One of my friends is interested in the 914-6 on Ebay. I have read the comments on another thread about the 914-6.

Since he is a 911 guy he has ask my input.

What would it cost to restore the 914-6. I know there are a lot variables but ballpark figure?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-914-914-6-...em=161765740185

$60K would be a beginning budget. Since we are throwing out wild numbers....that car appears to need a full and complete restoration. Price would only go up I am sure.

I guess the answer to buy a Six already done or restore one is answered by how soon do you need to drive it? Will you be satisfied with one you buy that is "restored"?

If I were to buy a restored one, it would have to be a car that was absolutely documented every step of the way. I have seen far to many "restored" cars where they fix things and just respray the body with out ever getting down to the metal to see the extent of the damage and correctly repair it. A lot of them say bare metal restoration and conveniently there are no pictures taken of the car in bare metal....."camera broke", etc.

Way over priced at $27500.00 in my eyes but people seem to be spending that much now-a-days!

"Needs floors"
"Needs much restoration"

Why not spend $40K and BUILD a -6 the way you want it. The early cars were lacking in a lot of areas. Of course of all of that is moot if you are buying one for an investment.

The only reason to buy a real six is for the investment. You can build a six for way less with a bigger engine and any other mods/improvements you want.

As far as restoring that one. Replacement panels can be had for most known rust prone areas. 911 engine rebuilds are not cheap. The rest is who you have to do welding, body and paint, plus dismantle and reassembly. Also rubber at dealer prices and leather for the interior.

I'm a buy it vs build it guy. Get what you want and be patient. You're usually way ahead but it requires patience, a wide net, and you have to be ready to act.

If I were a person with unlimited resources (and funds), I would restore to my exact specifications. Kind of like building a house versus buying, make things exactly how you want them. IMO The best way to restore this is get it back to factory specs and maximize the value versus getting too wild with adding GT flares for example though I LOVE GT flares!

So, if your friend has unlimited resources, jump in with both feet and save this sixer!

Unlimited resources would = a Patrick Motorsports build.

To my specifications and colors. Period.

Wow, some beautiful builds on their website

That car is in need of an "oil cap fix". Unscrew the oil cap, drive a new 914-6 under it, then screw the cap onto that.

(OK, not quite, but almost.)

Lots and lots of rust in that one, from what we can see. Rode hard and put up wet.

--DD

It will be exciting to watch the end of that auction to see where it goes. Ya, it's a project car. But guys have fixed worse 4 cylinder cars and posted a couple hundred photos of the work.

Thanks for all the replies. Bidding is getting too crazy for him so he bailed.

I restored many VW's it was always a fact that you could buy a nicely restored car for way cheaper than a project. Not only that but you could drive it right away.

But you do have to pay due diligence, some restored cars are just lipstick on a pig.
If buying a restored car it is worth paying a pro to do a thorough PPI.

Amazing, it went for $33K. . wonder when we'll see this car again and what the price will be. .
Starting a restoration project at that price is questionable knowing the cost of parts and labor. . you'd have to do all the work yourself to come close to a break even spot in today's resale world, but then again, look where early 911's are priced now days ..

Ya, there isn't a lot of room left on the bone for all the possible issues that can arise. But as the sixes have gone up the market has become more efficient. The value of the car is the market value of one restored minus the cost to get it restored. So assuming no major surprises, this price isn't too far off (maybe a little high. But, not too bad, IMHO), from the standpoint of restoring it and then selling it. Especially, if the values keep going up over the 3 years it will take to restore the car. But I wouldn't want to start one that bad at that price. Having said that I hope it gets restored. It is nice to see another one saved.

Wow!! To pay a shop to do that car right you'd likely have over $100K just in the resto. . . Just paying for parts and doing it yourself, you *may* be able to just break even on a selling price, but it would take years and years of weekends/evenings.

From a financial point, I always recommend buying a restored car. But for many on here, (myself included) who can do much of the work, the restoration/build process is a big part of the journey of owning such a car. It's what many of us derive much of the satisfaction that we later have when driving and showing others the car.

It sure sound like someone is buying that car to do a flip. If that is the case, a really good restoration will put the car out of the market for a while! Then again, I would be very careful buying something like this. The buyer will have to be asking near 100K to make any money. Did they take any shortcuts??? I think this is a major reason so many like to do the restoration themselves or at least be the " project manager" for the restoration. It is more expensive, but you know exactly what you have.
Tom

It would be pretty cool if the new owner was a member, or joined the forum for this build. Even if they plan to flip it. In fact it would benefit them if they documented the process in a public forum so potential buyers could see everything that is done to it.

It does amaze me that it went so high, especially if the buyer never inspected (or had someone inspect) it. I just noticed it was also a ZERO feedback NEW bidder that won it, scary for the seller unless there is something shady going on.

Well let's see if this car surfaces somewhere after it "sold". Personally, the only way I would deal with someone with 0 feedback is cash up front.