johnny1423

Hello to all!!!
First, let me start by saying only Rennlisters can appreciate a story like this so……
A couple months ago, I started to again daydream of having a 951 as my daily driver. I don’t drive my daily everyday since I travel a lot. I looked on all the typical places and even local ads when in other cities. I figured I could initially invest about $7k and go from there. After calling about 1000 for sale and looking at more than several I came to the conclusion that: 1. they all need something 2. there are more junk than good and 3. anything “good” will be $9/10k and still need something.
I almost gave up. Then one day while on Rennlist I noticed a post where the author (Rock) was stating that there was a 951 in his neighborhood that was not actually for sale, but that he was going to approach them about selling it. By the end of the post, he decided that he would not go in debt and was passing on the idea. I looked and discovered he lived about 15 miles from me…which means the car was 15 miles from me! I sent him PM asking about the car. He emailed me back several days later stating that he had only talked to the “wife”. He heard that the couple was getting ready to adopt 2 kids from another country. My wife and I adopted a boy from Russia 2 years ago, so….I knew they needed the $$$.
I asked Rock to stop by and get their phone #. After a week of waiting, Rock called me with the #, but said that he had still never met or talked with “the owner”. I called the next day and spoke with “the wife”. She was super nice and we talked about their upcoming adoption. She knew very little about “the car”. She only said that he had owned it for 10 years, having owned it since before they met. I finally got “the owner” on the phone the next night. He had owned the car since 1994. He was the second owner. He used it as his daily for 5 years. The car is a 1987 951 model and has 91k miles..Black with black leather. Has alarm, rear wiper, cruise, and LSD. No body or paint work.Bone stock..no mods..even the original Monterey radio. He told how he bought it locally from an individual that kept it like new. He had always kept it up until he “got married” and had a child in 2001. He is not a Porsche Guy. He just liked Porsches. As we know, there is a big difference. He admitted he had kept very little records, but that he always “got done what it needed at the Dealer”. That was until the A/C went out. From this point (about2001) the car sat, and was driven rarely. I called the Dealer only to find that they had “changed systems” and they had no records before 1998. He only had a belt tension at 78k, a new DME at 80k and new thermo fan switch at 81k. Nothing else.
This meant that the car would at least need a T/B and W/P.
He said that they had talked about selling, but had no idea what they wanted for it. I went the next day to look at her. The way he talked, I expected it to be perfect, on carpet, and covered.
I was a little disappointed. It was obvious the car needed a lot…how much was a guess. The paint was oxidized, a lot of stone chips. The phonies were faded. The tires were mismatched (3 different types).The interior was perfect except for small dash cracks at the vents. After getting to know them and talking about adopting kids, I knew they were great people…just not car people. I told him that it needed work. He agreed. He said that he would like to get $5,500. I offered $4k, pending a PPI.

I took the car to the same Dealer as I know the master mechanic well. He owns an ’87 951 himself. As I suspected, the car needed everything that is typical on a 944:
Timing belt/pump service, motor mounts, front seals, after-run water pump for the turbo, broken exhaust manifold stud replaced, oil pressure sending unit, freon leak found and fixed, clips for the sunroof, console hinge, and other little stuff.
I was torn. I knew it was a solid, straight car. It pulled strong. But I also knew the Dollars were adding up quickly. Another year of sitting might have destined this former Black Beauty to the dismantle yard where it would be worth more in parts than as a whole.
I left the complete diagnosis from the Dealer in the car at “the owners” house. I called him that night. I asked if he had looked at everything and seen that the car needed a lot. He had. I sighed and said that I would still like to buy the car, but the price would have to be right. He asked for an offer. I said $3,000…..he asked for $3,200. Done.
There is the story …. I would like to thank Rock. He went out of his way to help me. Hope to see you all at a “Wrenching GTG” soon! There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche!!
The attached pix are after a day of touch up paint, cleaning, and buffing (orbital polisher, cutting pad, liquid rubbing compound) and BEFORE wax!!
Merry Xmas to all!!!
I have to go look for parts now…………..

tifosiman

Wow, great! Congrats! Rock was over at my house Friday nite and told me about that. Glad to hear that you got what you were looking for. You should come hang out with us sometime.

Riff

Great story and great find! Good luck with your 951.

Wade B

Very cool story. It is in a lot nicer cosmetic shape (after your efforts, of course) than my 951 that I only paid $4000 for. Hope to see you and the car at a GTG sometime.

Macfreak007

WOW< you are one lucky devil! I know it needs alot, but a 90k car for $3,200 is amazing, I wish Rock would have told me about that, I would have made my dad pick it up!

good luck, I'd love to see it sometime, the SOW guys are great, go to a few get togethers

Zero10

Best of luck to you with it. Hopefully all will go well for you. I share the excitement, I have just closed the deal on a 951 in NYC, I'll be picking it up in 1 week. Mine as well is a bit of a fixer-upper, but like yours, will be a fun car to work on, and well worth the trouble.

JimV8

Thats a great find. Give yourself a triple A + for effort.

triscadek

Here that poor guy is not even wanting to sell his car and you come along and convince him about how badly he needs more money for the adoption. He grudgingly says $5500, you say $4K. Then after the PPI you lowball him at $3k, and barely come up $200.

I don't know how you can sleep at night.

















To clear your consience, I'll give you $3000 for it........great deal.

Antonio951

Great story and great looking car.

car_slave

arrggghhh.. why do people insist on boasting about their great buys. it drives me mad.

johnny1423

Thanks Guys....I drove it to work today and had a blast!!! Boost is addictive!
Cincy guys...please let me know when you are all getting together...I need all the help I can get!!!
PS-I will be selling the Phone dials sometime soon(straight/true/no deep scrapes/just faded/great for restore,upgrade from 15", or track)

KLR

That's an awesome deal! Even after you attend to the belt/seal/pump job and motor mounts, you'll still be in great shape. The AC is more likely to be a shot compressor than a simple leak, but you never know and can certainly pass on fixing it if you choose (worst case is that you have to buy an AC delete kit if the compressor bearing is going). The turbo waterpump is a very easy DIY job.

A set of Lloyd's mats, some leatherique, and some detailing and you'll be good to go.

The dash boards on these cars are hopeless. Did you ever see one that didn't have that crack at the left front corner of the passenger airbag?

streckfu's

Gee, a little over 4 years ago I bought my very nice 88 951 for $13k. Right before the bottom fell out of the market.....

Rich Sandor

You're a thief!

BTW, Neither of my cars have any dash cracks. nyah!

Rock

Damnn nice my boy!

Got it for about the same price as an N/a and it looks damn good too.

Its strange to think that your 951 is the same car that ive been staring at for a year. Hope to see you at the get togethers here, maybe we can have them at tifos house because that place is hella cool! See ya around!