'71E - Sell as is or finish restoration?

[BK911]

Tangerine 1971 911E sportomatic coupe. Original date matched deep 6s, S brakes, non sunroof.

I bought from original owner and never titled it.

Completely disassembled and taken down to bare metal. Front pan replaced. Minor rust on rockers, maybe 6 pencil eraser sized holes. NO other rust.

I have original engine case and complete 2.2E engine including MFI.

Original owner converted to 901 5 speed so I do not have original sporto tranny. I have collected a complete sporto package with all bits and pieces and amost a complete set of spares including tranny.

The problem is I really want a targa not this coupe, so I dont feel like working on it. I have been spending most of my free time on a targa project.

So.... Do I just suck it up and finish it? Or sell as is and focus on the targa?

I will post pictures later. I dont have any here with me. I think one is in my virtual garage.

[BK911]

Ok here is an older one. The exterior has now been stripped to bare metal and the doors are off.

[dporsche74]

how much would sell for

might have a 70E targa for sale


thanks

[geshaghi]

Unfinished projects that don't roll are a tough sell unless cheap.

[BK911]

I forgot to ask...

The reason I put in market place discussion:

How much do you think it is worth as is?
How much restored to driver quality?

I could not let go too cheap, I have some money invested into it. I would rather keep it and slowly restore.

[Fidalgo911S]

I read an obit in the WSJ recently about a successful businessman. His motto was "Cut your losses and get on with your life".

[Macroni]

This is a tough question. If you can do the work yourself it would pay to complete and sell. If you would need to do a checkbook restoration I am with Nate, sell as is. There are buyers who would be interested to complete the project.

Values on this car are tough. I would refer you to George (geshaghi) he has a very good feel for this market and the level of restoration needed for each corresponding price range from driver to concours. My feel is a very nice driver is a $35,000 +/- $2,000 car.

[BK911]

I appreciate the input.

I paid $5k for the car as a roller, which most would probablly agree is a decent price. After complete disassembly, stripping down to bare metal, tearing apart the engine to verify condition, sourcing all the sporto bits x2, and putting in a new pan, she is now worth LESS?

I guess I am a little confused.

I am not opposed to keeping her. I just thought somebody else would appreciate her more and give her the love she deserves.

[G450X]

for the seller I think when a car is in boxes it's usually a tougher sell than when it is complete. I understand your rationale though. A few years ago I got in a bind on a cross country job move (lost storage) and had to sell some Alfa Romeo GTV's ('71 & '74) partially stripped and received only half of what I could probably have received if they had been untouched.

I think it's a mental thing, but I do know that many people have been hosed by sellers in times past when they say "complete" (in boxes) and upon reassembly many critical (and expensive to source) parts are missing - this can be time consuming and expensive.

I think an orange '71 E coupe is a very nice base vehicle to restore. If it has had no major accident/rust tub damage, you should at least see the $5k (minimum) and possibly a few thousand more.

I think that some people on this board look at every long hood 911 (besides the more common T) as a potential show car and throw out restoration costs like "$10k for paint, $7k for interior," etc., and price it as if they have to pay somebody for all the work. I think it all depends on what your looking for. I love working on these, kinda therapeutic to bring one "back to life." If a person could do much of the disassembly/reassembly, maybe the mechanical work and farm out the paint and body (or vice versa) it could be a worthy project that would not turn upside down monetarily if the need to sell arose.

A '71 E in a signal color is a desirable 911, don't give it away! Best Wishes with your decision.

[Gogar]

You can sell it and the parts as is, and MAYBE break even,

Or you can finish it and MOST LIKELY NOT break even.

A buddy here in Denver sold his orange '70E for about $30K two years ago, and it was perfect, with sport seats in original plaid.


Your car, 'perfect', with a 901 would not get $30K, since it's supposed to be a Sporto.

Unfortunately, your car, "perfect", with a sporto, wouldn't get $30K, because it's a Sporto. Catch-22.





IMO the real question is "Do you want to spend a year or two finishing this car that you already know you don't want, with a 100% chance of losing money?"

If you know you're going to lose money, lose it on the perfect car for you.

[G450X]

I missed that obvious quirk in the equation.

I think Gogar's comments are realistic and to the point.

I think the Sporto build relegates this E to a driver status only. There may be a Sporto nut out there who wants a tangerine '71 E, but are you willing to risk that? If funds are tight sitting on a $30k restored 911 could be painful if you really need to sell it. I'd be very careful with the amount of money I spent on it to avoid a resale problem. I'd probably restore it as a 5 speed to increase my available pool of buyers, but include the Sporto parts as a bonus to help with the sale.

At this point I'd try to calculate the money you have in it and sell it with full disclosure (if the buyer is not a hard core 911 guy who knows the build info). It's a tough economy, but you should be able to get your money back at least.

[BK911]

Thanks guys, some really good points. Time to grab a 6 pack, head to the garage, and do some thinking!!

[geshaghi]

Gogar is 100% correct. Your car isn't a numbers matching car due to the sporto being replaced, so it will always have this "defect" for the purists and limits the top value of the car. The original sporto trans is long gone, so the question of putting the original sporto back is moot. Restored to a nice driver quality, the car is probably worth around $26-$30k in the current market, with the major negative being the sporto issue.

The fact that the car is completely in parts right now doesn't facilitate a current sale. Someone has to trust that you've got all the parts, organized properly and be willing to spend the time to sort through everything before putting it back together. We've received several half-finished projects in our shop. The amount of time spent simply inventorying what we have to work with is pretty high. This typically takes us between 20-40 man hours. Even after a buyer inventories and reorganizes the parts, he'll need to spend time examining each of them to determine what, if anything, needs to be done before putting it back on the car. This takes more time. Also, things get lost and broken in this process, which takes more time and money to correct. All of this adds up to uncertainty and risk for a buyer.

If the question you are asking is how you can maximize the return of your investment, while it is hard to tell just from the info and photo posted, I think you might be better off parting the car. While it pains me personally to do this to a good car, the reality is that the parts are probably worth more than the whole. Deep 6 Fuchs in good condition are worth between $1500 - $2500, MFI is probably $1000 - $1500, motor and trans price will depend on condition, bare roller with rust repair done between $1000 - $2500, plus all the other bits and pieces. Alternatively, bolt the big pieces back together (doors, glass, suspension, wheels), put the drivetrain back in it and put it up for sale in a bit more of a presentable fashion and you will likely get better money for it (if you put the car back together in this manner, it wouldn't be out of line to see a $10k asking price).