So, my sick 914 obsession continues, and have been looking to add to the stable. Yesterday I went to check out a '73 that had some sort of "upgraded" motor, but few specifics.

Seller stated "no rust," "fully restored" "everything that can be done to this car has been done," "excellent condition, only flaw is one minor blemish on seat"... yada, yada, yada....

My observations: Hmmmm...... gaping holes through the trunk covered up with electrical tape is "no rust"? Missing armrests, rotted dash with crappy dash cap, door cut-outs for cheap speakers, after market radio and seat belts, missing gauges, broken roof with rear latches installed backwards, roof surface has been rough-sanded, rotted wood at pedal cluster, both seats torn, back pad falling off, no sun visors or visor clips, missing heat exchangers, Riviera wheels that had been poorly painted black, tons of bondo or some other goop in front and rear trunks, etc. etc., etc. The "all original" paperwork and manual in the car is from a '76.

He said the motor was built by "some famous hot rod company, I forgot their name. No, I don't have any supporting paperwork."

Battery was dead, so he pulls one out of another car. But, it's too tall to allow the engine cover to close. Also, he has no hold downs, so the battery is just sitting on the tray, unattached, as I'm driving down mountain twisties to check out the car.

Right away, before we get out of the driveway, the shift knob fell off of the stick. There was no way to re-attach it, as the crush washer was missing. After driving it a few miles, suddenly I have no gears and am free-coasting down the road. I think the shift rod bolt dropped out.

Had to get towed back to his house by his nephew... they left me to "drive" the car, attached to the back of a pick-up with a 5-foot long strap. It was most fun to avoid smashing into the back of the truck at every stop sign, etc.

I still offered him 7K for the car because I liked the way the motor responded (even though I have no idea what motor it was, nor did he), but he wants 10K.

Good luck with the sale!

Any of you have similar test drive experiences?

Duplicate post deleted.

There is treatment available for your obsession! Wow! You have it bad.

Good grief...I thought I was bad!

You could have a pretty good engine for 7k.... and avoid disposing of the remaining treasures.

There's nothing worse than going out somewhere to look at a car and having it be far worse than advertised. Its much better when the opposite occurs.

Was there any banjo music playing in the background?

Drugs, women, 914's .....our money has to go somewhere. We can all be glad our obsession is the 914 - way cheaper in the long run.

You were very generous to make a $7K offer for what sounds like rolling crap. Without paperwork for the motor I would consider it just a running motor. You may have been suffering from the horns/halo syndrome as the rest of the car was such a dump that the engine just seemed to shine.

Yea well I bought two 914's both crap, a 71' & 73' no engine in the 73', both for $2500
I had the 73' trans rebuilt, Pedal rebuilt brakes are all new, all new complete suspension, springs, and sway bars, and now have a 40K mile 2005' Subie 2.5L engine, and am slowly bringing the car back to near new.
The 71' has had the hell hole fixed/glassed in but still needs work and pedals rebuilt, as well as other repairs, and while i was out driving the 71' last summer same thing happened to me shifter shaft bolt cam loose and left me stranded, neighbor i hadn't met yet, towed me home, will become a automatic subaru trans and another 2.5L low mile subaru engine.

So yea, it is a bug, or some kind of a virus.

I also noticed there was another neighbor down the street that had his 914 in the air to remove/install motor, i was going to stop by to see what was going on.

Are you mental?

Sounds like a crappy experience.

I spent $3k on a car I had never seen (in person) and got a MUCH better deal than you are describing up there (and that included the car hauler it was delivered on).

Keep looking.

"Everything that can be done to this car has been done"
You misunderstood him,

He means every abuse.

Heck, for $10k you could buy the 'BB'

At least it didn't have Mustang mirrors on it.

Or did it?

That's more than interesting, that's one for the record books. Seller was probably hoping you'd rear end the truck and try to force the sale on you.

Aw c'mon, no one would do that.

Next time you feel compelled to offer some clown $7k for something like that give me a call; I'll talk you down...



Mugs

Ha, great comments, guys!!

Yeah, I don't know why I even offered him the 7K.... before it lost the gears, it was a blast to drive, and also I hadn't eaten anything all day. Prolly the fuel fumes got to me.

Here's a section from the ad (the car looks decent in the pix, but I've sure learned that they all do):

[Also, the "custom car cover" looked like a standard $29 Pep Boys cover]

.

Your description and the sellers description seem to be of two totally different animals

you should call the seller and thank him for not taking the $7k. i don't understand why you even took a test drive. that car would have gotten the 2 minute look see and i would have said 'good luck with your sale' and been on the way home.

^^^ I agree. The car was about 60 miles from home, so I figured as long as I was out there I might as well drive it.

Actually, I knew they guy would never take $7K after listening to him talk about what a great car it was, so I knew my $$ was safe.

A couple months ago I looked at a local car that was similarly advertised as "no rust, excellent condition".... blah, blah, blah. He was asking $7,500.

When I got there, turns out it was "Carrot", a POS that a friend had previously owned, and had been painted orange with rattle cans of orange Rustoleum. The floor boards were completely rotted through, the interior was shredded, even the mirror glass was broken.

My friend had sold it to this guy a year prior for 5K, and we both were stunned that anyone would have paid 5K for that pile of junk.

Check this out.... it just came back on the market a couple days ago, now for $9K (well, to be honest, "only" $8,999 !!). Still "rust free" though!! I guess that means the rust comes with the car at no extra charge.


Note to all: Do not waste any time looking at this car. And do not believe any of this ad.

So did you happen to look at the viper green one that was listed in Vista with the 5 lug? That one looked interesting too, but is gone from CL as of today...

Hmmm... I've checked out all local cars, but don't recall that one. So, there must have been something in the ad that made me not interested.

Given the quick release wheel and skill level of the owner, the gear shift knob coming loose was the better of alternatives.

ha.