Hi Guys.

First of all, as to Greg's question about the wheel / tire combo:

Early deep 6" Fuchs all the way around.

205 / 60 - 15 Dunlops in the front.

215 / 60 - 15 Dunlops in the rear.

The reason for the rear 215s is because I intend to put R 7" Fuchs in the rear, like on a 911R. I wanted to buy one set of tires, so I put that rubber on the 6" wheel until I get the R-Wheels. The 215s will level out nicely with the 205s once the 7s are on. Planning a bit ahead. It actually gives it a slight muscle car angle at the moment.

Second of all, as to Ian's question about American dollars, Euro dollars and their relationship to Carlo's 72S. (Now, my 72S) Yes, Carlo's price was $17,000. He had it on and off the market for quite a while, with many interested parties. I think his price was higher at one time. He didn't really want to sell it. After owning several early cars, this was his ideal car...a 72S with a factory RS engine. He even built a web-site for it.

But though beautiful, rust free and all there, the car was a little rough around the edges. His desire was to eventually address its needs and realize all of its potential. But like me, he enjoyed all of its history and didn't mind that its "honesty" made it fun to drive and not so perfect that one should worry too much about it. At least...until he got around to making it that perfect.

Well life got in the way...not in the way of a great life...just in the way of his relationship to the 72S. My good fortune was that when I was searching the internet for either a 72 or a 73S, I found a shadow of an ad he ran for the car. By "shadow" I mean that it was a copy of an ad he HAD run, but that he was NO LONGER running. It was still floating around in the never-ever-ending land of the world wide web. (Be careful what you put there!) Although this COPY of his ad was laying dormant on some server somewhere, I found it and like Dr. Frankenstein, revived it for an audience of one - me.

Carlo was surprised when I called, since his car wasn't currently listed, nor had it been for many months. So I drove my rough around the edges, but also great 73 911E over and we shared our enthusiasm for both cars, as well as the marquee, as well as the Registry and the R-Gruppe. I liked him and his POV on Porsche immediately. Since my E was the 27th to the last E Targa built in 73, our cars were on the factory floor within a year of one another - kindred cars. And his family drove up just in time to see the rare Silver with Red & Black Leather Interior, A/C Targa, with Through the Grill Lights. He and his family liked my car, and I really liked his, with its factory delivered Through the Grills, its deep 6" Fuchs, its H1 Headlights, and that R-Gruppe favorite 210 bhp 2.7 engine with LSD tranny.

You'd be surprised at how a non-matching engine (though real RS) can devalue a car to the collectors over here. Most of the early mechanics I know could care less for their own cars...as long as it's factory and period correct. But it matters a lot to many, and I think that's great. I actually have a lot of respect for a matching car. My E had matching #s. The 57 Speedster that I co-own with a buddy is original, matching #s.

But to be honest with you, in the case of Carlo's car...I reaped the benefit of all of those who didn't buy it because of what it wasn't. I bought it because of exactly what it WAS...and what it could be. I love the lines on the 72, I love the chrome, I love the oil port, and I love the 72S engine. But I love the RS engine more. Like Carlo, I felt like I was getting the best of both worlds.

I do know that after I bought the car, more than a few people expressed regrets that they didn't pull the trigger and buy it. But you know...every car seems to find its proper home. Sometimes they take a pretty circuitous route to get there, but they do seem to price themselves to the right owner, when price is an issue. It was for me. Like my old fixer-upper house in the Hollywood hills (I am the Hillbilly in the hood) I wanted a 72S and loved real RS performance. However, I could afford neither when I started looking. How ironic that I would find one that I could not only afford, but one that had elements of both cars.

The other irony is that the $17,000 price tag probably scared some buyers off...they figured something had to be "wrong" with it. Carlo was simply trying to price it fairly, taking all of its needs into consideration. Because I understood what a cool car it was, and had similar ideas about its potential, Carlo really worked with me on the price and my timeline to make the deal and the trade work for both of us. And I thank him for that.

Yes, if the car was perfect or near it, even though it isn't a matching #s car, it may have brought as much as $25K over here as well. But cars in general are cheaper here. Though they are getting harder to find and are worth more and more here, there are still a lot of rust free cars to choose from, in almost all conditions and price ranges. One of the guys who almost bought Carlo's car ended up buying a real RS car. Another guy ended up with a near perfect, matching 72S, to the tune of $25,000. An excellent, loaded 73S Sunroof Coupe recently sold in the area for $23,500. One of the R-Gruppe guys is selling a really nice, fast 1970 911T with a 2.4S engine, houndstooth interior, and about $30K invested for $13,500. And a matching #s, 2 owner (the last since 1976), California, rust free, 1970 911E Coupe with 68,000 original miles (it's been on blocks for 15 years) just sold with a straight body and very nice interior for $3,000. Yeah...it's not running...but it was 3 grand!
So the real question to the early Porsche enthusiast in the UK is...maybe you should move over to the "other" west side. It's cheaper here...and the driving conditions are pretty much...purrrrrrfect.

I mean no offense by that. I LOVE the UK and have travelled over to film festivals there many times...Leeds, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Scotland & Northen Ireland. Next time I'm over, I hope that it's for an early Porsche event. I can't imagine a more beautiful place to drive an early 911 than Europe. Let me know next time the cars get together on the left side of the road, will ya? I would love to join you all sometime.


Cain
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1972 911S Coupe
R-Gruppe # 212