I've been following the 356 market for 25 years hoping one day to have one. Ive talked to several guys that owned them in the 70s. Before the mid 80s 356s were "throw away" cars as you put it. Nobody wanted them!!! A good 356 could be had for the change in your pocket. I nearly got a 356 Speedster for $5k and it was a huge debate about if it were "worth it" or not at the time. I met a guy that worked at a Porsche shop that said at one point they just cut 356s into pieces to fit them in the dumpster. 25 years later he was welding those pieces back together for guys wanted to restore one.


Very little if anything from the late 70s and especially the 80s has really become a collectible car yet.

When I got my 67 RS/SS Camaro it was 20 years old and considered "just an old Chevy". I got it for $1,000 and was afraid I spent too much. Now that these cars are 45 years old there is a real collectors market for them. Same with the first mustangs.

The simple reality is that these cars simply are not old enough yet! They are starting to get there. As the parts cars slip away and fewer and fewer good cars remain the price will go up.

....and just like old Chevys, Fords, 356s, etc, there was a time when they were cheap and nobody the ought they would be worth much.

 

For every picture of a neglected 928 sitting in a field I could find the same picture of another car that has been neglected that is highly sought after today.



It's a Super Bee




Shelby gt350




vette.

 

Mr. Bailey, with all very due respect to you, I have also wrenched on a few cars and Porsches and can say from my experience not blind love, that those 928 heads and blocks most certainly were abused cars.

Let me try an make my point another way..

When on a 911 Forum they always seem to write about the ownership experience more like Enthusiasts.

I think we can elevate the car here (it's critical) discussing it more carefully at times like the 911 guys seem to do.

911s have their share of problems, not the least of which will land you backwards in a ditch. Motor problems too.

A lot get down on their 928 based on $ value also.

Sometimes the 928 forums although super informative can be a bit depressing to read. I am and have always been an optimist, it has gotten me through serious challenges, i don't allow myself to think negatively.
It makes a huge difference in everything i try an accomplish.

A lot of 928s fell into the wrong hands, if the same happens to 911s they also go to sh!#.

 

Interesting, I'll have to find that video. I stay away from his site on nice days. Watching one video turns into "Where did the last 10 hours go???"

Did he ever mention which "conventional" coolant he used?

When I flushed out the coolant in my 81 around 2002 or so, I know for a fact it was in there 10+ years (father bought the car in 1992, never changed it). Coolant looked good and when I pulled the heads a short time later the gaskets were fine. I pulled them to fix the valve guides.

 

Hi Cole,

Great points and even better pictures to remind us about the other, now so collectible cars, that were once just another old cheap car not worthy of love and attention.

That Ferrari Dino was considered a cheap cousin to a real Ferrari, not anymore! The Super Birds could not be sold off the dealer lots in their day...

I strongly believe this will happen to 928s, but as you said, not time yet.

Best regards,

 

We can be a slightly dysfunctional family.......

We all have that drunk uncle on Christmas that knocks the tree over.

 

The interesting thing about it is that sometimes it creeps in and BAM! Overnight they seem to hit that mark one day while nobody was watching.

 

I've had my eye on the Dino's for quite a while, but even at the former "bargain" price, they were out of reach considering the cost of ownership.

Now would be a good time to mothball a nice 308 Ferrari..........

Even 914's.

 

This is why I still don't have a 356. They were always just out of reach.

I was working for $2.87 an hour back in high school so even the $5000 speedster seemed like too much, and not practical as an only car in Colorado.

Got out of college and they were $40k. DOH!....now....$150-250k

 

I think is all good dialogue, fellas (w/possible exception, the coolant discussion... take it elsewhere, guys)

Going back a couple/few years now, I didn't think much about the early cars (was knee-deep in S4s)
Then something happened, something "cliqued"... and I feel down the "early car" slippery slope.
Found the #6 car which rocked my world in so many ways!
I could'nt have pulled it off if it wasn't for two prime benefactors; one who bought my '84 Euro, the other being my Dad.
Short of it... I got hooked before I knew what hit me.

But here's the real clincher, IMO...
Less than a year later, the #1 car (read 1st 928 produced... for those not following along at home) hit my radar via CL!
To most, it would've looked like a beat-up, overpriced old bugger.
But I knew exactly what it was, and it was at my house in less than 48 hours.

Point is fellas, is this very significant 928 was left for dead. Could have easily been swept away by the hurricane, the following week.
A series of events led me to this important save.

My challenge to you all is to keep an open mind, and let in like-minded thinkers. Call them collectors, call them enthusiasts.
There are many more 928s that need our help.

It's funny... I would've never thought of myself as a "bleeding heart". Even I can surprise myself!

 

I talk to people almost daily about early 928s. It is clear to me there's a strong interest and solid appreciation.

People ask me how can they go about finding these early 928s, and I help them.

We discuss the purity aspects, engineering aspects, generational aspects...

I've waxed poetic with dudes on the polarizing Pasha alone!

I'm in deep with this (biz agenda not-withstanding), and feel it in my bones.

And I can assure you I'm not the only one.

 

Hi Jim,

What you allude to about there being plenty of interest in the 928 is spot on.

Doing what we do, we are being contacted from all around the world by 928 lovers who want to keep their car going for many years to come.

When we actually had our 928s, we were always being stopped and asked questions about them.

Their day will come.

 

This is also very true for me.

Just that much out of reach then a big jump in price where you wished you would have bought one earlier and suffered a bit to own it.

By the way, the 924, 944 and 968 platforms are also at about the same point right now, if not a bit ahead of the 928 market for certain models.

 

Yeah, the guy who owned the 86.5 that was purchased in the lot of three 928s proceeded to tell me of how much he had "invested" in the car over the years & of how much he "lost" when he sold it. I told him "Welcome to the club of former 928 owners"! Few of us ever sell one that we made money on, less we didn't own it for very long! And the guy who bought the three sharks did so for the reason of his love of the 928 & always wanting one. He just had the $$ to be able to not have to choose just one & he is the kind of enthusiast that will help keep the market heading north as time goes by.

 

I've started putting less and less faith in the numbers people give for these types of things.


First off, EVERY car on earth needs certain maintenance items. Period. People are always trying to claim stuff like " I put $2,000 into this car" when the reality is that they had to buy a regular maintenance item like tires, alighn meant and an oil change. Then they expect to get that back out of it. Even a used Camary will need these items at some point.

Then they buy a neglected car and blame the deferred maintenance on the car instead of themselves or the previous owner.