seeking comments - selling my '77 3.2 conversion

[cubby911T]

Friends,

I've had my '77 Targa 3.2 conversion for sale for several months now with ads listed on Pelican, The Samba, and recently The Mart (PCA's classifieds). Other than a near miss on an international sale, I have not received a whole lot of interest in the car thus far.

I know this car may require a special buyer. It is a good driver with excellent power and reliability due to the 3.2 engine, but it is not original and priced above most stock mid-year 911's. Can anyone give me some feedback on:

1. Where else should I consider advertising?

2. Does my pricing seem realistic? At $12,950 I'm already $1500 below what I've got in the car after doing the conversion myself. Seems to me like I'm offering a good value, but should I expect to take a bigger haircut?

3. Any other comments are welcomed....

Here is a link to my For Sale ad here on Pelican:

FS (or trade): '77 911S Targa 3.2 Conversion

thanks everyone!!

[whiterabbit]

Well to be honest in Pelican and the Sambe you will generally get nothing but lowballers on a car like this and the same with Rennlist to a certain extent. PCA people will generally want stock so I would try a local paper and autotrader where you should find someone local who just wants a nice drivable 911 and isn't too concerned with orginality.

I think the price is OK.

[HunterVonWurst]

Price is OK, but with the engine swap, you have eliminated a big pool of buyers in states that require emissions. A lot of people don't like Targa's (not me...can't wait to get one) and the condition of the car is so-so (even though you say 10' paint in your ad, a good paint detail job and better pics will make the car "pop"). Polish the rims, too. Do this and set your price at $11,999.00 and it will be sold pronto.

[Macroni]

Cubby the car looks great.... I have begun to fall for targas. Did you see the 76 3.0 that Speedo is selling? I would just be patient for a bit. The experienced realize this is a lot of car for money. The car is a dead sleeper. I would put together a comprehensive photo file and bring it to local P car gatherings.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by whiterabbit

Well to be honest in Pelican and the Sambe you will generally get nothing but lowballers on a car like this

I think there's some wisdom in that. I had my car up for sale, and that's all I got. I decided to keep it and maybe when the economy has improved try again. (though I've fallen in love all over again with the old girl )

The only question is, where else do you advertise it? Craigslist etc tend to bring out all the flakes (though I did get a couple serious responses), auto trader might be ok, but it's pricey. Ebay is cheap, but I don't think anyone feels comfortable buying a vintage 911 in such tight time constraints, as it pretty well eliminates the PPI option. Local newspaper classifieds reach a very small market. I did all of them, except local classifieds, and got an equal response to all of them.

It might very well be that you're pricing your car into a segment of the market that's really taken the brunt of the economic hit right now.

[racer]

Local to me is a '77 Brown Targa with 3,2 motor. Only seen it on Craigslist. Been on the market for a year. Seller is asking $9950/obo... for 1 year! high miles (180K on car, about 80K on the motor, for comparison)

While I don't think your price is too high, there tends to be a heirarchy.. midyears are worth less than SC, which are worth less than Carerras.

Now though, I think the market is looking for "original" midyears.. and those without those questionable motors, are seen as less valuable or less desired; you could say that the "collectors" are moving into midyears and pushing out the non-original ones (price wise).

I'm not sure I'd consider a price drop. If folks were interested, and thought your price just a little too high, they would have reached out by now. If all you are getting is lowball numbers, which are too low for you, then you need to hang onto the car.

FWIW, the last 2 Porsches I sold took between 8-mo and 1 year to sell.

[cubby911T]

Well, an interesting array of feedback thus far, fellas. Sounds like the common theme is that my pricing seems to be in line, but by creating a "Frankenstein" I have limited my buyers pool to some degree. As for the advertising suggestions, I will just say that I have never had any luck using our local hometown newspaper OR Autotrader. I have sold P-cars with Pelican ads and Samba ads, so at least I know they will work (eventually).

I guess I need to be patient and meanwhile enjoy driving the car. Thanks for the comments and please post again if you have additional thoughts!

[G450X]

but, as many have quipped here, it is a bit of an odd ball with a somewhat limited buyer pool. It looks like a nice "driver" quality 911 to me, and if the economy were strong, I'd guess it would be sold by now.

I love the cork interior, but finding good panels (i.e., the dash) is tough and expensive. I also think you could get better play in a local ad with a slight price drop. I think you really need someone to see & drive it, and then it should sell itself. It might be a slightly easier sell if it were a coupe, due to the ability to back date a screamer (or track car) at a modest price with that 3.2.

I know in one response someone stated that an ad on Pelican would only yield low ballers, which I somewhat disagree with. I think when you see $60k+ early 911's that are not even concurs when the Excellence buyers guide lists them at a little over $30k is the sign of delusional sellers who do not track the current market. I would consider a "low ball" price on your car at around $6k-$7k, and a decent price at $10k. Unfortunately, unless the money is put towards an interesting/valuable car (356 cab...), the chances of re-couping the costs, even if you do most of the work yourself, is rare.

I think most "Pelicans" want a bit of a deal on a vehicle, but don't expect a really low price unless it's a basket case. I purchased a decent '82 SC that was listed here for $12k, and negotiated the price down to $10k. I feel like I paid current market value, and after a trip to a Cellette rack to fix previous (albeit slight, no shock tower damage) unknown accident damage, and SSI's, M&K, Rennshift, etc., I could never expect to re-coup my monetary "investment" for many, many years. I expect to re-coup my investment by driving & enjoying it.

Good Luck with the sale....

[racer]

Another potential issue is "geographic desireabliltiy".. for me, a trip to indiana isn't in the cards. Travel/transport is another issue (could "cost" a buyer another $500-1,000). not sure what the local market is like for you.. ie depressed economy etc. All these will play into the selling.