I looked at a local '72 1.7L that's for sale this past weekend. The current owner has owned it for the past 17 years and maintained it at a local Porsche mechanic. The car has had 3 owners since new and has 103K miles on it and is matching numbers. Its been repainted once in its original silver color back in the 80's. There's minor rust but doesn't appear too bad. I spoke to the mechanic that's maintained the car for the past 20 years and he said the car is in very good condition mechanically and structurally. Question......what's a car like this worth?

First impressions - The rust will be worse than you think.

Based on the "light rust" in numerous other places, the hell hole will need work.

Does it run? Have you driven it?
If it drives and the rust isn't too bad - Scientific Wild Ass Guess: ~ $5k

To get a better number you would want to remove the rockers to inspect and probe under the battery tray with a screwdriver.
Check behind the seats and under all the carpets and in both trunks.
And get a compression test.

It does have "preservation" going for it.

As Stu says You need to take a small screwdriver or ice pick to that hell hole.

You also need to look under those rockers.

Until you do that the value is hard to estimate.

Good running car with rust? $4-5K

Very solid car with no rust repair required? Around $10K or more depending on overall paint quality, engine condition, etc.

$5k? Really? I would guess about double that, if good leak down numbers.

It really comes down to rust. If the hell hole and longs are toast you are looking at some serious bucks....

That hell hole certainly needs repair. and if that needs repair then all the other typical areas will need repair as well.

This is one of those cars you hate to poke around with a scewdriver but have to..


5K is an appropriate number in my head as well.

I almost could not GIVE AWAY a driveable 1.7L with running FI and a lot of nice parts.
It had a decent interior, and bad paint but had major rust issues in the longs.
It took me 4 months to sell it for $900 just two years ago.

Haggerty's is a good guide if you are honest about its quality.

I live in Cali and my car has no serious rust issues.

I just had it appraised at 13K. It has some paint issues at the cowling intersection and some bubbling in the usual places...but no structural issues. I thought that was conservative.

All stock except the rims and the tire size and steering wheel.

I have people ask me about it all the time....but that is out here.

Rust is the biggie here, for sure, but...

That has all the signs of a very tidy car in the photos. The paint down the sides of the car, the trim, the bra, the badges, the wheels, etc—all reflect someone who cared about that car. If the paint is as nice as it looks in those pics, and the rust is remedial work rather than structural work, I'd have to guess this car is into low five figures, and that anything in four figures represents a nice buy. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Yes, it's a 1972, and it's a 1.7, but clean, low-mile 914s that are anywhere near original without a lot of mods are rare. This one is in good colors to boot.

pete

I like driving my '71 to work. many smiles per mile.

what does the owner think its worth? at least it's not a color change. penn car? i think you're going to have to look very closely.

my 1972 1.7 was in similar condition. one owner car from new, all service records back to new. ss heat exchangers, 64,000 miles documented. original paint clean interior stored in a barn for 22 years. started right up and drove great. hell hole looked just like that, some surface rust. there was a lot more rust than met the eye. now on the rotisserie getting finished up. but I only paid $1700.00 for the car out of fear of hidden rust.

When I spoke to the mechanic he assured me that there was no rust in longitudinals and very little rust in the hell hole....nothing that a screw driver would penetrate. He said that I could bring the car down to his shop and put it up on his lift to see the underside. The owner's asking $11K.....

for $11k I would expect the car to be spotless; almost concours.

Check every crevice.

Being on the East Coast I'd be very wary.

These originals are getting rare from what I can tell and are going up in value.

Check it out very well. No structural issues or major rust.

I believe the 73's will fetch a bit more as the seats, side shifter, window options were different than the 72's. Mine had the appearance package with it.

I'd think it's a little less due to the cleanliness aspect ect. But from the pics it looks like most everything is orig.

The car looks very good in those pix. Motor needs some cleaning up.

I'd say about $8K - $10K or so, based solely on the pix. (again, assuming no rust issues and that it runs well).