Input/critique on these $25k examples

[MAH77]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Buy the one I have for sale instead for $25,500 - fresh slate gray paint, all steel, stock SC drivetrain. RH 3-piece 18" wheels...

Uhh, yeah, I can't pull that off - my mullet isn't long enough.

[techweenie]

Ha.

I was thinking more Crockett & Tubbs. But yeah, you could put Gotti gold center wheels on it and mulletize your hair...

[MAH77]

Does the front end of this look out of whack?



1974 Porsche 911 | eBay

[kc911s]

The fog lights are non original and were put on too low. The chin spoiler is throwing your eye off as well.

[sugarwood]

For low priced cars, I'd avoid the ones that have been "racer modded"
Maybe a litmus for abuse.

A plus if you're buying from a person, and not a dealer.
Person selling to dealer is leaving money on the table for a quick, no hassle (no questions) sale.

Anything with major engine work scares me without legit documentation.
Is this a valid fear?

The '80 is being sold by a Pelican. Maybe worth a phone call.

'77 seems like potential.

Red '76 seemed ragged, but in a nice way.
Dealer leaving a lot of info omitted, like mileage.

I'm no expert, but none of these seem like total disaster cars.
Just typical "be prepared to spend money to sort them out"
We've all seen many worse cars.

[onevoice]

Originally Posted by MAH77

Does the front end of this look out of whack?

Yes

Unless you know exactly where to look for rust, I wouldn't touch an early car with a 10 ft pole.

Techweenie above seems to have had quite a few cars in the for sale section in the last couple of years, several relatively low priced. Maybe you could reach out to him to get a better feel for what makes a low 20's car, a high 20's car, and a low 30's car. Because it is easy to buy a $25k car that becomes a $35k car, and you may have been better off to buy the $35 k car in the first place.

An example of something to be aware of is his car above is an 82. Convertibles started in 83, so it is probably a converted targa. Not uncommon back in the day, but people shy away from those cars now. But, for a driver car, it would be a blast, and probably is waaaay cheaper than an equivalent ( miles, condition, ) car that was unmodified. I think it looks cool, and is certainly something I would go test drive if I was in the market. I have never had any dealings with him, but on a general note, forum members have history. It is easy to go look up a members past dealings, and someone that is a member for awhile is much more likely to give you the straight scoop on a car than a faceless dealer.

[ItzaMe]

That black 80 sold for 21.5

If it was spring time I would have paid that easily looked good..

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by onevoice

...
Techweenie above seems to have had quite a few cars in the for sale section in the last couple of years, several relatively low priced. Maybe you could reach out to him to get a better feel for what makes a low 20's car, a high 20's car, and a low 30's car. Because it is easy to buy a $25k car that becomes a $35k car, and you may have been better off to buy the $35 k car in the first place.

An example of something to be aware of is his car above is an 82. Convertibles started in 83, so it is probably a converted targa. Not uncommon back in the day, but people shy away from those cars now. But, for a driver car, it would be a blast, and probably is waaaay cheaper than an equivalent ( miles, condition, ) car that was unmodified. I think it looks cool, and is certainly something I would go test drive if I was in the market. I have never had any dealings with him, but on a general note, forum members have history. It is easy to go look up a members past dealings, and someone that is a member for awhile is much more likely to give you the straight scoop on a car than a faceless dealer.

I know the rust issue is a challenge and I can't be everywhere to look at cars for people, so I wrote up some notes on how to assess rust here: Blog

Look for the blog dated 070816 and the one dated 071216

...it's a lot of reading, but hopefully useful in making people better at finding rust before buying.

As for the cab conversion, there are no chassis differences between the Targa and cab, so the conversions generally worked out well. The most important thing is to avoid the aftermarket top mechanisms. There was a cheap ($5K) version sold on Hemmings for years that was just steel bar stock. The factory top mechanism is alloy and very well engineered - as you'd expect.

[MAH77]

TW-

Thanks for the blog link and the information, very interesting and nothing I had read before.

Regards,
Milan