Question on Valuations, Value difference: high end 914/6 conversion vs same on original 914/6 chassis? Options

[Rufus]

Hi Guys - I'm at a major crossroads with my project and need to brainstorm with others in the 914 community.

As a baseline, this very nice conversion sold recently for $72.5k. Here's a link:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=343405

If *everything* else was the same, except the chassis was an original 1970 914/6 chassis (not originally a 914/4), and also that the original drivetrain is long gone, how would the market value differ? Please consider in both cases what fair market value is, and ignore the possibility this recent sale was a smokin' deal.

Looking forward to your opinions ...

Thanks,
Bob

[Rufus]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

“I'd think the average 914 fan would see that as a sad thing that an original six was turned into some sort of beast like that and would actually detract from it's provenance as a factory 6 cylinder car.”

I 100% agree, and could never bring myself to modify an original six. I bought mine 10+ years ago for a project I’m just now getting seriously underway. It apparently lead a pretty hard life. The drivetrain was long gone when I acquired it. It had flares ... 2 steel, 2 glass, and was generally in pretty tired condition. It was fitted with a chassis mounted roll bar at some point. (Oddly the previous owner of record was a drag racer and also involved in building land speed record cars in the 1990’s. He even appeared on Regis and Kathie Lee ... and after firing up the LSR in downtown NYC, was asked by the NYPD to leave and not come back.) Sorry, I’m kinda drifting off topic ...

The car’s at Rothsport. What I’m considering is similar to the “Big Laguna”. I already have a 3.6l, a 915 w/lsd, a WEVO, and some suspension upgrades from a track focused donor car I picked up. Also envisioned are chassis stiffening, and brake upgrades, but no roll cage. It will be 100% a street driver.

When complete, other than inside the engine compartment, the cosmetic deviations from original will be: the 4 steel flairs / rockers, missing side markers, WEVO shifter, a combo gage in the dash and a double wrapped 380mm “RS” steering wheel. It will retain it’s original 914/6 oil tank, and oil coolers mounted under the rear trunk floor (ie stock chrome f/r bumpers and no front mounted oil cooler.)

So mine won’t be as track focused as the “Big Laguna”, but probably appear a little closer to an original 914/6, including the black targa top and “basket handle” and 15” Fuchs.

[horizontally-opposed]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

“I'd think the average 914 fan would see that as a sad thing that an original six was turned into some sort of beast like that and would actually detract from it's provenance as a factory 6 cylinder car.”

I 100% agree, and could never bring myself to modify an original six. I bought mine 10+ years ago for a project I’m just now getting seriously underway. It apparently lead a pretty hard life. The drivetrain was long gone when I acquired it. It had flares ... 2 steel, 2 glass, and was generally in pretty tired condition. It was fitted with a chassis mounted roll bar at some point. (Oddly the previous owner of record was a drag racer and also involved in building land speed record cars in the 1990’s. He even appeared on Regis and Kathie Lee ... and after firing up the LSR in downtown NY, was asked by the NYPD to leave and not come back.) Sorry, I’m kinda drifting off topic ...

The car’s at Rothsport. What I’m considering is similar to the “Big Laguna”. I already have a 3.6l, a 915 w/lsd, a WEVO, and some suspension upgrades from a track focused donor car I picked up. Also envisioned are chassis stiffening, and brake upgrades, but no roll cage. It will be 100% a street driver.

When complete, other than inside the engine compartment, the cosmetic deviations from original will be: the 4 steel flairs / rockers, missing side markers, WEVO shifter, a combo gage in the dash and a double wrapped 380mm “RS” steering wheel. It will retain it’s original 914/6 oil tank, and oil coolers mounted under the rear trunk floor (ie stock chrome f/r bumpers and no front mounted oil cooler.)

So mine won’t be as track focused as the “Big Laguna”, but probably appear a little closer to an original 914/6, including the black targa top and “basket handle” and 15” Fuchs.

^ Porsches are funny, in a good way, when it comes to hot rods. Of course the absolute top $ usually goes to super original time capsules, rare models, and historic race cars. After that, things get "grayer"—and I am glad about that. Unlike Ferrari or Corvette collectors, Porsche collectors seem to be cool with hot rods...and if you're starting with a real 914-6 or early 911 or 356 that's had a rough life, there's no restoring originality—so you are faced with the crossroads you're at: Return to the way it came or resto/mod it into something you'll like with some sensitivity to how the factory might have done it. Older Porsches done the latter way, and done well, tend to have strong appeal to a lot of buyers out there. Your recipe sounds great, and I doubt it will have a negative impact on the car's value—particularly if everything save the engine and the shifter are "period correct" and done in the way the factory might have. Color, trim, finishes, etc.—the devil is in the details. The other items you list are all visual/mechanical upgrades that are in keeping with what Porsche would have done and would increase the car's value for me.

If you don't care about resale, do whatcha like—there are a lot of very cool 914 hot rods out there that aren't period/factory correct, but their owners have added something cool to the landscape without care or concern for what value someone else might derive. Love those cars, too, but can see where people have been increasingly building them on 914-4 platforms. I think the days of taking a mostly original, mostly stock 914-6 (and 914-4!) and modding it or cutting non-rusty sheetmetal may have finally come to an end.

[larryM]

If you don't care about resale, do whatcha like—there are a lot of very cool 914 hot rods out there that aren't period/factory correct, but their owners have added something cool to the landscape without care or concern for what value someone else might derive.

X2

[Andyrew]

If you don't care about resale, do whatcha like—there are a lot of very cool 914 hot rods out there that aren't period/factory correct, but their owners have added something cool to the landscape without care or concern for what value someone else might derive.

X2

X3

Best part of the 914 culture!

You have the stock cars, the modified drivers, the high end shop builds, and the crazy home builds... And everything in between.

And for the most part they are all pretty well received by one another when chatting up in a parking lot!