Yup - we got assessed some penalty laps here in Calgary, but I've worked on the AIV since then.
On the surface the assumption is that there can't possibly be a $500 911, but lets take a look - fire burned chassis with transaxle was basically scrap value and a really crappy 2.7 CIS was about $350... Unfortunately a $500 911 is just that. A $500 piece of crap that was not as reliable as hoped - the engine leaked, the distributor advance broke and the electrics were non-existant.
Now I know that it's not what you paid for it, it's what it's valued at - I don't want to get into a ton of details, but we've been able to collect a number of AIV examples. The two most recent aiv figures I have are a 68 912 with 5-spd transaxle $250 and a 1970 911T stripped for paint with some rust, but complete and running for $750 - So there is no 'I got it for free 'BS'. They are out there, it just takes a while to find and document them
AM