crags' rather old, rather orange 911
Discussion
What would be a roughly typical price for an early 80s 911 SC in good mechanical condition with fairly good bodywork? ie. Not as good the fantastic orange pr white ones above.
How about the late 80s models? Are they more or less expensive?
How about the late 80s models? Are they more or less expensive?
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 19th November 23:07
MC Bodge said:
What would be a roughly typical price for an early 80s 911 SC in good mechanical condition with fairly good bodywork?...... How about the late 80s models?......
It's a difficult one really, you can get a good 3.0SC at a little over 10 grand if you're lucky, but from my experience you really would have to be lucky.The problem with any 10 year old+ 911 is rust, there's a reason Porsche guarantee the bodies for that period only. The problem is worse with the air cooled models & really can only get worse the older the car gets (or more used if you like).
Compounding this problem is the 911s fantastic reputation for durability, they're known as the Supercar you can use every day & so most owners do, which means many have been used all year round on salty roads & left outside.
So many I looked at were owned by enthusiasts, pampered in double garages & owned by some well respected doctor previously, which is great apart from the fact the doctor used the car all year round & underneath the polished paintwork the car was rusting from the inside out!
But of course there must be great cars out there right? & to be fair there are, but people are waking up to them & realising what they might be worth. Buy a car that needs the usual rust traps sorted & you're looking at a + or - six grand bill so be careful, & that's before you take in to consideration any of the usual bills associated with a 20-30 year old car.
I'd say that a good budget for a great car is around fifteen grand, though obviously you could spend a lot less or an awful lot more! There aren't that many cars that are getting restored like mine has been, for too long the impact bumpers were the middle ground of 911s & as such have been seen as an "entry" into 911 ownership, a stepping stone on to other models.
Obviously this means more cars have been passed down the price chain when big bills have been necessary, why spend 6 grand on sorting out rust when you'll never see the money back?
Another problem (for the impact bumper models) has been the recent fashion for the "early look", when you're ripping all those rusty panels off why not replace them with the earlier pre-impact body work? So most cars that have been restored have been "back-dated" which is great, I love them as well & as I said fancied doing the same, but if you grew up in the 80's & want that impact bumper 911 there aren't that many top cars out there.
I was looking for well over 6 months (it was a running joke on the Porsche forum), scanning all the classic car sites as well as pistonheads & autotrader, specialist forums etc & I only saw two other restored impact bumper cars & there was one other that I missed due to being out of the country, one of these cars needed a complete engine rebuild as well.
But, not everyone wants or needs a restored car of course, & the ads are full of great likely candidates. It's really hard to not get in the mind set of how you search for modern cars, ie I want this spec, with that colour, this mileage etc etc I wasn't really after a SC, in fact I really wanted a late 3.2, but you take what you can get, I wasn't even desperate for a restored car but the more I talked to people who had done the work I envisioned, the more I realised my budget wouldn't cover it.
So, ten to twenty grand should cover it!
(seriously though if you do fancy a 911, feel free to pm me or post up on here if you need any help, they are superb cars & don't have to be money pits if you buy the right car)
cragswinter said:
The problem with any 10 year old+ 911 is rust, there's a reason Porsche guarantee the bodies for that period only. The problem is worse with the air cooled models & really can only get worse the older the car gets (or more used if you like).
Like he said ^^^^^^Me: Ooh look...there's a bit of uneven paint - right there at the bottom of the rear window. Hang on, there's some more on the other side. And there's one on the sill there. And what's that at the base of the A pillar?
Him: (Rubs hands) I can sort this for you, no problem...
4 hours later...
Me:
Still love it though. best car I have ever owned.
And your orange monster is superb...and great thread to go with it. Thanks for sharing
Ant
cragswinter said:
So, ten to twenty grand should cover it!
(seriously though if you do fancy a 911, feel free to pm me or post up on here if you need any help, they are superb cars & don't have to be money pits if you buy the right car)
Thanks for the detailed reply.(seriously though if you do fancy a 911, feel free to pm me or post up on here if you need any help, they are superb cars & don't have to be money pits if you buy the right car)
911s have sparked my interest as I'd be interested in a 'usable' classic that I could commute in a couple of times a week and use for travelling to meetings and the like. The quirkiness (and +2 seating for offspring) appeals to me.
The lower-priced end of the market would be acceptable to me, but investing almost the same money again in a major bodywork restoration doesn't appeal -Having said that, work colleagues of mine spend *far* more than that on modern German cars, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. (Actually, the various blue-economy-eco yawn boxes probably cost similar...)
I would be prepared to do a lot of the restoration work, but I don't have a large enough garage to be cope with a major car re-building project.
Are well-restored cars with decent rust-proofing a good proposition or is it like looking after and old MGB/painting the Forth Bridge?
Maybe a 944, although more conventional, would be a more realistic proposition? Hmmm....
I suspect that my budget wouldn't stretch to this old 911:
It looks good though.
Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 20th November 19:46
epoch911 said:
MC,
In short, I'm not sure the going rate for a 73rsr like you pictured but call it roughly half a million?!
But, as a long term project it can be achieved for a fraction of that, if only in the looks department.
But they really aren't a fourth rd bridge kind of car, I suspect mine could now be driven, daily as well, for another good ten years like it will have been for IRS first very happy owner without serious expenditure.
If you can do some work yourself then you could be on to owning a very practical classic sports car.
The trick is finding a good one as I've said, but spend a bit of time reading the "pre89" section of 911s for sale in the ph ads & you start to get a feel for cars that have been looked after, people mentioning top end rebuilds, kidney bowls replaced etc etc
Try starting a thread in the Porsche forum, we love spending other people's money for them over there! Ask for any pointers re these cars & people will post up any number of cars that look good.
If you're serious impact bumpers .com will give you an invaluable amount of advice, but start by asking if anyone knows or has viewed any good impact bumper cars on the pistonheads Porsche forum-we're mostly a friendly bunch
ditchvisitor said:
I know of a nice one that might be available 
That white one of yours looks superb, but I suspect that it would be too low/harsh for my kind of use....and beyond my budget.
I think the 911 idea will have to wait for a while yet.
What are are the 80s 911 like to drive? I've heard conflicting stories. I'm assuming that they're not quite as lethal as some people make out?
As an all-weathers motorbiker (no ABS or TC) they seem to have enough more than enough tyre contact area, even if much of the weight is concentrated over the rear end.
I'm assuming that being 'smooth with braking, slow-in-quick-out, feed in the power and never suddenly let off the gas' would see me right, non?
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 21st November 08:28
bit of a picture update
the car was requested for the launch of the new 991 series 911 at my local official porsche centre Kendal, great evening, champagn on tap & as many nibbles as you could chuck down your throat
lovely caymanR in mettalic grey, colour works really well with the silver highlights & this car had a sport design suede steering wheel-very nice
(still a list of over £57k though
)
new 991 looked fantastic as expected, though surprisingly not as different in the flesh as it looks in the pictures some how? big noise was made of all the improvements but one fact they were extremely proud of & probably particulary relevent to uk owners was that although the car is bigger it's overall width reains the same. the interior really is a quantom leap in terms of quality & a gorgeuos place to be, up there with the best in my opinion. in fact it was interesting to view a 997 gt3 & turbo S on display, the new car made them look pretty low rent on the inside to be fair.
& speaking of the display........
meh they quoted my car as a 180bhp model instead of the 204 high compression engined SC it is
it was great to be part of the evening, getting a special mention off porsche uk for the car & having a craic with a lot of existing 911 owners who cut their teath on old impact bumper cars. they really made the history of the 911 a special part of the event. here's a pic of the stuff they gave you as gift, & another nice touch was the fact i'd enquired about getting a touch up paint pen for when i get the inevitable stone chips & they got me one in the correct paint code FOC in with my goody bag well done OPC Kendal
the car was requested for the launch of the new 991 series 911 at my local official porsche centre Kendal, great evening, champagn on tap & as many nibbles as you could chuck down your throat
lovely caymanR in mettalic grey, colour works really well with the silver highlights & this car had a sport design suede steering wheel-very nice
(still a list of over £57k though
)new 991 looked fantastic as expected, though surprisingly not as different in the flesh as it looks in the pictures some how? big noise was made of all the improvements but one fact they were extremely proud of & probably particulary relevent to uk owners was that although the car is bigger it's overall width reains the same. the interior really is a quantom leap in terms of quality & a gorgeuos place to be, up there with the best in my opinion. in fact it was interesting to view a 997 gt3 & turbo S on display, the new car made them look pretty low rent on the inside to be fair.
& speaking of the display........
meh they quoted my car as a 180bhp model instead of the 204 high compression engined SC it is
it was great to be part of the evening, getting a special mention off porsche uk for the car & having a craic with a lot of existing 911 owners who cut their teath on old impact bumper cars. they really made the history of the 911 a special part of the event. here's a pic of the stuff they gave you as gift, & another nice touch was the fact i'd enquired about getting a touch up paint pen for when i get the inevitable stone chips & they got me one in the correct paint code FOC in with my goody bag
well done OPC Kendal
Want.Love this thread, reminds me of the Singer 911's. I would sell one of my children to do something similar. Although I would go for the Gulf Blue. Have you thought about paying a couple of quid for an old 1970's number plate, not anything personalised just a bog standard one for a little finishing flourish??
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