There’s a veneer around Porsches that suggests that are elusive, or otherwise difficult to find – so, if you want one, you’ll need to accept the fact that today’s entry point into air-cooled ownership is likely via a project car. However, as you start to look around, it’s hard to ignore the fact that there are seemingly rough parts cars offered up as the basis for restoration all over the place, often for $20,000 or more. Which begs the question, should we stop treating these cars as if they’ve already gone extinct? This 1984 Porsche 911 Targa is listed here on eBay as a roller with no engine for $22,500.

And listen: I say that as someone who generally likes and enjoys Porsches. It’s just crazy when you start to realize that the same reason we ding the C3 and C4 Corvette for being over-produced, you could seemingly make a similar argument for the 911. It’s not like these weren’t popular purchases for the jet set of the era, and plenty of these cars went to non-enthusiast homes that simply discarded them when the bodies began to rust or the engines got too leaky. This 911 fortunately has little in the way of rust and with no engine, well – it’s not leaking anything. The interior is in decent shape with good bucket seats but a dash with several cracks.

The Targa models in particular are shocking to see climb in value to the point that we’re asking this much for a roller. There was a time when a Targa sitting in your yard with no engine was barely a $500 car. While I understand that horse has left the barn, it’s also easy to see why many long-term enthusiasts likely shake their heads at the prices some folks are willing to pay. The other phenomenon at play is the increase in custom builds for old air-cooled cars, between backdating projects to create a high-dollar restomod to safari builds that attempt to use the 911 as a car that can blast over sand dunes. Now, even a car with no engine could be the gateway to a big budget build where the price to purchase a parts car is meaningless.

The 1984 911 Targa would have come with a 3.2L flat-six when new, producing 207 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. This was a more than respectable number then and it’s still plenty of fun today. However, it doesn’t seem that nearly as many Porsche fans want to bring this car back to stock form, instead opting for the options listed above. As a nearly rust-free specimen, you wouldn’t have to blow out your budget significantly to drop an engine in, throw some mild performance upgrades at it, drop the suspension to European ride height, and have a quintessential sports car in your garage. However, it still seems to me a car that needs all those things and was never the most desirable specimen to begin with should be a $10,000 car and not a $20,000 one.