Where are people finding cars?
 

Pelican is a great resource and enables me to while away many hours that otherwise could be spent sleeping, talking to my wife or some other equally unproductive activity. I have been searching for a particular car (ideally, a numbers matching driver quality 72E coupe in a color other than red) for several months with limited success, using this board, Craigslist, PCA website, the early911sregistry site and a few other internet spots. I've talked to several mechanics, the local Porsche restoration shop and a couple of friends who are active in clubs too. It seems to me that dealers & brokers keep coming up with cars that I have never heard about, with markups that essentially put them out of my reach. I have cash and can move quickly, although I generally prefer to see what I buy before I buy it. Are there other good resources or methods out there that I am simply missing? Admittedly, the obsessive part of the hunt is perhaps part of the pleasure, but at some point the line between pleasure and pain starts to blur......

Everyone goes through this stage. Like hunting or fishing patience is key. I do not think what you are looking for is a difficult model to find, the year might be a challenge. I think you are looking in the right places. I would also post your requirements in a WTB ad on the early S registry. To bad your requirements are not for a 1973....

A well priced quality 911 is about the rarest thing on earth. There are always stories of immaculate cars for a sold for a song. The reality is the game is gamble or wait. The more specific the 911 is that you desire the longer you may have to wait. I dont like it anymore than you do. It maybe why these are prized possessions.

I think Macroni hit the nail on the head..

I would also ad that your budget be in line with your requirement for a #s matching car. I say this because these cars will usually command a higher price over non-numbers matching car. Of course in my opinion.. I see nothing wrong with non- matching #s cars.. it all depends on your intended usage and desired outcome.

You have to be more inventive or payout.
 

I'm in the same boat and trying other ways of finding cars with very good but slow results. I'm pretty sure the dealers, brokers, flippers are using similar methods because the owners confirm people knocking on their doors out of nowhere without the car advertise or word of mouth, or following people to their homes, drive way finds, etc...
One of the methods is even illegal and can produce many, many results but I'm not taking that route.

Good luck and you are going to literally need it because it's a luck game with a bit of quickness. I went through (and still going through) the same frustrating process. Just waiting for the right car to be found.

Thanks for the words of support and encouragement, guys. I've followed cars on the road too (although never all the way home). I've thought about a 73, but I've learned that if I don't get what I have my heart & mind set on and buy something as a substitute, I still end up looking for what I wanted in the first place, and the interim purchases don't really fill the void. That being said, if someone knows of a nice 73E at a reasonable price, I would love to look at it. I think I have a problem, and my wife tells me I should talk to a psychiatrist, but that's another story....

So what does the collective wisdom think a driver-quality, numbers-matching 72E Coupe is worth in today's market?

ready to go..... $30,000 +/- a few sheckles

Primo..... $55,000 to $65,000

How much do you have to spend? I agree that 30K is the min for a nice, no issue, driver car - although I've seen nice examples go for low to mid 20s but who knows there may have been problems.

Tip for you: Local papers are also a good place to look since most original owners don't or won't use a computer.

I'm not sure what your day job is but you need to keep in mind that dealers, brokers do this for a living and are on it 24/7.

In the same "searching boat", but looking for a 65 or 66 912.

There is the "right car for you" out there somewhere, but it might take a long time to find. Something about a needle and a haystack comes to mind. My search has been 18 months so far (2 - 3 hours every day) and in that time there was a grand total of 2 cars that I seriously considered. Unfortunately I deliberated for too long and ended up without.

Word of advice is that if you find the car that matches your criteria it might be best to snap it up when you can. I was hoping the "negative economy" might slow down the sales process and possibly toss out a few more cars for sale but so far not a lot has changed.

Have recently posted a wanted ad to see if I can find some of those unadvertised cars that are for sale. Others seem to find them so possible I can too.

Good luck with the hunt and as others have said - practice patience Grasshopper!

jb

I just finished a 2 1/2 month search with a purchase two weeks ago, but my parameters for the right car were quite a bit wider than yours. I did exactly what you are dong in terms of how you're searching. One thing I did do after I had exhausted every lead locally, was I flew to a couple of outlining cities and on each venture I lined up 3 cars to look at. Being that you are on a 72 E only search, that may not be as easy. I did end up buying a matching numbers 72 T on my last out of town search. I also looked at two 72 Es during my search, which I'm sure you already know about. There's the one in Michigan (Tangerine) with the MFI removed and replaced with PMOs and the PCA member owned red one in Northern Calif. Both these cars could be had for under 35K and both were matching numbers. I know you stated no red, but if you want info on either car, PM me. Good luck and be patient. Remember, it took me 2 1/2 months with much wider parameters on my want list. No question, the hunt is part of the fun.

This E is near me and is a very nice example. It's a 69 and it maybe out of your price range, but it probably deserves a look/see.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&it em=250353243702

PM sent. Thanks

I've been eyeing that car and should be a good buy if reserve is set somewhere in the high 20s but most likely mid 30s.

Add rennlist.com to your search. I found my 930 there...

Might want this one on your radar
 

Not a '72E but does seem to be a nice '73E coupe on eBay.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-PORSCHE-911E-COUPE-SPORT-SEATS-FULL-S-OPTIONS_W0QQitemZ260353861568QQihZ016QQcategoryZ10 156QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Funny story about this car. It was originally offered by a dealer in Virginia with the apparently original cookie-cutter wheels. Languished on his site for several months, and when I called him, it was listed on his site at $32,500. I spoke to him about the car a couple of times on Thursday and Friday, asked him to send me more photos of some details, which he promised he would do over the weekend. Car has one minor rust spot in the front pan as I recall, and may have had some minor surface rust that was cleaned up by the PO, but all in all looked good. Detailed pics never showed up, but after thinking about it all weekend, it was a mostly original numbers matching 73E in pretty good shape with sport seats, just missing the original MFI, which I sourced separately from a fellow Pelicanite for around $3,000, I called the VA dealer by mid-day Monday ready to buy it. Turns out that I was beaten to it by a dealer who lives not 5 miles from my warehouse here in California, who had made the deal and wired money that morning. I think this was the second or third car he beat me to in as many months! Alas, I saw the car since it was sent to a well-regarded restorer for the rust repair and clean-up who is a block away from me. I'm sorry I didn't buy it for what was a pretty reasonable price. It has since been offered to me at a substantial premium. Such is life in the hunt for the perfect car!

Bummer!:(

Boy, you have been really dogging it on you quest for your ideal early 911. You are probably a PCA member but if you aren't join and use the PCA.org site as well as Pano in your hunt. I got onto a fantastic '71S coupe in Pano last Fall, which has turned out to be much better than I ever suspected.:)

Another idea is put a 'WTB' ad in those 2 places. A good friend did that and got a call a few months ago from an older PCA member about 20 miles from his house. Turns out he had a Signal Orange '72T MFI coupe with under 30K original miles along with original paint and all the paper work back to the window sticker. He truely hit the jack pot. Just a thought. As the others have said, hang in there, the right car will come along.

2.4E's are really rare cars, especially '72. There always seem to be a few S's on the market, maybe it's just the price point?

Indeed it is Brian, especially since I know how much he paid for the car! While the car has certainly had some added effort and real cost to get it to the condition it is on eBay (I've tried to post a pic of the before state, but for some reason it won't upload), it is one of the ones that I'm sorry I missed, as it was not only very close to what I want, but really represented a good value. As a result, it also sets a value benchmark for me in terms of the other things I'm looking at, as I can't help but compare new cars to this one. Like I said, live and learn. But the hunt is part of the fun I suppose!

BTW - I am a PCA member, so Pano and The Mart are regular stops for me. I'll probably re-post my wanted ad here and there this week. Thanks for all the tips and encouragement.