The recently discussed 914 LE in St. Petersburg, FL, closes on Monday, and the potential buyer needs someone qualified to carefully evaluate the car, and give him an informed opinion. Better that he comes to us than someone who does not know 914s. The PPI would need to be completed by this weekend.

Here is the car:

914 LE Bumblebee 15240

Contact potential buyer directly if you have any interest in this.

Michael A Stroz
michaels@seaboardsec.biz

Talked to Michael, gonna go look at car Saturday, bringing my digital camera (for Michael's sake), and not too confident what I'm going to find; consider me the optomistic pessimist.

Curious to look at the receipts and find out who the builder is ("The engine was professionally rebuilt less than 4,000 miles ago ...") who installs a SINGLE #$%& CARB! Also want to sit in those corduroy-insert (Was this an option?) leather seats (look like recovered vinyl to me).

Gonna show up in my 914 and make him nervous; "Car is rust-free, huh? In Florida, huh? Mind if I just poke around? Oh, that? Just my digi-camera, so's I can click a few of this brown-colored 'undercoating' all over the battery area ... you mind?"

Bowlsby, let me know what else to look for in an "LE" ... I only own a run-of-the-mill '73 2.0L.

Sic 'em Rouser...take no prisoners..... Pull a side valence to check the longs...that might make him nervous...

Take a few moments to look over my LE website for LE specific things.

I would look at:

The front spoiler to see if its authentic. You can see if it is, from the side edges...there are photos of a rear on on the 914 LE website. The real LE spoilers are impossible to find used.

Has the yellow accent color been repainted? the photos dont look like its the original color. Original paint on the reat of the car or repaint?

Look at the box of FI parts the seller says he has...see if its complete...probably not, otherwise it would not have been removed.

I think that the condition of the car and originality are the most important elements...everything else is replaceable. For instance, is it the original windshield? Evidence of previosu repairs?

Sorry I won't be able to get to it before Monday. Too much "NPC" stuff going on this weekend.
But Rouser knows his stuff...

If you get it you better come here in person it drive it home. Or maybe I can just keep it at my house 'till you get here.


Paul

Bowlsby, I ripped your site apart, cuttin' & pastin' as much info as I could dump into my printer; might as well have the evidence on-hand when I start gettin' the (usual) excuses/arguements.

"Watcha mean that's not an authentic LE Monza exhaust? It came with it when I bought it?! Manufacturer's Plates? What Maufacturer's Plates? AND, that's the original color paint on there; see, came out this here rattle can ..."

Rouser,
I live in New Tampa and would be happy to go along with you to check out the LE. I am quite familiar with the LE 914. Especially since I recently took one apart to clean it and then put it back together. My only issue is that I play on a USTA tennis team and I have a match Saturday morning at 10:30am somewhere East of Brandon. Let me know what your schedule is for Saturday.
Thanks,
Sahara Beige Steve Gaglione

OMG! It is Steve Gaglione!!!

A true 914 expert.

Welcome to the Club.

Steve you need to introduce youself and show some pics of your cars.

For get it I will. That is Steve with the white hat on in the middle.

This is the car that is on AA website with the story on how Steve found it. It is like being in a time machine back to 1973. These were taken at last years PCA Parade where Steve was robbed of 1st place in his class.

Thanks for the introduction Paul. Also thanks for posting the pictures of "Sahara Beige" at last years Parade "Preservation Group". Don't bring up the Parade Concours. It was quite a let down for me. Althougth I won my class and won my division, The judges wrote on my score sheets and told me that my car was just too clean with no signs of utilization. So they gave overall to a 928 with 141,000 miles that is driven everyday. I realize that many feel that having a Parade Concours 914 is a waste of a fun car, but when I bought this car from the original owner it was so perfect that I felt that it had to be perserved forever. I do drive the car and never let it set longer than 6 weeks.

Later this weekend I will post a few pictures of my three 914's. One 4 and two 6's. In fact, I'm taking the beige car for a ride on Sunday.

I look forward to communicating with every on in the club.

Steve "Sahara Beige" Gaglione

Steve,
Stop by here tomorrow, I'm right off Fowler Ave. and the river.

Paul

Welcome Steve!

What a pleasure to have you in our midst...

Hi all,

Steve your car is beautiful & one of the best original's in the country. Here is another beautiful original & (in my opinion) another one of the best original 914's in the country. I forgot his name because it's in my other computer, but he's from N.E. Ohio and will probably be back at Dave's Aug 2004 meet.
This 914 was one of the best at Dave's 2003 Toledo gathering & truly had the patina of a (30) year old origianl car. It was a pleasure looking at this car, but he got beat out for best of show because it was by popular votes. By the way my car was best of show, all my friends showed up.

LOVE THOSE ORIGINAL 914's.

Guys, those two cars are incredible. This thread is what this Club should be all about. After all the political crap of the last couple of days it is rewarding to find a thread about cars and helping fellow club members find, check out and hopefully purchase a car. Thanks for this thread, it renews my faith in the 914Club.

Hoooooly crap! I love that Sahara Beige car! It's beautiful! Welcome Steve!

Ps, I would not throw the orange car out of my garage either. There is a Malaga Red '76 in the Chicago area (yes, that one) that is a super clean survivor too. The paint is flawless, as is the interior.

Anyone considering that '74 Delphi Green on e-bay?
22K miles...

Delphi Car

I agree totally William. The OT garbage wastes our time and really diminishes the value of this great website. Whenever I encounter the OT stuff I purposely avoid it as much as possible.

I vote for NO OT posts allowed at all as a policy. Admins should have the authority to immediately delete any OT post to preserve the integrity of the site for all of us. This site is about 914s only. If its not focused on 914s, we all lose.

Jeff

Tom: That would be Brad's 914 from Columbus. Beautiful, as is your 914. we are blessed with some very fine examples of 914's in the Mid West. and the 2004 meet is going to be even better. I know of 4 914's that the owners are working had to complete
by The Mid West Meet . All 4 in the same class as yours and Brad's. Dave

We do have the authority to delete anything we find out of line. However, we use that authority VERY judiciously. In many cases, there is lots of off-board admin chatter before something gets deleted or someone gets censured. Free speech, my friend, free speech.

There are lots of places that are heavily moderated / policed. We admins collectively feel that the board can usually police itself, create its own norms and standards. Some spirited off-topic chatter doesn't really hurt anything. It is not that the admins don't care, it's because we DO care that we use that "delete button" so sparingly.

-Rusty

I would say the 914 brought us all together but we do and can talk about other stuff. I don't only talk work related items with the people I work with. And it is no different here. We've become friends that are free to talk about "almost" anything. If I need computer advice, (and I have in the past) I'm posting the question here. But I know I won't be discussing politics here anymore.

(Admins, I'm glad you decided to delete that thread. You know the one. I didn't know it would cause such an uproar.)Thanks

Paul

Hey Dave Barber,
Ref: 2004 Mid-West Meet.
Would you consider a seperate class for preservation (original) 914's?? It would seperate the restored cars from this special group of 914's. Just asking to keep me out of this tough competition??
Some other idea's.
How about an International class for our Canadian guys? Sure would like to let them know we care about our Northern neighbors
How about getting together soon & discuss some idea's with the guys?
I bet (75) cars could be expected. The site could handle that & more.
Hey, we could take up a collection & get Mr. Robert's to attend, Maybe Bowsley?? You get the idea.
Tom

Tom,

about the International class....speaking for the two of us (Canadians) that were there last year (my sleeping son being the other) haveing a seperate class isn't nessary. It's about the cars, not where you live.

I'm working on having at least one of ours there this year. Just need another foot of snow to melt...

Thanks for the response Jeff. You know we deal with so much crap in everyday life and work that it sure is nice to have the 914 refuge to enjoy 914 stuff. The OT stuff is a waste of time and from now on I will just avoid anything that labels itself as OT. So do the rest of us a favor, if you want to do a politcal rant, label it OT and then the rest of us who choose to do so can ignore it. Now, about #4?

Would it be a sacralidge to use this car as a daily driver (including salty winters)?

Hell yes, that's what the Boxster is for!

Are we going to get a first-hand report on the Bumble Bee? With pics? It's up to near $10K so it must be pretty nice.

Hard to believe, bid went to $10,999 and did not meet reserve. Did anyone look at this car? Over 100K miles and FI removed. I know it's an LE but $11K won't buy it?

I have more inside knowledge about this car. The seller would do well to accept the $10999.

Well, Jeff come on spill the inside info. I scrolled all the way thru this thread and no info on the LE.

Did anyone actually go to see the effin car yet?? Rouser, whatup?

OT stuff is one thing but if everyone is talking about this car via secret PM's then this BBS becomes a joke.

Geoff

Talked to a guy in Texas who has a Creamsicle and he says he will post soon.

I PM'd Rouser but no answer.

Maybe the LE ate him!

'I know something you don't know -- neener neener neeeeeener"

(heh -- sorry Jeff )

kim.

ok Kim

I was curious. Now I'm REALLY curious.

Doesnt do us much good does it Jim?

Alrighty then -- Bowlsby will whack me soon I'm sure. To make sure there's no confusion about my contribution -- I was making fun of Jeff for his tease line, which to me seemed like "I know something you don't know/etc". So Geoff, I was actually supporting your comment!

I don't actually know anything about this car. Actually, the list of things I don't know is getting longer of late -- it's nice to narrow it down to this one thing at this moment.

kim.

Man I love you guyz...

You decide for your self what this car is worth. LE or not. Nuff said.

By the way Thanks Roy!

Roy was on a Blues Brothers 'Mission'...the man knows his stuff.

a slight finger poke results in...

jk;h

ioji

k'l;kj

all this for only $11k? what a deal.

if a picture is worth a 1000 words, a ppi is worth $11k. what a piece of shit.

kevin

why do people always stick rags down in the hell hole?

Well my prior owner thought that a good ole fiberglass patch job was the way to go. I had to chisel that crap out to get to the hell holes to see how bad they were. Rags, man that is class!

Thank you for posting the pics! Now we know to run as fast as we can from this piece of shit of a car.
Well, maybe Rusty will want to try his welding skills again on this one.


Geoff

Didnt you know, next to Duct Tape shredded underware is the ultimate fix-all!

What is more astounding, that 6 people bid from $5 to $11K for the car, or that the owner thinks it is worth more? Wonder what the "winner" would have said after seeing it, if he had bid high enough to claim his prize!

After downloading to both Jeff and Michael (prospective bidder), it's been an email marathon after that until the auction closed. It got both funny and irritating, but in the end the (cautious) bidder saved himself some major $$$ from an (overspeculating) seller. Jeff's done an outstanding job posting some of the more critical pics I took of "The LE."

Guess you guys noticed the fairy dust that came out when I poked my finger, MY FINGER!, into a hole near the usual spots around the outer rocker panel and jack point. The engine was FILTHY, and I'm not going to believe the BS about a "rebuild approx. 4K miles ago ...", not with the appearance of THIS engine bay. Gear lube sling was baked onto the tranny, and you would've thought this guy coulda ran a vacuum in all the engine bay crevasses so I could've gotten better RUST pics of the engine tray areas. And that "coating" (as Jeff questioned me) in the rear truck area is more commonly known as a FIBERGLASS repair attempt; not a bad job, but not on a "Buy It Now for $14.999K!" car.

Don't get me wrong, the interior and other areas where in outstanding condition; no work required there. And this car could be driven while taking care of its issues. Driven you say? Why yes, I was DRIVEN around Ft. Myers during the test drive phase of this inspection. I said "What?" and got some BS excuse about "... my classic car insurance has restrictions about drivers blah, blah, blah ..." Even after I told him I have proof of Progressive Ins. and "... one quick call on my cell phone here should alleviate any worries," he wouldn't budge. I thought he'd be more concerned about getting pulled over while driving around without any #$%& LICENSE PLATES!

So, all I had were my substantially wide ASS sensors to utilize in evaluating the clutch, transmission, brakes, steering, handling, and throttle. It rode fine, the blairing, rust-inflicted Monza gave it that "race car sound" he commented about, it started and idled fine (from cold) with the monolithic carb in its perch, and the car pulled strong. Not bad, even though I was being shuttled about like a teenager without a driver's license.

Was this LE (can't vouch for authenticity; the seller only recently applied for a PCOA) worth what he was trying to get? No. Could he have gotten $10K site unseen? Proof's in the auction; it closed @ $10,999; reserve not met. Would I have paid that much for it, and I saw it? Ain't that much lead in the world I'd put through my head.

That's not saying this car doesn't have that kind of value to someone else; to them, it might be worth it. But after seeing someone purchase this 914 in the Tampa Bay Area for $8.5K (and HE believes he paid a premium for his childhood dream), I don't think so.

Not exactly Tampa. That's a two hour drive one way.
Roy went out of his way for this.

Roy you're a good man.

Paul

It was no biggie; Jeff merely asked, and Michael couldn't understand "This thing you guys have for these 914's, and I'm blown away you're willing to help a complete stranger ..."

I've only seen an authentic creamsicle 914 LE (certificate and all) in a heavy-guarded (by the owner) area at a Tampa Bay VW Bug-In years ago, and it didn't receive the appreciation it was due.

The seller of "The LE" later remarked (in an email to Michael) that since when does seeing one in a roped-off area qualify me to evaluate HIS LE. I guess (in HIS mind, anyway) those LE's are so unique to the 914 world that the owner of a Plain-Jane 914 can't POSSIBLELY know what to look for. Well ... golly gee, now I actually RODE in one!