This strikes me as a rare opportunity in the air-cooled Porsche world. The asking price on this 1977 Porsche 911 doesn’t seem terrible, especially considering the specs. This is a factory sunroof delete model that left the showroom wearing Talbot Yellow paint, one of the rarer color options offered by Porsche. The other interesting detail are the headlight washers, which usually suggest that this car began life as a European-market example. The 911 is listed here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $28,900, and is said to be in largely solid condition with an engine that still turns freely by hand.

I’ve been listening to the Spike’s Car Radio podcast, which often has Jerry Seinfeld as a guest. As we all know, Seinfeld is a prolific collector of all things Porsche, so it’s fascinating to see what he considers a desirable specimen. He’s correct in his assessments, and avoids buying projects like this unless it’s an obscenely rare example like a 550 Spyder. But if you’re looking to get into air-cooled ownership without getting absolutely hosed on restoration costs, finding one with some rare equipment or a desirable paint code is a smart place to start. The additional bonus about this 911 is the cheap orange paint job is already peeling off in sheets, so the sanding process should be fairly efficient.

When you see the interior, it becomes obvious that this Porsche has been sitting somewhere getting belted on by relentless sun exposure. That’s not a bad thing when it comes to a restoration project, as it’s cheaper to replace an interior than it is to replace sheet metal. The seller notes that there is some rust but it is largely limited to the front driver’s side suspension floor pan. The doors are said to open and close nicely, a good sign, and the seller notes the additional bonus of it retaining most of its factory Sekurit glass with the exception of the front windscreen. Despite the poor respray, it seems like this 911 is simply suffering from neglect versus wanton abuse.

Interestingly, you can see a variety of past paint sins in the engine compartment. It’s also been red at some point, but you can see the Talbot Yellow paint poking through. Talbot Yellow is a richer, more “yellow” shade, if that makes sense; it’s not Speed Yellow, but it’s also more intense than a Signal, Light, or Pasadena yellow car. It will look absolutely killer when it’s restored back to the factory shade, and those factory Fuchs wheels will look spectacular against the fresh paint. No word on whether the engine is numbers-matching, but even if it isn’t, this still seems like a smart car to restore to factory specs.