What's the current market for Bumblebees? Options

[billh1963]

NOTE: This is NOT an ad! If I decide to sell I will post a proper ad.....

I'm continuing to thin out my car hoard and am thinking about selling my '74 LE (bumblebee).

The good:
Authentic LE with Porsche documentation
Good looking car as is
Ran decent when I bought it
Paint from doors back may be original

The bad:
Not original engine (correct year but off by a four hundred on s/n per Jeff)
Typical hell hole rust
Not currently running (fuel pump not running...may be bad connection, relay or pump)
Missing LE spoiler

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...blebee&st=0

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...mp;hl=bumblebee

What's the current market?

[JamesM]

Not original engine (correct year but off by a four hundred on s/n per Jeff)

That is crazy coincidence to have a motor so close but not be the one. For reference my Bee is exactly 20 off from your VIN but ~450 off from your motor.

As for the market? Hard to say given how few of these are around. Last really clean/matching one I recall seeing went for around 40k but that was a while ago and more recently I have seen multiple non-LE 4-cyl cars that have sold in that range so.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Interested to see what people have to say though.

[JeffBowlsby]

40K would be for a pristine, probably original paint, concours winner these days from what I have seen.

Start there if you want and deduct for everything needed to get to that condition.

The non-original motor and missing LE spoiler are big deals to the highest value cars.

[davep]

Do you have a CoA or equivalent? If not then never assume the engine is wrong. On my LE built in March, and the engine is from October; way, way off but correct and also listed in the owners manual. In my data compilation, the engine #'s bounce around like crazy. These were not just-in-time days, they had piles of components sitting around and picked stuff at random. If you need my pseudo CoA, then contact me. I cannot get the trans #, but more than any CoA had.

[billh1963]

$40k would be nice. But, this isn't a $40k car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I like the thought of backing into the value. But, with the cost of paint and everything else these days to make any 914 a concours car I would have to pay someone to take it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

i have the " COA" or whatever Porsche calls them these days. The pic is in the second thread I linked in the original post.

[mepstein]

My 2 minute, off the cuff estimate - $15-18k

[billh1963]

My 2 minute, off the cuff estimate - $15-18k

I think you're right. That was my thoughts.

[Pursang]

You could always give Bring-A-Trailer a try. That used to be an upscale Craigslist but has since turned into a car flipper site with ordinary or marginally collectable cars going for good money and real collector cars bringing in stupid high cash. There are rules and the expense of listing and selling is probably complicated but you can look up a line graph of all 914s they have sold to see the range into which your car might fall. Step carefully Padawan.

[PanelBilly]

I’m calculating closer to 12,000, but I’m thinking even at that price the buyer is doing the work themself and working for free. It’s all up to what someone with cash in hand will pay in that moment.

[dlee6204]

I was going to say 10-15K however the more I think about it the more I think it will bring Closer to the 15 mark.

[scallyk9]

I own the second one listed after yours on the Jeff's LE Registry, 474214854, and it is motor number matching according to a COA done during the 1990s and again in 2015, prior to the new PPS protocol. I find it interesting that the motor number GA013014 is out of sequence with the LEs before and after it. I suppose it is true that the factory didn't worry much about sequence with these cars maybe because non-LE cars were produced in between in no particular sequence over a three month period.

I have a spare original LE spoiler and a decent replica so they do turn up occasionally and wouldn't dock your car's value very much for what I can see. I'd place the value, depending on rust, at more like $25k USD. The matching motor case would raise that of course.

[porschetub]

My 2 minute, off the cuff estimate - $15-18k

I think you're right. That was my thoughts.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) and then theres the fact these are getting harder to find and not getting any better (tinworm),appears many are not known for what they are,matching numbers would be an issue but I have no idea of the resale difference but still worth good money to folks after these models.

[JeffBowlsby]

A few years ago there were two LE cars that were in very similar condition and sold. One had the original engine, the other had a period correct 2.0L replacement. If I recall correctly the non original engine car sold for ~35% less. That indicates the value of the original engine.

[mepstein]

The typical number is 15-20%.