Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
Indeed - very sad in a way. From what I gather from them, this is exactly what drove Paul and Zeke out. I, for one, refuse. While my hot rod '72 is nowhere near the "significant financial asset" your 356's represent, it is still worth over ten times what I paid for it. And I still "beat the hell out of it" at every opportunity. The "burdens" of owning these things are only what we allow them to be.
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I sold the '71 S "Ragamuffin" because I owed taxes. I paid 5K for it in '04 not running, but I brought it to life w/o much work. Then the real work began and it was a rolling restoration until the final stages getting it ready for the '05 Treffen. I wasn't sad at all when the buyer jumped in at TRE Motorsports and drove off as I watched. He immediately flipped it to another Californian and he in turn flipped it to the homeland where it would have needed a full restoration to meet the TUV standards. It was no where near worthy as shipped. But it was a good track rat.
I went a couple years before the itch struck partially scratched by an '88 Carrera listed here for $12,900. I got it for a tad less and began the "bumper" project ultimately calling the car a 'Carrera R'. I sold that after my wife got rear ended with the custom bumpers on and was injured. Had the impact bumpers been in place that might have turned out differently. I sold the bumpers to a Pelican and sold the car fitted up with the original bumpers to a German fellow who exported it. Again, that car needed a full engine rebuild to meet the TUV. That would have been about 2012.
I made money on the Ragamuffin but my take was 18K and it came up 6 months later on a German list for sale at 44K EU. No further history on the '88 but I broke even.
So neither one was sold because of what you say. I did sell a '77 Targa with an Andial motor for 6K in '96 because it needed a lot from paint on down (except the motor). I did not know about Pelican, if indeed they existed, or I might have been tempted to keep it. I was so involved with work and kart racing that the Targa was mostly worked on by indy shops. It was a money pit AFAIWC.
To complete the list sans 914's owned, I bought and sold within 2 years a '60 356 B. Never really got on with that car. My wife loved it but it had to go in my mind. Bought and sold at the same figure 13K circa year 2000. To placate the wife I bought a '00 Boxster in '02 coming off lease. She has that car today. I don't drive it much but if you have an open mind, that's a hell of a little roadster. It has cost us hardly anything to own spare the A/C rebuild which failed within 2 years (Thanks Callas) And a new top that cost me a grand installed.
I don't dare sell another car out from under her.
To the topic: the Box at almost 20 years old is not yet a
classic and likely will never be as long as they are manufactured. But of all the cars including the 914's, the best driving cars were the 914 race car (SC front end, rear springs with small anti-roll bar on 7" wheels) and the Box. But there isn't much distance between any of them in terms of fun factor. The Carrera drove heavy like the Boxster, maybe 'felt' heavier. The 356 was a rollerskate always moving around with any wind or grooves in the roadway. Felt like it would swap ends if you looked too hard to the left or right.