doridori

Dear all 914 fans,

Hope everyone is doing well.

Got some questions:

1. I found a 1975 914. Attached are the pictures. What do you think would be a fair value for this car?

2. Where do I see the engine serial number to make sure that it matches the body's serial number?

3. In your opinion, how much will 914 value increase over the next 5 years based on your personal forecast?

4. Since this car is year 1975, it shouldn't require smog check in California, correct?

I really appreciate everybody's input and advice.

Cheers!

cairo94507

Hello doridori - That is a very tough question because you have provided no pictures or information about the 914. These cars are 45 years old now and so much could have happened to the car in that time. Rust is the number one killer of these cars. Way to many "restorers" out there covering the rust with everything under the sun and throwing some paint on it to sell the car. 6 months later it all comes to the surface and the car is junk.

The best suggestion is to find a local independent Porsche shop, very familiar with 914s and have a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) done. I would suggest, if you have not already found it, that you check out 914World.com. You will find a lot of very helpful people there who know these little cars inside and out.

I think the 914s have risen dramatically in value in the past 5 years. Who knows if that will continue or not. I always recommend you find the cleanest and most original example of the model you want. BTW, the sweet spot for 4 cylinder 914s is '73-'74 with the 2.0 engine. Most desirable as far as protecting your investment. The 914-6 is an all together different animal being only made from '70-'72.

Good luck in your search and be patient for the right car.

dr914

914s seem to have been more thrashed than their other air cooled brothers, so values can vary widely. If you can send me a detailed photo shoot, I could give you a good idea of value. The 70-72 models are less valuable, the 73-76 cars more, the 914-6 models out of sight. A good but not perfect 73-76 914 is worth every bit of 20,000, a good 70-72 15,000

doridori

Thanks a lot for your input. I have uploaded some pictures. Please take a look.

Any further input and advice would be greatly appreciated.

cairo94507

Thanks for the photos. Car seems to be mostly there and mostly still original with a few exceptions. There is of course some rust present in all the usual places. To assess how bad the rust is, you really need to take a pick (ice pick) or screw driver to it and see if the metal is just experiencing surface rust or if it rusted all the way through. Is it a Pennsylvania car originally? I would really expect more rust, a lot more rust if it were. I see CA plates, hopefully it is and always has been a CA car. That typically means less rust unless it lived right on the coast.

I guess you have to ask yourself what you intend for the car? Just get it running and driving safely and enjoy it a few years and sell it? Or fix all of the emerging and apparent rust and get a good quality driver paint job and keep it longer than that. I have never been a fan of the BUBs (big ugly bumpers) and were it mine, when correcting the rust and preparing it for paint, I would source some earlier chrome bumpers and backdate the car to the early bumpers. Saves about 30 pounds on each end of the car, but more importantly (for me) looks 100% better. That's just my opinion, others like the BUBs.
Good luck, Michael

doridori

Hi Michael,

This car seems to be a California car at least for the past 15 years.

I have 2 Porsches (993 & 986) already. I am just looking for a good candidate as the 3rd member of the Porsche collection. My intention is to buy a fair to good condition one and keep it for 5-10 years or even longer. I would probably drive the car once or twice a month.

I am considering 914 because it is affordable, seems like easy to maintain, a good classic car, and hopefully the value will keep going up.

Please let me know if you other Porsche models that you would recommend.

Thanks

Scott

BillC3

One thing to keep in mind when you look at a 914, is that the engine serial number never matches the VIN (or the Karmann production number). The only way to tell for sure if it's the original engine is to get the Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) from Porsche.

dr914

Not too bad! Repaint, may have had a right front fender installed, probably has 72,000 miles on it like the odometer says, would be nice to see the original yellow seat inserts back in the car.
I would examine the firewall looks like a lot of water got behind the back pad so there may be rust through there. Also has been "kidded" out with the wheels and the big speaker, so may have been abused. Not enough floor pan pics or bottom of the engine pics or engine compartment shots, but from what I can see looks like it has not been subject to the harsh pennsylvania winters. Rear trunk is the way it is because of the leaking seal between the back panel and the tail light bodies.
Sunflower yellow is the best 914 color in my opinion and the fact that the car still has the original fuel injection on it makes this a good candidate for a light restoration. I would pay 6500 for the car if someone showed up here with it.

azbanks

You can double the value by removing the "steelers" license plate.