Stephen Porter

This is supposedly a low-mileage car, but not documented as such. I haven't yet seen it in person, but am quite interested in it as it looks to be in fine shape to me. Here are a few pix submitted to more discerning eyes here. I'm trying to get a feel for the real value before pursuing further. Seller wants ~$10K and is firm. I'm tempted, but that's still pretty top-dollar for a 914, but this seems like one that is worth preserving and might hold/increase its value if kept in good shape.

I have more pix, but don't want to waste bandwidth here. If anyone wants to see more details I can email privately.

(Note: I've had one comment that the driver's rear quarter looks like it might be a respray, but I can't tell.)

racer

'73 2.0 is arguably the "best" 4-cylinder 914 available. Lighter than later years.. .Strong motor. Only has front bumper guards and no rear guards (like the 74)

I wouldn't buy it as an investment, per see, but if properly maintained, the car should not go down in value given their scarcity. What do you intend to use it for? Weekender? Concours? Parade car? Strip it don to be a racecar?

Perfect 2.0 liter cars have been known to bring mid-teens.. With winter firmly in place, fewer cars are on the market and, given the economy, even those prices might not be reached again for a while. However, if the car is rust free with good service records, a $9-11K price range is not out of the question.

There appears some surface rust on the battery box tray. I would want to see pics of door jams and trunks too. Front cowl as well. Is it a repaint or original? I am often concerned when I see the engine pad due to its ability to hide nests (mice) and trap moisture too.

skl

You might ask it the wheels are real Fuchs- if so someone painted the black which is NOT OEM... there were aftermarket wheels that looked like Fuchs and were painted like the 5 spoke wheels on 911's. That would definitely affect the value- but as mentioned here and elsewhere ad nauseum, the most important thing is a rustfree body. The engine compartment is rather dirty which may be an indicator of general maintainance. As mentioned above, look carefully under the engine pad- you may be surprised what you find, or don't find...

Stephen Porter

Racer/Ski:

Kind of an "investment" with part of the payoff being fun. IF it checked out as a low-mile car I'd get it and then work on getting it cleaned up to as close to original and pristine shape as I could and use it for weekend PCA events, "show and shines," etc. At $9K the downside is probably pretty small for a car like this and upside in a few years might be considerable. Or I might be rich by then and I could put it into the "collection" ;-).

I actually ran across it while looking for something to use as a daily driver/and a car to take to some beginner auto-x events--like a nice 924S SE that I could really use without any real financial considerations. A 914 wasn't really on my mind, and I don't think any 914 would be what I want for a driver around here (LA). But I ran across this one and I have a real weakness for low-mileage, original cars, that I can afford.

One of the local (Los Angeles) P-car gurus thinks that it needs considerable work to get into really pristine shape. Seller has some local bites, but if it's still available I think I'll proceed with a PPI and get all the facts I can before making a final decision.

I have more pix--quite a few actually, but I don't want to clutter up Rennlist with them. If anyone here is interested in seeing them and offering further insights, I'll be happy to email them.

I've asked the buyer about the wheels but haven't heard yet. I'm pretty sure it's all original paint except the suspect rear quarter panel. Someone on Pelican commented on the front bumper being a '74 and not a '73 which would then beg the question of possible front-end damage. Really does need a careful PPI.

Thanks for the great insights and suggestions.

skl

Front bumper looks '73 to me- no difference in front bumpers from 73 and 74- only 74's had the rear bumperettes in addition to the front ones...

M491

The front bumper is correct for a '73.

The wheels look to be real Fuchs, with someone having painted the black background on them at some point (the wheels have the original Fuchs stainless steel centercaps. The aftermarket fake Fuchs have a larger opening and use a different cap).

Engine compartment looks a little dirty, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It is a 35 year old car, after all. Based on that pic, I'd tend to believe the 48K miles claim. First, it is very unusual to see that little orange leather strap still in place.

Second, while there is some rust on the battery box, that is to be expected after 35 years of water running down over the battery, putting diluted battery acid all over the place. The bigger thing, which is pretty rare these days, is that it still HAS the original battery box! And the battery box paint is in pretty good condition, I'd rate it as better than 99% of 914s.

It also looks to have the original muffler, which would support the 48K mile claim. At 148K, it likely would have rusted out. It was generally pretty unusual for the owners to replace 914 mufflers with a factory piece, esp. in the 70s/80s/90s. There were a lot of less costly aftermarket pieces which were very popular.

If the car checks out, it's a no-brainer at $9K.

M491

Is the car running? From the engine compartment pic, it looks like the electrical plug to one of the injectors (or maybe the MPS) is disconnected! With an injector disconnected, it is going to run very poorly, with the MPS disconnected, it won't run at all.

Jay Gratton

I think at 9K it is interesting. But I see the prices for 914's being a LOT higher our west then they are on the east coast. I have seen all of the pics from Stephen and there is some rust in the rear truck that concerns me a little. Esp. at that price. The rust isn't bad, but it worries me that if there is some there then there is more someplace else.

Stephen Porter

I'm going to go ahead and get a PPI on the car--what the heck, eh?

The guy doing the PPI is familiar enough with the cars to give me a good indication of the mechanical condition and will do compression and leakdown tests. I'd like to prepare a written checksheet for him on the rest of the car. Does anyone have or know of one? Otherwise I'm open to suggestions and putting one together and could post it up here in Word format for others to use.

TIA.

Jay Gratton

Yeah, put one together and then we will ad to it as needed.

GothingNC

Here is a White 73 for $3,300 in Charlotte NC shipped from CA

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/car/572898773.html

My brother picked up a 73 last year for about $3,000, fresh motor bored out to 2.4, new dellerto carbs, zero rust, even has the original battery tray and underneath the rockers near the jack point still looks like new.

John

eivind911

What happend to this car then? No follow up story?

I am currently searching all over for a perfect - for me anyways - 914 - especially in signal/tangerine

Stephen Porter

I had a PPI arranged, but after a couple of conversations with the mechanic and the owner and a delay of several days in actually getting the inspection done, I cancelled it. I made up made up a very detailed checklist for 914 inspections which I'll try and attach here if anyone wants to save it. (It's a Microsoft Word file.)

Kind of a funny story--I originally faxed the checklist to the shop (non-Porsche) but didn't hear back from them for several days. So I called the shop to inquire about what had happened. The shop owner thought I was the SELLER and proceeded to tell me that he thought the buyer (me!) was, well, "****" about wanting to get the car so thoroughly inspected. I admit the checklist is a little over the top, but I also didn't get any warm fuzzies about the quality of the "inspection" I would get. He kept saying the car is a "nice" driver and "nothing special." If the car were within easy travelling distance as I think I could make up my mind about it in about 10 minutes after seeing it in person. The outpoints on the car are that the mileage is COMPLETELY undocumented; it's an odd mixture of good bones and signs of neglect. No real explanation of why the driver's rear quarter appears to be repainted. Sail panels are tattered. It just does not look like a well-taken-care-of, low mileage example.

I've seen the car offered on Craigslist from time to time and the asking price dropped to $8K. Seller has always told me someone was just about to buy it for more than I wanted to pay, but nobody has. Now it's on eBay with a starting bid of $9K. eBay may give him the international audience where someone who really has to have this particular car might pay the $9K, but it won't be me! BTW, the eBay description goes into "minimal" rust areas, but with these cars you just cannot take that on faith.

In the meantime, I've seen several pretty nice 2.0 liters around for around $6K-$7K so I've lost interest in this one.

Jay Gratton

I think you made the right decision. If anything feels off to you when buying a car like this it is best to just walk away. There is also ALWAYS another buyer out there.

skl

Inspections are nice, but I'd never buy a car like that without actually seeing it person. I can do an inspection better than any shop I'm not familiar with!! Either that or have a friend who is knowledgeable in 914's and knows what you want to look it over...I'd still invest in a plane ticket...


BTW- having just installed one on my car, that looks to have a Rennshift already- a nice $500 option!