So I started looking. Was going through Pano, PML, Excellence, plus a bunch of those English classic car magazines, all the time, getting a feel for the market-place and prices. Bought a couple of buyer’s guide-type books, even dug up some old ‘things-to-look-for-in-a-911’ type articles I’d saved up over the years, getting familiar with specifications, different features and equipment. Started book-marking all the Porsches-for-sale sites, even running across (and eventually joining) the Early ‘S’ Registry. Sold my trusty M3. That was spring 2008.
The first car I went after was John Rice’s (john rice) '69 (VIN = 119300373), when it came up on eBay, in May of ‘08. (See post #290 on the eBay 911S sales thread.) I first found out about it on Pelican, describing some R-Gruppe icon that, for one reason or another, was being let out in public, located up the San Francisco Bay Area. The vehicle was already on eBay by the time I found out about it --- so I had to scramble. Looked like just my kind of car, too: tidy, but a little rough cosmetically, with a donked nose, and a rust bubble just starting on one of the front quarters, but with clean pans, fresh motor, vintage seats, vintage MOMO, ‘glass bumpers and black CA plates, without rocker or bumper trim, torsion bar covers, or even wheel caps ---- Jeez, I mean this car was just stripped down to its bike shorts. Basically, everything I wanted, all in one package. And in that condition, I wouldn’t even have to worry about washing it. Got my finances lined-up, then got in front of my PC. Auction ended on a Sunday evening, and I was just pumped . . . . I bid up to $55k . . . . and lost. (By a $100.) Not surprised, I guess. Wrote the winning Bidder but never heard back --- 'if you ever wanna sell,' etc. I’ll remember that car for a long time.
Counting that first Red Car I’d first seen up at the Ventura Show, I’d now seen TWO black-plate ‘69s. Hhhh.
Then another 2-liter came up, this time advertised on the Registry site: a fully-restored, ex-California car in Bahama Yellow (VIN = 119300874). I communicated with the Seller Andreas (A.T.) a few times, looked at a lot of photos, got as far as looking at flights out to Canada to see the car. But it was a lot of money and I wasn’t anxious about getting a restored car. I’ve always preferred a ‘beat’ original car --- solid, but with some needs. Money’s always an issue, I guess . . . but I also wanted to see all the warts before they disappeared under a fresh coat of paint.
Next car came up a few months later, also on the Pelican site, --- this time, a ’71 (VIN = 9111300115), Gemini Blue, located in Michigan. (See post #291, as above). The Seller’s ad included a link to an album with numerous detailed photos. The Seller (thevojtiseks) wrote that he’d picked-up the vehicle in mid-project, then completed it himself over a period of time. There was an impressive list of the vendors used and work that had been done. Unfortunately, the PPI turned-up an equally impressive list of things that needed attention. Nothing really fatal, but I was adamant that I had to be able to drive the vehicle home. There were issues, but I was willing to negotiate; Seller, however, was not.
Next up was a car I first saw advertised in Pano: another ’71, Conda Green (VIN = 9111300499), otherwise better known as ‘Patrick.’ (See post #300, as above.) I drove up to Santa Cruz on a week-end, to meet with the Seller --- a very sick Mr Lee McKay --- to look the vehicle over, some months before it was to come up for auction on eBay. Difficult to describe this car . . . or the circumstances. When I first saw it, glowing in a house-side driveway on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I was pretty sure it would be out of my price-range (~$40-60k). But actually . . . it was probably too nice a car for what I wanted to do; the underside was as spotless as the top. Anyway, some months later, I watched the auction on-line . . . but didn’t offer. The winning bid was $68.5k --- which definitely was out of my price-range --- but that was a lot less than I had expected. This vehicle is pretty incredible, too . . . . and I’ll just say Bryan (fryardds), you are a very brave man to drive something so nice.
This 911, by the way, was also the first Prospect that I’d actually seen in person.
Next, I had some conversations with a local Registry member, Curtisaa, about a '70 Gemini Blue ‘S’ sunroof coupe that he was restoring. Curtis showed me his car --- the body shell had just been painted and the engine and trans were about to go back in, when I saw it --- and we looked over the engine and some of his other cars. For a while, I thought he might be interested in selling his ‘S’ to me. But. I think he got attached to it and . . . no sale.
By the latter part of 2008, I was getting a bit distracted. That’s the busy time-of-year at our company. And, more notably, the economy was turning-down. Big-time. I had some numbers in mind when I started looking for a car, but as the year wound down, I was pretty sure that prices would be coming down in the months ahead; I was in no hurry. At one point, I was even shopping for a 996 GT3, and prices on those cars were plunging. Either way . . . whether it was an early ‘S’ or a GT3 --- I figured something would turn up.
1) John Rice's '69 'S'
2) Andreas' '69 Bahama 'S'
3) The problematic Michigan car
4) Brian's fabulous Conda car (ex-Lee McKay), aka 'Patrick' (More pictures at post# 305)
5) Curtis' sunroof 'S' in process
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Happy motoring, Rick.
