I have always been a big fan of these cars and have been wanting to buy one for quite some time. They are somewhat difficult to find in my area, especially examples in good shape. I recently found one on my local craigslist listing and seems to be somewhat interesting but I could use your all's wisdom and advice. Initially the car was listed for $900 as a barn find. I emailed the owner and he has been very gracious and forthcoming with information regarding this teener. He informed me that it was most recently titled in Indiana and hasn't been registered in years. This 1972 914 currently resides in Kentucky and the current owner says the PO had lost the title and keys and is unwilling to apply for a lost title. With that being said he has lowered the price to $600 and recommended Broadway Title Co. to get a new title. So obviously these things are concerning, but not uncommon based on some of the threads in this forum and others. I have asked the owner for some pics. Some guidance and advice from you all would be greatly appreciated on both the title and lack of key situation and the general condition of the car and anything I should be aware with this particular model year.

Thanks!

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914001.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914003.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914004.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914005.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914006.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914007.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914008.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914010.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914011.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914013.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914014.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/kafn8d/a914015.jpg

All the pics looked good UNTIL the last one

If you notice, the body lines don't match up. The door handle looks like it's sagging.

which means, the whole car is probably sagging, which means extensive rust.

The pic. of the rocker panel shows, there might be alot of rust issues in the longs.

If you can, either look under that rocker or take it off to inspect the long.

Does it run?

How many miles?

Keep looking. The initial price you pay is only for the right to spend more money and you can quickly run up thousands more dollars addressing the title problems and those shown in the pictures. It might be worth the price as a parts car, but you'd be digging yourself a hole if you thought you'd get it and fix it up as your driver. In the end, you'd be money ahead to shop for a car on the classifieds here and have a local member do a PPI. Even if you have to pay to get it shipped, you'll be money ahead.

If you decide to pursue this car, find a local member to take a look at it for you. Owning a 914 can be a blast, or a giant PITA. Be cautious and good luck.

It is hard to tell from the pictures posted. You need to get a lot more and better pictures. Like the other members said, this thing will most likely need a lot of work to make it road worthy. If you want to do it yourself it will take time and a fair amount of money (depending on the rust). Most mechanics don't understand these cars and don't want to deal with them. They are easy to figure out but it takes a little time. In the end find a better example and you will be much happier. I would say go to at least 3-5K range. You can start by buying this and selling of the part. You could possible make 800-1000 bucks.

The battery tray is a replacement, which means that the original rusted away. The rust on the rocker is also not encouraging. If the drivers side looks that bad, the passenger side long is probably gone. Sit in the passenger side, and open the door. Bounce up and down. Try to close the door. Seriously, pull the rocker panel off, and show the guy how much rust is there, and if it is otherwise complete, I'd make him an offer as a parts car. If you really want a teener, ship in a tub from Kali and swap the parts... unless you are comfortable with welding and rust repair.

And

With what everyone else has said so far. I have a few question for you. What are you looking for? A project car, a car to fix & drive, a driver already to go or???? What's your budget?

This car, based on the pictures, is a project car in my book and depending on just how bad the rust is, maybe only a parts car.

Where in Indiana are you located? While I am not an "expert" on 914's I do know enough on what to look for and what is bad & good. I live in Portage just 40 miles East of Chicago. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks for all the feedback from all. It has opened my mind to other options and thoughts.

Garold, to answer some of your questions. I am looking for a project car that is repairable to be a driver (not daily) and/or possible autoXer. I come from a street rod, hot rod background and I'm not afraid of rust or body repair or modifications. Since my knowledge and budget will be limited, I expect this venture to be a very long process with a very large learning curve. As I said in my initial post there are not a lot of examples of these cars in bad shape and even fewer in good to great shape here in Southern Indiana (Kentuckiana) area. I definitely appreciate and love the Porsche heritage and history but I am not a purist by any stretch of the imagination, so a V8 or subie conversion would not be out of the question.

Again, I thank you all for your feedback, questions and support and would not expect anything less based many of the threads I have read from you guys.

Thanks,
Steve