I put a deposit on a 1969 blue 'Bruce Anderson built' 911E that a dealer is selling yesterday (here), subject to the dealer Rich Krieger replacing the aftermarket interior parts with original parts, sort out the rough running and a few other details.

I subsequently found out that Rich Krieger or Wayne Krieger or Rich Mc Krager, or whatever name he choses to go by, has a less than satisfactory business reputation with Sears Point Classics, Born2bFast, Air Cooled Engines, Mr Porsche, Fast Classics etc.

He is currently operating a business called 'Air Cooled Engines' from Petaluma (ebay ID is porsche-aircooled-engines), with another premises rented at 540a Barnevalde St, San Francisco. He has been spectacularly difficult to meet to view the car, and cancelled many appointments or did not show up at all.

The business does not seem very official, with no signage, his work order sheet was on 'Born2bfast' headed paper with that crossed out and written 'Air Cooled Engines' in pen right next to it.

I noticed during the inspection that the number on the A pillar VIN plate was missing, but thought nothing of it at the time. On closer inspection, do these VIN's seem unusual to anyone? To me, the one stamped into the chassis by the smugglers box seems very irregular and the paintwork around it looks odd, but I have not seen that many of them.





The car is missing all of its history and paperwork, he says it is matching numbers but has not yet shown any evidence of this. He also says that Bruce Anderson set up the engine and taught the owner to set up the suspension, but there is no documents for this as it was all 'cash in hand' transactions.

Rich has subsequently emailed me to say if I pull out of the deal, not only does he keep my deposit, but he wants $500 for the labor to put the original seats back into the car.

My instinct tells me to run away, but I will lose my deposit, and I think I will lose my last chance of an affordable 911E?