Rennlister Unearths Amazing Early 911 Barn Find
Friend’s tip leads one Porsche enthusiast to the score of a lifetime.
We’ve all heard plenty of stories of folks who find amazing cars buried in garages and barns for decades. And Rennlist member Soulsea found himself living that actual scenario very recently. His buddy had moved to a new area where he met a neighbor who just happened to have what he claimed to be a 1967 Porsche 911S collecting dust for decades in his barn. After Soulsea’s friend told him about the vintage Porsche that the farmer was looking to sell, together they went to check out the rare ride. And fortunately, the pair decided to film the reveal.
“The whole situation is [like something] out of a movie,” says vintage-Porsche enthusiast Soulsea in his initial post. “It took about half an hour to remove all the crap on and around the car for us to take a look at it.”
Once the poor Porsche finally found the light, Soulsea gathered up its info and headed to the Rennlist forums for some advice.
Turns out, his early 911 barn find isn’t a 1967 Porsche. Nor is it an S, as fellow Rennlist forum member GTgears quickly points out.
“That is a late 1965 vin, as is the engine number. It is NOT an S. It easily needs six figures of work and that could be $100k, could be $150k. But it would be worth close to $1/4M if restored properly.”
With the stakes high, others jump in and caution him to buy the car quickly, or at least not make it easy for someone else to get to it first.
“Everyone and their dog is going to want this car,” cautions Amber Gramps. “Hold your cards very close to your chest. I’d even remove all reference to the state you live in from your user profile until you have title in hand.”
“Sharks in the water. People find these cars. It’s not yours until it’s yours,” GTgears adds. “Even if you have a handshake deal if someone else shows up with $10k more than your offer it’s gone. Or your purchase price just went up.”
“The serial number doesn’t lie. There’s no downside on buying this car if the seller doesn’t think it’s his retirement plan.”
But despite everyone else’s enthusiasm, Raspritz responds by throwing some proverbial cold water on the rusty discovery.
“Realistically, assuming matching numbers, the car is worth maybe $200,000 restored to top standards by a specialist. It will take maybe $125,000 to get it there, and perhaps two years. So, the differential is about $75,000. As a pure investment, say you pay $50,000 for it; is it worth a few years of substantial time and trouble to make maybe $25,000, tops? Unless this is something you want to do as a hobby? Your other choice is to buy it and flip it quickly to somebody who wants to restore it and drive it for their own purposes, maybe making $10,000 or so on the quick flip. Or figure out a way to broker the sale to somebody else. Or walk away. Those basically are your choices.”
To which Needspeed adds some great advice.
“Also, 911 classic prices hit a plateau making this a larger investment risk. $125k restoration cost probably the best case scenario. You can easily run into $200k range if there are a lot of metal work. If you’re a mechanic (or inspiring to become one) seeking an interesting and rewarding project, it would be a great project with a lot available help online in shops.”
Regardless, the OP decides to scoop up the car and take it home. He’s since found out that the car is very likely a later 1965 model, but he’s still awaiting confirmation on that. In the meantime, the plan is to find a suitable restoration shop to bring the early 911 back to life. You can bet we’ll be following along. And you should be watching this thread as well!
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