[JoeMartini]

A bit of background on me. I have spent the past few months researching the various generations, their flaws and advantages, and price points. My goal is to add a 911 as a second car, for driving and PCA/Cars & Coffee events on occasion. I also want something I can work on as needed. I’m not skilled enough to rebuild an engine, but brakes, suspension, and the odd performance part I can handle and would enjoy doing. So given all that, I am looking at two generations: the 78-83 SC and the 84-89’s. Quality wise, I am not overly picky. I am looking at a driver’s quality car and prefer near original but some mild outlaw attributes are ok.

Now on to the advice. I saw my first 911 today and I am trying to ensure I am not being emotional in my evaluation.

The car is a 1978 SC Targa ordered in Oak Green Metallic with Black trim. It has 98k miles and was in storage from the late 90’s till now. Documented from purchase till now. Current owner did a number of things to get her running again. asking 40K.
First the mechanicals: Engine was rebuilt, runs and idles well on cold start and warm. No smoke and she is bone dry underneath. I will confirm health with a compression and leak down before purchase.

Transmission: This is tough for me to judge as I am unfamiliar with the 915 but I drove it with little issue, hit all the gears, though I felt a bit of resistance getting into gear on occasion when shifting. Is this normal? It felt more rpm related to me.

Body: straight, gaps are even but the bad part is, it was painted a different color, and it WILL need a repaint. PO basically painted the outside of the car a red metallic, and the under hood, decklid, doors and door jambs are black. This is cosmetic but it really bugs me. Its like a cheap earl scheib $99 paint job. It looks ok from the sidewalk but once you open the door it’s a horror show IMO. If I get the car, I would want this corrected quickly. That’s $10-15K if my research is correct.

Interior: Beautiful original cork with original carpets is good shape, seats have no noticeable wear and may have been recovered. The rear deck was replaced with a black cover and will need to be corrected.

Suspension and brakes seem to be original so work will be needed to assess and replace bushings and the like.

Targa top is in ok condition, the frame was painted gloss black and looks like it could have used a sanding. The material used was a convertible top material. It fits on the tight side, not sure if that is normal. Locking it down took a bit of effort.

So I am open to thoughts on my assessment. I am not sure if this could be a good deal or not. I am currently assessing it to be in “Good condition” on Hagerty’s scale, which they price at $45k.