SO, now that the deal is done, I feel OK sharing. So... turn the clock back to late in the evening on Good Friday 2015. I am cruising C-list for Porsche parts/cars/tools whatever. I am not seeing much but up pops an add for some "Porsche Wheels". It is not like I NEED wheels, but hey you never know. I scan the add and I think I am seeing some decent Fuchs, but the pictures are crappy. Turns out these wheels are in a town that is between my current location and where I am headed to on Saturday. I text the number in the ad and get some more info. He is restoring a VW and has taken the following Porsche parts off of the car.
three 4.5" wheels
two 6" wheels
two 911 seats
two 911 hubs
one bag of lug nuts.
Price: CHEAP!!
So, for those early 911 guys you already KNOW where this is headed. But I am a Carrera and mid-year guy, I don't know the details of the early stuff (yet). : ).
I tell my wife I want to stop in this town and the way to our destination and she is not happy. We will have food in the car with us an dour luggage, etc. She is asking why I think I even need these wheels (I have no real answer) and where I will put this stuff (no clue). So I tell her I will just call the guy and waive it off and we can just forget about it. But after about 2 minutes she lightens up and says we can go look. ( I truly LOVE my wife).
So we roll into this town I text the guy for an address and we head over. I arrive and see the bug sitting on a lift and all the parts lined up next to it.
I start looking at the Fuchs and I notice that the 4.5"'s don't have date stamps, just a big fox head logo. So I am thinking they may be fakes. But I also notice they are SUPER light, have "hearts" and have some patina to them. Now, as I said, I am no early 911 guy, but I DO KNOW hearts on Fuchs are a good thing. The 6" inches look good enough to run on my '77 and I am thinking the 4.5;s could be show spares, so I figure with the seats and all I can't get hurt, so I throw out a price. $100 LESS than he his asking. He says "sure".
I pay the man, grab the wheels (seats won't fit. I went back for those the next Monday) and tell my wife I think the wheels might be something "early" - not knowing how special.
After some festivities t my destination, I throw up a post on the Early S registry asking for a price check on the wheels. IMMEDIATELY I start getting replies. One guy is commenting that the 4.5's should only ever go on a '67 S and running them on VW is sacrilege (or something like that). Hmm? Then I notice the Early S registry has PM's just like Pelican. I pop over to them and see I have 3 offers to buy the wheels based on the pics. And we are talking north of $1000 per wheel!!
NOTE: To all of you who PM'd me, I am sorry you did not get these wheels. I made what I thought was the best decision for the wheels to get restored and to be put back into use - and for myself.
OK, I am now starting to wonder what I have actually bought. I know these are worth WAAYYY more than I paid. I had them sitting in the back seat of the car, but I am thinking I had better bring them up to my hotel room. So I grab a luggage dolly and load up all the wheels, only to be quizzed by the front desk manager when I am attempting to get on the elevator. She was cool, and this is a college town so I understand her questioning me.
Once I get back to the room, I check the PM's again. And interestingly enough, I have a message from Harvey Weidman. He is interested in the wheels too and wants to speak with me. Cool!
We trade phone numbers and Harvey and I call him that next Tuesday and discuss the wheels at length. He explains that these are FIRST YEAR Fuchs and they only came on the '67 S cars. In '68 Porsche went to 5.5's. Porsche did made some more 4.5's available in the early '70's, but those 4.5's have date stamps. The original 4.5's do not have dates, only a large fox head logo on the hub. BINGO!!!
At first he was concerned that they may be bent or cracked. He offered to inspect them and let me know his thoughts. I decline, but I offer to send him a couple of videos showing the wheels in detail. So that is what I do. A few more days pass, Harvey looks at the videos, we trade few more emails and we agree on a price.
It obviously works for me and I think Harvey will do just fine too. In fact, it worked out so well that I now have a new 4 post lift in my garage. I will be using to work on my '77 and the wife will still park he DD in the driveway. I am a lucky man and I LOVE my wife.
Here is pic of the lift.
And one of the wheels.
