Reviving this thread to provide an update. I regrettably ended up selling my 87 (sorry Paul) on BaT. The good news is I was able to do well enough to be able to pick up one of these:
Was able to pick it up in Germany, drive on the Nurburgring, tour around the south near the mountains, etc. It is an amazing car and was an experience I will never forget!
However I find myself back here reading about middies and mag case 915s … why? Because I still want that lightweight, go-kart like experience (I’ve had 3 Miatas in the family and I peruse Elise ads frequently but can’t deal with the quality/reliability/parts). So while my timeline may be a bit longer now (the GT4 isn’t going anywhere), I’m still craving the aircooled experience.
However now that mid-year prices have gone up and longhood prices have flattened or even come down, to the question I posed around a original longhood vs a backdated mid-year with all the same criteria/costs/performance objectives … I was convinced the mid-year was the answer. But is it much closer now or reversed due to the above?
Good news is I have time to decide. Here is my current plan, as I have kids and a job that limits current free time:
- Buy a used motor in a couple of years after we build a garage addition for my new workshop
- Take the next year or two to rebuild it (thinking 3.0 to 3.2SS with EFI that has decent torque but can still zing to 7000 in order to match the character I am looking for). I love mechanical things and have always had a desire to do a rebuild on my own. By this time my girls will be teenagers and won’t have anything to do with me
- Then buy either a 73 or 74-77 with a tired motor or in the case of the mid-year a tired paint job, fix it up/paint/backdate, and drop my rebuilt motor in. Keep it light, narrow bodied, 15” lightweight wheels with 205-225 tires, and drive the hell out of it.
My hope is to replicate the Miata-like feel with a car that has much more panache, allows me to invest substantial money without feeling bad, but still enables me to tinker (I love how these cars are like Legos).
So back to the question (now that the 87 is out) - 73 vs 74-77? What’s the right move?