Advice on selling 1977 911s coupe

timdavies · 01-06-2016, 12:25 PM

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate any advice you have to offer on selling my 1977 911s coupe. The car lives with me here in Auckland, New Zealand and was originally imported from Japan. I've owned her for about 8 years.

It has the original 2.7 engine/gearbox (matching numbers) with 51,000 miles (82,000km)
Awesome condition, no rust
Body, interior excellent condition
LHD (wrong side of the road for us)
VIN 9117300147
Service history is from my ownership onwards.

Someone has repainted her black at some stage, originally yellow. I'm considering repainting her back to her original colour, but the black paint is excellent.
The engine is being rebuilt by a Porsche specialist at the moment.

The market here in NZ is limited - I'd be happy to send it overseas to get the best price. I'd be interested to know where the best place to send it is - USA, Europe?
What are the prices like, are there any barriers to exporting to these markets?
What is the best way to sell - auction, listing?

Many thanks in advance for your help.
Tim

timdavies · 01-06-2016, 12:28 PM

Forgot to add that I replaced the old thermal reactors with a new SS exhaust.

CountD · 07:28 AM

Tim,

Since midyears are heating up, and it looks clean, it might be worth it to market it in New Zealand because I doubt there are many there.

Until now the midyears have been the least desirable off all 911s. I should know as I have a '75, and in 2012 it was extremely inexpensive to purchase one (like $5k). The only reason a '75 is more desirable over here is because it doesn't have to be emission tested in several states. The '77 is galvanized unlike mine, but it will have to be tested.

They sent thousands of midyears to the States in the '70s. Not many survived and many were parted out and scrapped. The 2.7 engine became a paperweight in someone's garage. They were given a really really bad rap over here. No one respected them until last year. The rationale being - 'Why should I buy a $8000 car to have to rebuild an engine that will cost $15K and it still be worth $8K?' People rightly bought SCs and were done with it.

I would market it here on Pelican. I would market it on eBay. You can put a high reserve on it (one you are comfortable with receiving) and let it fly.

What I am saying is that I don't know if the market is strong enough on midyears to have someone ship it all the way to the States. It being a Japanese market car would make no difference here. People who would pay for the '77 would rather pay for a '78 SC.

The '75, '76, and '77 are arguably the worst years for a 911. People may see the '77 as last of the 'rookie card' years of the '74, or may like it for being non-flared. Others will see it as a 2.7 911 that they would never consider, or even want to touch (even though this is getting less and less).

You have to remember that seriously the 2.7 midyear had a reliability rating that was laughable.

European buyers seem unconcerned on where they buy a car from. The market may be strong there, as I suspect no midyears ever survived there.

I would put it up here and put it up on eBay and start high.

Rick Brooklyn · 01-07-2016, 01:36 PM

Good advice. I doubt someone in the US would want that car so badly that they would want to pay fair value plus deal with shipping and paperwork.

Maybe if you keep it all black (pun intended) and put a silver fern decal on it

Soarer20 · Soarer20's Garage

Importing a car is easy, and not that expensive. In the US market this might bring $25k right now.

Obviously try to sell it locally first.

Call a ocean transport line and get the cost from Port to port to the US and Europe. Put this in your ad. Advertise it on Craigslist, Pelican, Rennlist. If it doesn't sell there, ebay.

I think the bubble on the mid year cars is rising quickly. Sooner or later people will wise up and they will deflate substantially. There is a good reason why these cars could be bought for $5K for decades. There are LOTS of mid year cars out there and the baby boomers are hanging on to them for the time being. When they start to retire and sell they will flood the market. Younger generations are not interested as much in the classic Porsche's, most want a GTR.

timdavies · 01-07-2016, 05:13 PM

Thanks for all the advice guys, appreciated though I might pass on the silver fern on the bonnet idea, clever as it is! :-)

I'm not too fussed about the export costs; it's fairly cheap and painless to get cars up to the US. One of the benefits of being in NZ is the exchange rate, last I looked it was about 0.66 to the USD.

I haven't seen one for sale here for a while, but I'm sure they are out there. A pity it isn't like the 1973 T3.0 going for $175,000NZD! (link below) We have a great market here in exotic cars but the older 911's aren't that common any more.

Porsche 911 1973 | Trade Me

I'll follow my nose and advertise it in the places you have suggested and see if I get any traction.
Thanks again for your help!
Tim

Rick Brooklyn · 01-07-2016, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soarer20

. There are LOTS of mid year cars out there

I don't know, how many of them are good cars like this one seems to be and how many are roached out molested rusted sheepers. I don't see any air cooled 911 going back to trading with a 1 handle, ever.

Soarer20 · Soarer20's Garage

Lots of rusty heaps out there and many more that have bee wrecked and flared, etc. but there are many thousands of mid year cars that are nice drivers. The price has more than quadrupled in 2 years....

I'm keeping my mid year till I'm tired of it, and I plan to drive it for many, many years. The value is not important to me. If it were and I wanted to maximize my roi, I would sell now. I personally think the mid year cars are trendy and their popularity will soon fade with the cool kids :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

I don't know, how many of them are good cars like this one seems to be and how many are roached out molested rusted sheepers. I don't see any air cooled 911 going back to trading with a 1 handle, ever.

93097004xx · 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soarer20

Importing a car is easy, and not that expensive. In the US market this might bring $25k right now.

Obviously try to sell it locally first.

Call a ocean transport line and get the cost from Port to port to the US and Europe. Put this in your ad. Advertise it on Craigslist, Pelican, Rennlist. If it doesn't sell there, ebay.

I think the bubble on the mid year cars is rising quickly. Sooner or later people will wise up and they will deflate substantially. There is a good reason why these cars could be bought for $5K for decades. There are LOTS of mid year cars out there and the baby boomers are hanging on to them for the time being. When they start to retire and sell they will flood the market. Younger generations are not interested as much in the classic Porsche's, most want a GTR.

There are very few of these cars left. Probably 60% attrition rate.

Very few mid years have survived and they probably have the highest to gain value

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