Good Targa buy???

[LDunville]

I have found a 1968 911S Soft Window Targa. It's serial numbers confirm that it's a real "S". It's been stored for most of the last 25 years, during which the owner has probably added about 5K to the total of 44K on the clock. It runs and sounds decent.

Interior
* Very rough
* Dash needs replacing
* Needs new carpets
* Needs all new rubber seals
* Needs new steering wheel
* Needs new removable top and vinyl rear windows
* Needs both door panels
* Needs seats, front an rear

Exterior
* Appears rust free except for
*
* one inch dia spot at bottom of passenger door
* A line of rust about 1" wide by 12 inches long on passenger side floor pan
* no other signs of even minor rust
* Cheap repaint about 10 years old with latches etc painted over
* Slight crease on top of right headlight
* Front bumper does not attract magnet???
* Doors fit is ok, but hood is not so good.
* No sign of collision damage

Power train
* Engine runs
* Clutch cable broken and therefore I have not been able to drive

Note: This is a German (ROW) 911S Targa. Not sure how it got here and I'm concerned about how that fact affects the value of the car. I'm assuming it therefore has none of the US 1968 air pollution equipment.

I'm looking for a keeper to restore to top notch condition, but not a show car. I want to drive it on sunny summer days. Also, I'm not looking at it as an "money making" investment. In the long run I hope I would ultimately be able to get most of my money out of the project. Therefore my question is, what is the right price to buy this. I think I can get it for about $15K to $20K.

Thanks
Larry

[POS]

Does it come with a title, or do you have title issues to deal with as well? For me, the body is the most important factor; minor rust like you describe wouldn't bother me, as long as you can make sure that's all there is. It sounds to me like what it needs most is a new interior - great! Deal! That's not only easy to replace, but it is a helluva lot cheaper than body work and paint. Sounds like a great buy at $15k, worthwhile (as long as you're sure about the rust thing) at $20k. The bad repaint thing sucks, but you can leave that alone and it'll make a great driver while you spend the money on the interior and mechanical first. My car is similar - it has an pretty good repaint, but that just means I don't mind parking it in the real world. No babying necessary. Yahoo!

[dporsche74]

love the lepord seat covers lol Great car and would be a Great buy !!!!
alot of folks would pay double ,maybe triple that in a heart beat.

[Longballa]

It sounds like a good buy and if you're ready to restore it and know what that means then go for it. Just know you will find more rust if you plan on doing a proper restoration. It will cost way more money than you think to replace all the old seals and restore all the other stuff. Paint and body alone will cost quite a bit. If none of that scares you then go for it. Early Porsche's that came over from Germany are only a problem if they spent more than a few years there as it would be a total rust bucket. If it came over early in life than it's no big deal as long as it's has a title somewhere in the US. The front bumper is fiberglass and you'll want to replace it anyway. My favorite Targa is the softwindow. Good luck.

[docrodg]

Posting what I did in your other thread:

68 "S" cars were not imported due to EPA. A few made it over here, and depending on when and how they got here there may be modifications to the car to make it "US Legal". If brought over legit for import early in it's life it will have some additional items that are changed. Taillights being one of these items that is also a problem... the Euro Spec taillights were red/orange/white while US regs allowed only red/white (no orange for turn signals) at that time. Unfortunately the 1968 taillights were a single unit - the lens was sealed permanently to the housing - and are now difficult to find in good condition and when found are very expensive (last time I even thought about it a pair was gonna cost almost 900 bucks for NOS). Additional items are reflectors may be added on the sides, bumper guards that may be added, and the condition of the door panels. The 1968 S model had it's own panels, without speakers, and these tend to have speakers installed in them and worn out elastic on the pockets. Again, being a unique part they are hard to find. Additional changes that were sometimes inflicted on these cars due to import were swapping the 40IDS carbs to 40IDA to meet smog requirements and addition of the air pump system on the engine.

Go nuts with a camera and post pictures and the folks on here can dissect it for you... I did that when I first got mine and it helped immensely. There are some real guru's on this board that can steer anyone in the right direction.

Right off the bat... if you see rust there is more rust, so look harder. Also, those are wrong taillights (shoudl have yellow for turn), and the door panels as I stated above are hell to get too. Go over it well and look at going prices for what you need to get it into nice shape. If it is a deal then buy it and drive the hell out of it!

[tomkirkcis]

68 is one of those years that does present some unique parts issues. The advise you have recieved is true. The rust you see has to be multiplied by a factory for the rust that is hiding. The car appears to be mostly all there. You are missing the tiny unique SWT trim at the base of the targa bar. You may be hunting hard to find SWT and 68 only peices for a while to make it complete. But all things considered, if it does not need major mechanical work, it is a smoking deal at 15-20k.

[Bullethead]

Forget the magnet... it takes an icepick to find what's rotten. From the looks of the tires it's stood in water so poke everywhere underneath, especially the supension points. The spoiler is FG. Missing correct parts on a '68 cost, so IMHO low-ball $12-18K and
that's if the mechanicals are OK. Resto budgets are relative, but it's not gonna be cheap.

Good luck!

[POS]

From the looks of the tires it's stood in water so poke everywhere underneath

Wow! Good eyes.

[Bill Simmeth]

Wow. A running tangerine swt S for less than $20K. Sweet!

[Bullethead]

On the tire tell: alternatively, it could have lived inside under a car cover for years and that's just dust. Either way, ice pick.