What a waste, An undriven perfectly good 914 Options

[Spoke]

Stopped to get unbelievably expensive gas yesterday at a local gas station.
Minding my own business, I overheard the woman pumping gas next to
me talking to her son in the passenger seat telling him which gas station
they were at. The son was on a cell phone to someone.

Then she turns to me and asks "what year is that?". At first, I thought, should
I say "71" or "71 914". She asked just the year, so I just said "71".
She called over to her son to "Tell dad its a '71".
She turned to me and said that they had a '76. Hmm, "a '76 914 or 911?" I asked.
She said "914, how many miles do you have on yours?". "80K", I responded.
She continued, "Ours has 10-11K." (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/blink.gif) Startled by the low mileage, I just
had to confirm, "You mean 11,000 miles?". "Yep, my husband bought it new and
put it in storage when he went to the Navy". "He was recently talking about
getting it back on the road". "He also has his high school graduation present,
a '71 Corvette".

What a waste of a perfectly good 914... and Vette. What would a '76 914 with
11K miles be worth these days? Not sure what size engine, condition, or accessories.
Maybe I should have asked if they wanted to sell it...

Spoke

[Joe Ricard]

Engine size weren't they all anemic (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)
Could be a nice car. but you are already behind the power curve as this guy knows what he has and would want a mint for it.

I just love the guy that says hey I used to have one of them????? and then couldn't tell you anything more about it. Bet this guy could talk your ear off.

[URY914]

All '76 were 2.0's

[skline]

QUOTE (URY914 @ Apr 19 2005, 06:39 AM)

All '76 were 2.0's

According to Jeff Bowlsby, not all 76's were 2.0 however, in my 25 years of 914's, I have never seen a 1.8 liter from the factory. In California, the 76 isnt worth very much due to it having to be smogged every 2 years so it makes them less desireable. Still, 11k on it, I would say it's worth quite a bit if they kept it covered up in storage. I would like to see pictures of this. You should keep in touch with them and give us a progress report.

[scruz914]

QUOTE (skline @ Apr 19 2005, 06:59 AM)

.... I would say it's worth quite a bit if they kept it covered up in storage. I would like to see pictures of this. You should keep in touch with them and give us a progress report.

I hope the car was properly stored. It could be an 11k mile piece of rust. Since he also has the Corvette he might be enough of an enthusiast to know what he is doing. It would be interesting to know if he gets it back on the road. This is the kind of situation where we need 914club calling cards.

[Jake Raby]

One of my customers has a 73 2 liter car with a whopping 150 miles on it... It sat around until 2003 and the engine was totally frozen as it had been stored in a basement. The body looks like new and not any rust at all. It still looks brand new! He sent me the engine to have rebuilt 100% factory(damn did I hate to reinstall that stock cam) because he wanted to get it going again.

The house that the car was stored in the basement of was tied up in probate for 20 some odd years and thats why the car was not driven or touched.

The guy that owns the car knows nothing about it, supposedly Seinfeld found out about it last month and is trying to buy the car through someone else. Who knows how much it will sell for.

Nothing blows me away as much as the French Chef with the very last VW Beetle vert ever sold in the US (documented) with only 27 miles on it when it showed up at my shop. It still had the dealer tag on it when I ripped out the stock engine and MassIVely replaced it with a carbon fiber equipped 2270... Now the car is a daily driver...... the owner of this restaurant owns the car www.joelrestaurant.com he is a great guy and damn does he love that car!

[carreraguy]

QUOTE (skline @ Apr 19 2005, 06:59 AM)

QUOTE (URY914 @ Apr 19 2005, 06:39 AM) All '76 were 2.0's According to Jeff Bowlsby, not all 76's were 2.0 however, in my 25 years of 914's, I have never seen a 1.8 liter from the factory. In California, the 76 isnt worth very much due to it having to be smogged every 2 years so it makes them less desireable. Still, 11k on it, I would say it's worth quite a bit if they kept it covered up in storage. I would like to see pictures of this. You should keep in touch with them and give us a progress report.

Don't necessarily agree; another true concours weenie like me can appreciate a stock '76. But I will agree the Governator did not help the cause for sure.

[Mueller]

a black '76 showed up to the Partsheaven swapmeet about 3 or 4 years ago with a documented 27,000 miles on it (or less)....I want to say the guy paid $16,000 for it....anyone else see it??, had a black interior with red plaid inserts in the seats (stock)

[URY914]

Excellance Market Data articale a few months back said all '76's were 2.0's but only 100 were made. Seems like a a nice round number but sorta doubt exactly 100 were built.

Paul

[JeffBowlsby]

'76s are rare and desireable in my book...only 4000 made is what I remember, and many of those fully loaded with options. Geoff Bleyseng turned me onto that, I think he found VIN 4087 so ther is some disrepancy somewhere...People get excited about having to smog these cars and I don't undersstand it...they will smog check fine if kept in good order. My old friend Miles had a 49-state 75 2.0 w/o cat on it when they needed to be smogged...he just had a cat installed and cleaned it right up.

It was Dave Darling though who says he has a document that indicates there may be a few 1976 1.8L cars. I think it is the owners manual cover? And maybe a VIN list somewhere, I have only seen 76 2.0s.

To me, the fun of these cars is all about their condition...I would take a clean 75-76 over a beat 73-74 anyday.

[Bleyseng]

I have posted a pic before of the 76 owners manual which is for both a 2.0l and 1.8. About 100 1.8's were made.
Have I ever seen one, no. DD has met a guy some time ago who said he has one.
Second on the mythical 914 list behind the Grasshopper, although I have seen one of those and the LE poster.

Geoff