What is the best deal ...........

[matt930s]

What is the best deal on a Pcar you have ever 1) made 2) passed on?

The best deal I ever made was a 85 Carrera 3.2, strong motor, perfect paint except keyed all around, paid $4.5k......The best deal I passed on was a 69 911s for $6900......ouch!


MattR

[nvr2mny]

Matt, The BEST deal I've come across, and purchased was the following lot; '65-912 (rough tub only, but salvageable), '68-912 SWT (matching drivetrain, needing FULL resto), '68-911T SWT (rough tub, complete w/o motor, salvageable), '69-911E Targa (perfect tub, no motor, under full resto now), '69-912 non-sunroof Coupe (ROUGH tub but, you guessed it, salvageable) going to be a Polo motored hotrod, AND; 9 motors, 5 tranny's + lots of parts for the whopping sum of 12k back in July of 2012. Also picked up a VERY nice '86 Targa 2 years ago for 12k. Sure, I look like a genius NOW - BUT - 6 years ago sold a perfect 28km '96 993TT for 65K and a '96 993C4S for 35k. Oh well, I'm having/had fun along the way! How long ago on the S?

[matt930s]

Wow! Nice scores! I guess your handle really is your motto nvr2mny!

The S was in the mid 90s. The guy was trying to make a deal on my 88 928 S4.... He said, " I have this crappy 911 I will throw in, wadoyathink? Can you give me $7k toward the S4 for it??????".....me, " man, you know that's an S4 right?" I will pass!!! Sniff.....

I actually came across a few early E's and S's over the years for under $10k........I hate having 20/20 hindsight....lol...

MattR

[nvr2mny]

ouch, well that 20/20 thing can make you sick sometimes….. we are still VERY blessed guys to be able to enjoy these things. I'm 100% positive at the end of the day I'll have THE most expensive non-S cars in the land, but I hope to leave my kids a couple of early P-cars each from their 'ol man, so it's worth it (to me at least). My pop was into MBZ's (6.3's) how I wish I had one of his cars now. He's been gone 14yrs now. Can still bring back the smell on command!

[thamlin000]

Back in '97 when I was a HS kid in Hawaii, I went to look at a faded orange 914 1.8 advertised in the paper for $900. It ran and drove fine. I went home to think about this huge purchase and by the time I responded to the seller the next day, the car was sold.

For comparison, I just went back to my my old panorama classifieds from that era and saw that during that time, a 912E and an early 911S were about the same price. Interesting considering that these two cars now represent both ends of the aircooled 911/912 market price spectrum.

[wm711]

I bought a 73S fully restored, with a rebuilt engine rebuilt to RS specs complete with RS pump for $15000. The car was a Euro Sporto that everybody hated and told me it was a POS.

At the same time...

I traded a 69 S for a 2001 Passat wagon. The car had a hot rod MFI motor built by Henry along with the original engine which was in good running condition.

I sold both cars to build...

a factory 5 Cobra replica.

The 73 S sport was just a crazy cool car. It was like driving a chain saw. The torque convertor locked up on the S sports 300 rpms higher than the E and T. I grew weary of everybody telling me how shi**y sportos were. I kept it a couple years, finally sold it to a friend, for barely more than I paid. I think the car now resides in a collection in Belgium. My vindication came when Alois Ruf saw the car and commented on how he had always appreciated the Sportomatic cars. The only car I wish I had back, and at last count I have had 31 911s.

[mulsanne79]

About 5-6 months ago, I found a 1977 Porsche 930 at some small website for $35k. 55k mileage and restored. Thought it was a joke/scam since these early 3.0L Turbos were hitting the $200k mark.. Called anyway.. And it actually was a real deal. Bill from Oklahoma was selling his 930 that he had forever and I guess had no idea what happened to the market.. And I will never forget when I asked him about the $35k price and he said, "I don't mean to offend anyone.. that's just my starting point.. I can make you a good deal.." And I just said, "I am all in for the full asking!" Well, next morning he called me and said he changed his mind about selling.. I guess he got a "few" more phone calls. Long story short, I ended up paying $55k and getting the car. It was a good day

[bobrestore]

the best deal .... a 1966 9/12 complete for just towing cost and a few days of storage .. the cost was about $250. I added a few bucks as a tip .... brought the cost to $500 and the 9/12 was delivered to my garage ..... the one that got away... complete 4 cam motor,.. totally disassembled and most machine work done...$1000 bucks .. at that time in the bay area, there were not people around that knew how to work on them...

[Skwerl]

Missed an 80k-mile 993TT about 5 months ago for $86k. Seemed to be in great shape from the photos, but I wasn't totally into the guards red paint. I was bouncing emails back and forth with the seller in the morning, asked if he'd be willing to get a PPI done, and 4 hours later, I heard back that it sold.

Lesson learned: if you find a good price on one of these, just commit to buy and sort out the rest afterwards. Even if the PPI turned something up I'd have probably still been way ahead.

[Ronnie's.930]

I've only bought three Porsches (two 914s back when I was a wee lad in my early 20s) and my current Turbo, but based on the supposed going rate of the Turbos, I guess I really scored when I paid about $33K for mine around 7-8 years ago?

[SilberUrS6]

When I was shopping for my current ride, an '89 930 was up for sale for $28k. I knew it was a screaming deal, and I knew the guy. I should have bought that car all day. At the same time, I saw a couple of 964 turbos for $35-45k. The $35k one was OK, but the $45k one was pristine. Very low miles, perfect paint.

[Rich Gas]

i bought a 66 Ford Thunderbird, perfect condition, from an older gentleman in college. Drove it a few thousand miles into Mexico, early eghties. had to suck the rust out of the inline gas filter all the way down I5... nothing like a few friends, few buds, few beers and a long road trip. that car was perfect.

[Ronnie's.930]

Rich, I'm surprised that the fuel tank didn't flip inside-out under such extreme vacuum pressure!!!

[WPOZZZ]

Bought my 77 930 2.5 years ago. 38k, great condition, even working ac. Let's just say it was less than the original asking price for mulsanne79's 930.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by bobrestore

the one that got away... complete 4 cam motor,.. totally disassembled and most machine work done...$1000 bucks .. at that time in the bay area, there were not people around that knew how to work on them...

Ouch. I mean, God damn tears in my eyes.

I have a 2002 Ford Taurus with a 4 cam. Will set free for $1,200 (entire car).

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Rich Gas

i bought a 66 Ford Thunderbird...........that car was perfect.

Yeah, like your sister.

Ever have an Opel GT? I didn't think so. Ask Ronnie about his.

Loved the early 60's T-Birds. Uncle had one with the two big round tail lights. Low rider.

[matt930s]

I had a 1970 Opel GT 1.9 that I loved! It was stored in my parents driveway. My mother gave it away while I was deployed to the desert for a year. She blamed the POA, who wrote a letter that it was an eyesore.

MattR

[matt930s]

Originally Posted by wm711

I traded a 69 S for a 2001 Passat wagon. The car had a hot rod MFI motor built by Henry along with the original engine which was in good running condition.

Ouch!

MattR

[GothingNC]

My best deals were:

1956 VW Beetle with the rag top sliding roof in 1985 as a future project,paid $40, sold it a year later for $3,000

1973 VW Thing, paid $600, sold it for a lot more 7 years later.

My Targa, I can get double what O paid for it now

I passed on a solid clean 72 911T Targa for $10K at the time since it was red :-(

[Matt Monson]

I think it's obviously relevant to the market at the time, which makes picking the best deal not necessarily the cheapest price paid.

I bought my first 911 for $1000. 1970 911T. A nice little driver. I bought it in 2005 and sold it in 2008 for $10k. It got restored and resold again 2 years later for 55k Euro.

I bought my 68 911T for $7200 in 2010. 42k mi 2 owner car. Nice driver that had an accident in the 70s and was "updated" with an RS look. I traded it straight across for the 1986 3.2 Carrera I still own. I think most would agree value-wise I have now lost out, but clearly the Carrera is still worth way more than $7200.

The one I regret was 3 years ago. 1970 911S racecar build by Bill Rader. In excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition, though obviously gutted and caged. All metal body panels. But not numbers matching. Threw a rod through the original case and instead had a 906 spec single plug 2.0l built on a 68T alu case.

I wanted out of my 85 Carrera. I was dealing with the same guy I had done the previous swap with. The deal was either my Carrera for the 67 912 I now own, OR the 70S racecar with $10k out of my pocket. I didn't want any out of pocket at that time and passed. I now wish I hadn't...