My new '65 - a quasi-barn find story
The wifey soaking it up; (it's going to be "her" car)
This story starts like any other, where a guy who knows a little about Porsches goes looking for a deal. I had been watching Craigslist, keeping my eyes open for a nice car for either keeps or for profit. The other night, a ’66 comes up for sale with no pics. The ad read like this:
I thought. “Hmmm, 7200 RPM redline? Sounds like an ‘S’. Better get on that.” I emailed the seller (no phone number) asking when I could see the car. He said he was busy and could show the car this weekend. I noticed in the ad that he lived close to work, so I pinged him back and told him I could accommodate any time to see the car, even before work. He said that interest on the car was higher than he’d expected, and wanted to wait for a good time. I emailed him back the following morning and told him that I still wanted to see the car, could come anytime and in anticipation of seeing the car was going to go to work in the morning, stop by the bank and pull out the cash to pay for the car on the spot (if it was the right car for me).Porsche 911-1966 - $9500
Very early model but with 2 3-barrel Webers not Solexes. 165 lbs in all cylinders. Straight & clean. One of the first one thousand built. Very fun ride. Cookie cutters. Even the cigarette lighter works!
And...this is the really important part so pay attention-there is nothing in the world that approximates the canvas-tearing shriek of an air-cooled, six-banger Porsche pulling 6k. nothing. (redline 7200 rpm btw).
He called me back and offered to show the car that morning. I got the address and off I went. Upon arriving at his house, there was the SWB, in all of its brown glory. Nice shape, but it became readily apparent this was no ‘S’. I was a little disappointed and decided to look over the car. No real rust; very solid. A few dings, dents and chips, but nothing to write home about. Amazing interior, very original, nothing really missing. A few incorrect updates like flat 6 Fuchs (not cookie cutters as stated in the ad) and later bumperettes and ‘S’ rocker decos. Overall, a really nice car for the price, ‘S’ or no ‘S’.
I decided to take her for a test drive and the car ran great and I started to heavily consider buying it; a ’66 would be nice to have. I grabbed my cell phone and called up Eric Linden, Brooke Stabbert and Bob Magyar, trying to get an opinion on valuation and resale, in case I didn’t want to keep it. Fortunately, Eric Linden immediately called me back (since I left him a voice mail). This is when the story unfolded:
Eric had also called on the car. Being the astute VIN junkie he is, he immediately recognized from the ad that this car was one of the first 1000 built for ’66 (by the seller's description), making this car, very possibly, a ’65. If you’ve been watching ’65 values (I had no clue), you’ll know that nice, unmolested cars have taken a serious jump in value and desirability. Eric laughed, gave me the details and patted me on the back verbally for beating him to the punch and insisted I buy it.
I drove the car back and agreed to buy it, full price. To top it off, he had the original wood wheel and California black plate!!! The seller and I parted ways and I returned that night with a cashier’s check. The car is now parked in the garage here at work as I am enjoying the hell out of driving it.
Now the details on the car. This car is a ’65, no ifs, ands or buts about it. The VIN and engine serial numbers aren’t even close to being a ’66. The car’s engine serial is 902xxx and the VIN is 302xxx. My guess is that due to the car’s undesirable color, Togo Brown, it took a while to sell, thus getting licensed as a ’66. Adding to the verification pie, the color code is indeed Togo brown, with a paint plate that has the color code with a 64 prefix. Jackpot.
So with that, here are the photos you’ve all been dying for. You can see it this weekend at the XXX in Issaquah.
Reply With Quote
