Seven

Eight

Nine

ouch......what does he want for this car?

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

That must be one of those "rust-free California cars" that I see advertised on eBay all the time.

I think he's going to have a hard time unloading that car for any real money
...LE or not......the blue GT flared car I gave away had 1/10th of the rust than is on that car and it was still too much for me to deal with........

Sad to say, but I don't see anyone spending the time or money to restore that car...

Says he bought it about a year ago from San Diego...it spent most of its life in Texas, before a guy started parting it out, which is why certain parts are missing. He said the PO allowed someone who merely wanted that top latch part on teh rear trunk lid to go at with a pry bar, which is why the trunk lid and rear panel is munched. A good body man could fix it.

It does have a couiple of redeeming qualities though...it is one of they latest LEs made, it has the light grey headlight motor relay covers (not like the typical black) and it has the salt and pepper carpet like the 75-76 cars, not square wqeave...

Sorry for the BIG pix...

Run Forrest......RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!

Shoot, that is a good car for Seattle! Here if you can stand where the passenger seat in "It's good!"
It needs some TLC and beadblasting but the longs look good and engine shelf. Plus it's a pretty rare car and in better shape than that six that was sold on Ebay last week. Jenny has ALL the good parts to makeover this car, so how much to fix and paint it is the question.
How much is the roller?
Geoff

Thats my thinking too Geoff....I think the seller may looking for about a Grand give or take...the LE status is worth ~500 by itself and it is a salvagable roller. The rust really shows up in vivid color though...its probably overemphasized in the pix. A good cup wire brush, beadblaster and POR 15 would make this car work.

The California guys ARE spoiled if the roller has ANY rust! You could not believe some of the cars for sale here for $2500!! Total rust and as bad as the free 70 1.7 I had. Beadblasting will fix most of that rust. Shoot, no holes in the floors, trunks, longs thats pretty good! Figure any roller Jenny gets is going to need a paint job, so this roller needs beadblasting big deal, maybe another $500 which is chumpchange. How many Creamsicle's have been for sale in the last few years, what 2? So, Brad will have to check it out for her but it sound doable to me for that $. A resto Creamsicle is worth it especially if you have to go thru all of this to get a car.
Geoff

I don't know, looks like a money pit to me. this is CA, I'm sure you can find a 100 cars better than that one to start. sure, it is an LE, but I doubt that's too important to jenny. you got to figure bead blasting, rust repair, body bumping, and paint is going to run $5k at a BARE minimum even with a possible brad discount.

Its really not that bad y'all...I would buy it if I didn't already own two...My wifes eyes were already rolling when I told her I saw it...

There are rollers out there in better condition, but not that are LE cars. There were only about 300 USA Creamsicle LEs made.

Four-Five years ago, the myth of the California rust free 914 roller was a viable option.......

WORD TO THE FUCKING WISE.....NO MORE.....the 914 is gonna be the next 356.....hang on the stock 914s, get ALL CARDEX documents you, break out the toothe brushes and the "Q" tips.....yer POS, beaters are gonna be GOLD......

An LE does sound very appealing. Much as a V8 sounded appealing when I first started seriously looking to get a 914. But it is a money pit. If I had to invest $ and time into restoring the LE, I'd much rather just invest $ and time into restoring my signal orange 914. Around the same price, I'd imagine, and I don't have to swap all the goods from one car to another. The idea is to hopefully find a structurally sound tub with bad paint, get it reshot, and move engine & other goodies into it.

Damn, an LE does sound cool though.

Jenny, I talked to Brad on Saturday about the LE. He hadn't seen the pics yet but liked the idea. On any tub you are going to have to paint it which is going to cost money. Bead blasting is fairly cheap to clean up lightly rusted areas for the repaint. IF the LE is a sound tub you would be money ahead to use/restore that. Brad said he had never even seen a Creamsicle in person (I haven't either only Bumblebee's and a Grasshopper). We talked about what it would take to fix your car which didn't sound doable due to the pan damage. I agree with Zois as the rust free days are over due to EBAY where any decent 914 is sold at a good price. ($1500-2500).
It will be interesting to hear what Brads opinion of the car is when he sees it. He is still recovering from his whiplash injury he suffered at Hooters.
Geoff

Jenny, any low initial cost 914 is going to be alot of work to sort out, unless you spend the big bucks for one that is already done. Of course thats the car you want and need, its just a matter of $$$ and locating such a car.

Comparing the current J-machine with the LE, both would need painting and the LE car needs less body work by a long shot, so that cost is better than a wash.

You could then swap your current interior and drive train and any other useable bits you already own. Your investment of time and $$$ may be better with the LE car compared to fixin up the pumpkin car.

Whatever you and the B-man decide will be in your best interests, of that we are certain...

From what Brad described only "Rusty" would try to fix Jenny's car as the center tunnel is all bent. Lots of cutting and welding to fix it right, I would only try that on say a 914/6 GT or 916.
Geoff

I'll be meeting up with brad sometime this week to discuss this. He's been incredibly hard to get ahold of. I need to just sit down with him and hammer out options and tub eligibility. I appreciate everyone's input as well as leads. LE still sounds good. Can I V8 it??

NO WAY!! Its one of maybe 300...besides you can barely drive a 2.0L! lol
Geoff

Would this be a good time to ask what makes an LE an LE? I've only noticed the outward appearance... two toned paint, painted sail panels. someone enlighten me

It was a limited edition car, that was a 2.0L loaded with the options, had the "Special Spoiler" no sail vinyl, painted Mahle rims, painted bumpers. It is a 74 2.0L car with trick options to celebrate Porsche win of the CAM-AM series as the cars were to be named that until the last second. The cool part about them is these days is the rarity! 500 black/yellow-300 white/red-10 green/white. For years people just painted over the yellow or red trim as they thought it was too 70's. But they are "Special" cars in the sense that these are the only "Special" cars ever made in the 914's.
Geoff

From what I've read and heard the LE was basically a marketing tool. The 914 numbers had already started to decline and Porsche was looking for a way push sales. The CanAm success is what the idea was linked to, hoping to win on sunday sell on monday.

IMHO it's basically some extra paint and a new spoiler.

Better not let Jeff hear you say that

I'll call my friend who work for Porsche at that time to see what he remembers about the LE for fun.
Geoff

Make it four chassis. I just got a 73 914 2.0 that was originally silver. It has some funky fiberglass flares but the pan and rockers look very good. In addition, I have a clean title. I can email some picts.

A fancy(?) 70s combo paint job that accentuated the
gawd awful lines of the car.
Still the same old shitbox underneath.
The sales were "Limited" to 60s brain fried acid freaks.

The LE cars are all those things and none of them....all the expressed opinions posted are valid to one degree or another. It depends on ones values and how each one sees the 914.

I won't say more about this until I wrap up my website on the LE cars, which I hope to have real time within a couple weeks or so...as soon as I can figure out how to make html behave.

Let me just say that the Creamsicle LE in San Bernardino is a great opportunity for anyone who shares the vision...They only made about ~250 Creamsicles. And only about 80 Grasshoppers. Some would say that was too many and I respect that, while others will have massive body shakes and drool.

Stay tuned.

If your car is of the same year and within the serial 3s used for the original LEs...you can paint it the color you want and pass it off as an LE.....not like a Cardex is gonna tell ya different. AFIK, Porsche did not keep reco rds on what was an LE or not.....

Thats Exactly where the LEs stand apart from a standard 914...the Cardex. In fact its the only way to truly know if a given car is an authentic LE or not.

Hmmm... where do you get one of these "Cardex" thingiemaboppers??

From Chuxter site...there are othere references:

"We recommend that you obtain a Certificate of Authenticity, by writing PCNA Owner Relations Dept., 980 Hammond Street,
Suite 1000, Atlanta, GA 30328. They will require your chassis (VIN) number, proof that you are the car owner (registration, bill of sale, or insurance certificate) and a $30 check, payable to "Porsche Cars North America"."

They take 2-8 weeks to receive.

That is old information. They now charge over $100 for one. PCNA outsourced this and the new company set the price.

The price is now 100.00 or something like that costing more for the older cars and less for the newer cars.

heres a link to the 356 registry site explaining the Cof A in deatail.

http://www.356registry.org/Tech/kardex.html

No title or proof needed anymore just the vin here is a request form

http://www.356registry.org/Tech/CofA.pdf

Wow that was fast. 2 replies.

I just ordered and received the COA for my Bumblebee in December 2002. I printed out the information and sent it along with payment and they honored it.

I did the same thing for my other 914 about 6 months ago with the same results.

I have seen that 356 registry site with the $100+ charge and don't know what to say.

The new prices are as of 2003

lucky you

Ummmm, not really....there are a few LEs that have fallen through the cracks......my feeble brain MAY be failing me....everything is....but did not the "Sandy Guy" have an LE that failed to show up on the cardex?

Oh and BTW....why doesn't the auto notify work on this BBS????

I suppose I ought to chime in.

The Limited Edition (LE) is considered by some to be the most prestigious of all the 4 cylinder 914s. It was a unique series of (believed to be) 1000 cars produced in February/March 1974.

The Limited Edition cars came stock with:
2.0 liter motor
Front and rear sway bars
4-bolt Mahle alloy wheels
Appearance group package (center console, etc)
No sail panel vinyl
Special LE front spoiler

Special paint package that included bumpers, rocker panels and wheels painted to match one of three color motifs: Black & Yellow, Ivory & Green and Ivory & Orange.

The series of LE cars were originally called "Can-Am" to celebrate the Porsche 917/30 dominance in the Can-Am series. However, due to a fallout with SCCA over the participation of the 917 in the Can-Am series, that wasn't allowed. They were later christened the "Limited Edition", not to be confused with the "914-S" that was used in advertising in 1973. Our cousins across the pond received a "GT" version, instead of an "LE" car.

Early in my 914 addiction (in 97?), I saw a Grasshopper. I didn't really know what it was at the time, but it was pretty rusty. It had some kind of shag seat covers, too.

The cardex's are also a bit strange. When we first sent off for the Cardex, the color that came back on the card was "Summer Yellow", although that was the trim color.

There is NO WAY the car was ever yellow. I called PCNA back and explained my concern - and they told me that since 914s were usually a "color with black trim", that they just assumed that the note in the file "black with yellow trim" was reversed.

They were very willing to send the corrected Cardex, and apologized for the mistake.

-Rusty

Ok, Rusty what color was the green on the grasshopper car??? I remember a light medium green....

Geoff

I voted the LE out for Jenny. I dont have the time and she wont want to spend that much money.

Here is exactly what I'm looking for:

1970-74 1.7-1.8 cars rollers or complete. One color is all I ask..

B

How much $$ so we know what not to look at?

High of 2500$

I'm not scared of trunk rust or battery tray rot. Solid floors and solid passenger frame rail.

I'll part out what we dont use to recover some of the expense.

B

what about the yellow '73 1.7 on craigslist for $2900? I think that might be the guy I sold my dash top to.

Brad.....there was an all black, running, driving 914 at Dunkels for 2,500 bucks. Maybe one of the gang got a number off of it? Dad

Do you have pink hair, too?

How wuz yur stay, Brad? Wifey dig the wine ?

No pink hair here ! Dad