaigning teeners. This excerpt from his report nicely sums thing up, “Structurally this is one of the best 914-4s I have ever seen. Mechanically it is in very good condition as well.”

Let me wrap up this rather long missive. Thanks to my friends on this board, I am now the new owner of this beauty. It needs some touches and could use a new coat of paint. But, it is a great, strong car.

[Curvie Roadlover]

If it's not too personal, How much was it?

[jabb]

Hi Paul

The car looks nice.... Glad it worked out for you.....
To bad I just sold a set of Fuchs that would look real nice on that car......

Good Luck
Have Fun...........

[rdvnac]

Congratulations, Paul.

I could have written nearly the same post, including the airplane trips....;-)

I strayed a bit from my original thought and bought a 914-6, otherwise my situation sounds identical. I even found my car through a contributor to this board. I think in my case the patience paid off, and it sounds like it did for you as well.

As Joe mentioned, if you find some Fuchs, it would improve what already looks like a great, clean car.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

[Paul_Heery]

Thanks guys.

Joe, Fuchs are on the list of things that I would like for the car. I'm just not sure where they fit in the priorities right now. Luckily, it is a short list.

However, I do know that priority #1 is to drive it!

The PO also gave me a boat-load of parts and accessories with the car. I'm still sorting through the boxes.

[SummerSledSix]

Paul, congratulations on your find! So how many cars did you actually look at before you found your "baby"? No wonder you had the pricing thing down cold. BTW, I have a set of clean 4-bolt Fuchs (repro's) with caps and very fresh 195's on 'em, going to Hershey next week. Any interest?

[Paul_Heery]

John -

I went back and looked at my records. I communicated via email or telephone on 63 different cars. I actually went out to look at, and crawl under, 38 vehicles.

Can you contact me privately on the other issue? You can reach me at paul@andieheery.com

[4WheelDrifter]

Paul, you lucky guy. I wish I found that car first! I don't live that far from you either. I hope my luck is as good as yours. Enjoy!