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Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 08:46 AM

Sorry, a real Newbie question. Is this a '73 as advertised? Shouldn't the bumpers be chrome?





(Hopefully these attachments come thru.)

Posted by: drewvw Jun 24 2006, 08:49 AM

it could be. The car looks like it was redone, maybe the PO put late model bumpers on there.

whats the vin on the windshield say? if it starts with 473 then its a 73

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 24 2006, 08:52 AM

Its a 1.7l so it didn't come with the 2.0l package like the appearance and sport packages.

The stock 1.7l came without these ie: no targa vinyl, steel wheels etc..but you could add the wheels at extra cost.

Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 09:06 AM

Many thanks. The car is a 3 hour drive from me, and I have to get the VIN next week. My concern is that this is a Louisiana car, being sold in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is one of the few states that you can "wash" a salvage title into a clean one very easily. This might be a storm car being passed off as solid.

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 24 2006, 11:03 AM

Look at under the battery tray for rust, behind the rockers etc.

As for it being under water, pull the carpet off the long and look in the access holes to see if there is silt laying in there under the heater tubes.

PM Jim Chambers about cleaning up a car if its been swamped as he did the LE car.

Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 11:51 AM

The owner says he has documentation that the car was in Oklahoma since early 2005, so wasn't in the storm. (I'll still check). The VIN is: 4732926011, so I guess that does make it a '73, just without the apprearance group goodies.

Many thanks for the info.

Posted by: GWN7 Jun 24 2006, 11:56 AM

It could also have fiberglass bumpers. Painted black. The tops look kind of shiny to be the rubber ones. Hard to tell from the pictures.

Posted by: rwjames Jun 24 2006, 12:51 PM

It could be fiberglass bumpers, but I believe they look like steel. It has the bumper guards on the front which would probably end up cracking the fiberglass and normally someone wouldn't put them back on, especially on fiberglass bumpers. Also, to me it looks like the rear is two pieces not one-piece fiberglass, but you never know.

I once owned a super nice original 73 2.0 with the factory appearance group delete. It had the black bumpers, black roll bar trim, steel wheels and no vinyl on the roll bar. So it all fits together on this car as legitimately original.

From the pictures, it looks like a pretty nice 914.

Good luck!

Posted by: wilchek Jun 24 2006, 01:00 PM

the car is correct. the 73 came with black painted or chrome. The 73 had nipples in the front only. the 74 had front and back. Looks like a nice car. Check out under the battery, under the rocker covers, jack points and the rear suspension ears is a good start. Car looks to be square from the pictures u posted. How much??

Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 02:47 PM

He's asking $8500.00, which seems to be way too much. According to him, it was appraised at $9600. without the Fuch's.

I've since seen about 30 pictures of it, and it's pretty nice, except the rear bumper has been hit and will have to be replaced eventually.

Posted by: kpex914 Jun 24 2006, 03:07 PM

Its a 1.7l so it didn't come with the 2.0l package like the appearance and sport packages.

The stock 1.7l came without these ie: no targa vinyl, steel wheels etc..but you could add the wheels at extra cost.

I have a 1973 1.7l with the targa vinyl and it had fuchs look-a-like hub caps. What you said isnt true then.

Posted by: wilchek Jun 24 2006, 05:29 PM

Sounds a little high on the price. Appraisal is for insurance only and does not dictate market. If the hit was that hard it may have done more damage which would bring the price into the 6000 range. These cars don't fair to good when hit and it is not so easy to get the work done as most body guys don't want to touch old cars. Check it out in person and offer what it is worth to you

Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 05:40 PM

Here's a picture of the damage:



How much is a new bumper, especially if I put on the chrome?

Posted by: Pat Garvey Jun 24 2006, 06:08 PM

Is it me, or does the "bumper" look fine? Bumper top is toast - don't think I've ever seen one do that!
Not that the bumper top is el-cheapo, but it sure isn't as bad as having to replace both. From the outside it looks like a decent car, though pricey. He can ask 'till he's blue in the face, but will still own the car at that price, with the bumper top problem.

Need more photos of interior & engine area, but it looks worth pursuing.

Posted by: Grelber Jun 24 2006, 06:36 PM

Don't have any of the engine (yet), but here's the interior shots:

Posted by: GWN7 Jun 24 2006, 07:26 PM

As Pat said, strange looking bumper top. It looks like it was coated with something. You would need pictures of the metal part of bumper from the side angles to tell if it is bent.

As to prices if your replacing both bumpers with chrome ones and their tops, your looking at $1200 for all 4 pieces. Figure $300 each and look for deals.

Posted by: wilchek Jun 24 2006, 09:18 PM

if the engine and tran and square and no strutrual rust issues i would pay around 6K, but pictures don't tell the whole story. Car looks correct and mostly original. which is not an easy find anymore. Interior is correct and appears to be mostly original except the shift knob, floor mats, radio, and speakers. Dash has some major cracks which will need a cover or new dash. cover looks OK and is 100.00. New dash, well good luck finding one worth the effort of the swap. However, you still need to really go over this car for rust, I am almost certain that it has had a respray and you will always find rust somewhere.

Posted by: wilchek Jun 24 2006, 09:26 PM

just saw that the sill plate, was plastic. I think those may have been changed, but as the car is a late year 73 they may be original. My 73 which is in the 9000 range has metal(crome) sill plate (door jam). I thought that the plastic was not used until 74 or 75??? Maybe someone can chime in on this

Posted by: Grelber Jun 25 2006, 07:37 AM

The seller is the original owner, and has kept it in original shape. He faxed me a bill from Auto Atlanta for nearly $8k in 2001 for restoration work.

He still wants too much, tho.

Posted by: drewvw Jun 25 2006, 07:50 AM

8500 is too much for a 1.7 IMHO...

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 25 2006, 09:12 AM

Check over this car carefully then as AA does some goofy things.

For $8500 you can find a nice 2.0l in original condition not something f'd by AA.


Run....or ask Perry K about AA and his experiences.

Posted by: Eric_Shea Jun 25 2006, 09:21 AM

74's had bumper boobies.

$8,500 is WTM for that car. When you see the words "AA Restoration" run away. All they did (IMHO) is restore his bank account to the $0.00 state. An $8k restoration from them could have been inflating the tires to the proper pressure and changing the spark plug wires.

Posted by: Andyrew Jun 25 2006, 02:34 PM

Offer him 5k. then leave..

Posted by: Grelber Jun 25 2006, 04:16 PM

Offered $5,500. He laughed, I left.

Posted by: drewvw Jun 25 2006, 04:39 PM

you did the right thing....for 5500 bucks you should be able to buy yourself a very solid 914.

good luck and post pics when you get it!

Posted by: tod914 Jun 28 2009, 08:36 PM

Non appearance group car. Mid 73 they swapped over to plastic theshold plates. Bumper top painted maybe? Missed out on the milage on the car. Has it been repainted? If it's original and looks that nice excluding the bumper, I don't think it would be too high in price.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Jun 28 2009, 08:55 PM

3 years ago, when this thread occurred it probably was tho...

were you bored?

Posted by: tod914 Jun 28 2009, 10:36 PM

not sure how it came up on the 1st page of the forum. thought it was recent.

Posted by: RobW Jun 28 2009, 10:41 PM

I'm just posting because I'm a post whore.

Actually, did you see the wheel caps on the rears? I didn't know that tail dragger parts fit...

Posted by: bandjoey Jun 29 2009, 12:07 AM

Not my car, but a recent comparison for price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914-CALIFORNIACLASSIX-1973-Porsche-914-74K-Mls-70- PIX_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1171Q7c240Q3a13
08Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem25553da401
QQitemZ160343892993QQptZUSQ5fCarsQ5fTrucks

13 hours left $7600 and by photos a great looking car.
Happy Car Hunting
Bill

Posted by: tat2dphreak Jun 29 2009, 08:08 AM

it does look like a great car, but guards red wasn't a 914 color...

http://homepage.mac.com/markd/914/colors.html
http://members.rennlist.com/chuxter/914Colors.htm

scarlet red is probably the closest, but that was a 75-76 color only

the ""Special Edition" 8-spoke chromed aluminum rims" are also knows as western wheels. popular on beetles. I have a set o my car, but they don't look NEAR that nice...

the car is great, and well worth every penny, imo. but a couple of lines in the ad seem "off"... whoever is selling it looks to be going through a sales agency who are putting their own spin on things.

the other one that bugged me was the radio... the seller says it was dealer installed, but to my knowledge dealers installed Blaupunkt only. could one crazy dealer have installed a motorola? sure... but the more likely cause is someone put a period correct motorola in to replace the blaupunkt that had gone kaput.