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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:44 PM

Went to check out a car advertised in the local Trader. It is VIN#4742915457.


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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:45 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:45 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:47 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:48 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:48 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:49 PM

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Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 04:56 PM

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Posted by: Aaron Cox May 10 2003, 05:00 PM

on the first pic you posted. what is the weld on the left fender (right side of the picture). was the car hit?

Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 05:01 PM

The guy told me that it had been repaired on the front passenger's side corner. It has the rear window defroster. Has been changed over to Koni adjustables. Exterior and interior are both in nice condition. paint code is correct, and the # on the door matches the one in the trunk.

Posted by: Aaron Cox May 10 2003, 05:06 PM

i was bass ackwards

Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 05:11 PM

He told me that a girl in a Cadillac backed into him about 20 minutes after he bought the car.

Posted by: ChrisReale May 10 2003, 05:20 PM

Outside looks good, too bad about the rusty longs. All that stuff hanging down where the belly pan should be could be a potential disaster

Posted by: anthony May 10 2003, 05:55 PM

Yeah, looks really nice except for the rust.

Posted by: Aaron Cox May 10 2003, 06:02 PM

arg.....rust and door speakers!

Posted by: Curvie Roadlover May 10 2003, 10:31 PM

What's all that crap on the tranny by the speedo cable?

Posted by: anthony May 10 2003, 10:33 PM

So for those of us playing at home, how many miles on this car, how much is he asking?

Posted by: Gint May 10 2003, 11:19 PM

There's a lot of rust hiding in those longs.

Posted by: 74GoKart May 10 2003, 11:20 PM

Milage unknown. Contact me offline if anyone is interested in the contact info.

Posted by: Lawrence914-6 May 11 2003, 08:49 AM

Fixable.. but someone would really need to fall in love with it first.

Do you know the date of production, from the door jam sticker?

-Rusty

Posted by: Jeroen May 11 2003, 11:34 AM

Err... Is it me, or does it look like they welded in a new VIN# (and didn't try to hide it either)

The rust on the bottom looks bad.
And because of that, the clean exteriour smells fishy to me...

And are those fuel lines dangling below the car??? Those are just a disaster waiting to happen...

Maybe it's the colors in the pic, but isn't the LE yellow a couple of shades darker?

cheers,

Jeroen

Posted by: Curvie Roadlover May 11 2003, 11:41 AM

absolutely. The yellow almost looks like ravenna green! The 2 bags located in the front trunk look more like the proper yellow to me.

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby May 11 2003, 12:30 PM

This car seems to be an authentic LE, but it has several correctable problems.

Looks like the car was damaged at the rear too...

Note the pre-73 rear bumper, wavy rear valence, and bright tailpanel emblems.

The rear window defroster is a nice touch, it shows that not all LEs were absolutely identical. Remember the Creamsicle from a few weeks ago, it had tan interior.

Worth saving tho....I will add it to the 914 LE Registry...somebody get this car and fix it right!

96th LE found...! YAY!

Posted by: Aaron Cox May 11 2003, 12:36 PM

how much is it worth.....is it worth more in parts, or worth the cost to restore it?

Posted by: Aaron Cox May 11 2003, 12:36 PM

thas what i was thinkin. the other two vin # plates are just pop rivited in place!

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby May 11 2003, 12:41 PM

This car is saveable. As a parts car its only worth what other 914 parts worth.

As a documented LE...the prices are rising...

Just watch the final results of the other LE on eBay right now. Even that car has issues and look what its going for. It needs a new windsheild, has carbs and an aftermarket muffler....not really a big deal but important to someone who cares about authenticity.

Posted by: anthony May 11 2003, 12:43 PM

Didn't black '74 2 liter cars come with '73 2 liter emblems? My uncle had a black one, I'll have to ask him.

I'd say it's a $3000 car that needs $3000 in rust repair. It's worth saving. It also has '75-76 seats and the dash is cracked. Most of us would let the seats slide but the dash to me is an eyesore on such a nice looking car.

I'd bet the original VIN was rewelded in place because the front fender was replaced.

Posted by: Brad Roberts May 11 2003, 01:32 PM

Be VERY aware of any (and I mean ANY) LE's for sale in the state of TN.

I have several documented cases of black 74 cars mysteriously becoming Bumble bees and orginating from a shop in that state.

B

Posted by: Aaron Cox May 11 2003, 07:49 PM

oh my. time for a "bumble bee sting" operation.
i amuse myself!! where are they coming from, a shop called the "beehive"?

Posted by: Curvie Roadlover May 11 2003, 08:39 PM

If a '74 car that was not originally a LE got the right paint scheme, mahle's, correct options, no sail vinyl, ...etc - all the things that make an LE an LE then wouldn't it be COMPLETELY undistinguishable from a true LE except for maybe a Cert. of Auth. from Porsche?

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby May 11 2003, 10:13 PM

Well....The COA would be a problem, becasue they need a proof of ownership...(which shows the cars identity-VIN) There is a known VIN range of LEs so the imposter would either have to get a VIN plate and chassis plate and rear drivers door jamb sticker and right front wheel well and rear trunk floor numbers all correct.

The authentic front spoilers, with the correct brackets, are pretty hard to find.

If someone could get everything just right, the only thing would be the COA. which of your VIN was within the right range, and your title reflected that number within the range...it could be done.

Lots of ifs.

Posted by: Curvie Roadlover May 11 2003, 10:43 PM

Thanks for answering my question, Jeff. So, a car in the right VIN range, done correctly could only be found to be an imposter by its' COA. Don't worry, I'm not planning to try this. If I did though, you can bet it would be a grasshopper! (the Loch Ness Monster of 914's)

Posted by: Brad Roberts May 12 2003, 01:01 AM

You nailed it Curvie..

I see a lot of factory black 74's with Mahles running around NorCal.. and a lot of them are in the range..

Its threads like this that I hope potential LE buyers take a peek at before purchasing (so they know what to look for)..

It make me puke when somebody gets "taken for ride" on a purchase.

B

Posted by: Part Pricer May 12 2003, 05:20 AM

Don't put all of your faith in the COA as absolute proof of a car's provenance. They have quite extensive legacy of being incorrect (ask the 356 guys). A lot of the data that was used to generate the piece of paper was incomplete to start with.

A couple of years back, I was looking at possibly purchasing a Bumblebee. The owner showed me two COAs for the car. One said "Can Am" the other did not. The owner told me that he paid for a COA and when he received the first one it made no mention that the car was special. He called and complained. PCNA (they did the COAs at the time) said "No problem" and issued another one. The owner said that he told them that he wanted it to say "Can Am" and not "Limited Edition" and that's what he got.

Posted by: Lawrence914-6 May 12 2003, 06:12 AM

This is not the first time I've heard about Limited Edition cars being "generated" in Tennessee.



I did exactly that, only in reverse. My Cardex said "Can Am" and I told them that I'd prefer it to be more specific and list "Limited Edition". They knew instantly what I was talking about, and was willing to change it. They promptly send me a new one.

Yes, I believe the records have a few gaps and errors, but I doubt they'd create an inaccurate COA just to satisify a customer.

-Rusty

Posted by: tryan May 12 2003, 07:05 AM

i need to go get a rattle can of yellow



EDIT WARNING WARNING WARNING WILL ROBINSON. do i see a fram oil filter lurking under there?


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Posted by: rhodyguy May 12 2003, 07:24 AM

that was my thought too, how much? i would've said thanks for your time and walked away the minute i saw the pan rust. some first time, uninformed buyer will get this car for top dollar. then the new member will be posting here asking for help with reguards to rust repair. i'll bet the long is shot on the pass side too. did the guy inform you of the rust on the phone before you went to look at the car?

kevin

Posted by: 74GoKart May 12 2003, 04:13 PM

Yes, the car looked nice from the outside. I found a bit of rust near the pedal cluster, and once I looked below the passenger's door...game over. The car was previously owned by a Snap-On dealer, so that may explain all the repair work and new paint.
The chassis plate was from the 9th week, and the trunk stamp matched. The color code was correct, and the car did have the front and rear sways. Of course, there was no COA to say for sure.
I remember Brad mentioning the LE TN problem before. I am not for sure, but I think I know the answer to this riddle.
Anyhow, I had to go look at it after all the LE interest lately, and it was only a 30 minute drive. It was nice to see an "LE." Too bad it lives in the land of rust.

Posted by: Brad Roberts May 12 2003, 05:46 PM

Its obviously not PK LB.

I had 3 fakes pass thru my hands while In Texas. After the second one I started back tracking the owners of the cars and found a common denominator (The same shop in TN) I had one lady owner in tears because she found out after paying top dollar for a Bumblebee. He was going around buying up all the Black 74 2.0's he could find and converting them. Wouldnt surprise me if he still does it. He makes them look really really good which clouds peoples judgement when buying a car. A pretty one with shiny paint gets almost no attention..but we nit pick anything with faded paint.


B