The seller claims this 1968 Porsche 912 has been sitting in a building out in the Nevada desert since 1986, and its highly original condition would certainly seem to lend itself to that. The Porsche is missing its original engine, but it supposedly has a Porsche 356 engine in its place dating to the 1960s. In a way, I wonder if that makes this 912 a more compelling purchase, since good 356 spares command a premium, and someone in the midst of restoring one but lacking a correct date-coded engine may see this barn find as a bit of a twofer: get a straight 912 to use as a driver, and an original 356 engine to complete an ongoing restoration. Find the 912 here on Hemmings where it’s listed with a price of $26,500 firm and still living in Nevada.
For being stuck in what looks like barely above average storage conditions, the 912 has emerged surprisingly intact. The Sand Beige paint, with black interior and optional Fuchs alloy wheels, is an extremely sharp color combination that has aged surprisingly well. The chrome headlight rings, OEM fog lights, and even an old-school nose “bra” specifically for a 911 all point to a level of originality we don’t always get to enjoy with barn find cars. With no major dings or dents, it would seem bodywork will be a very minor concern for the next owner; however, the seller does address that a faulty battery tray has allowed acid to drip down and rust out the front floor pans. Fortunately, that’s a straight-forward repair.
While the missing matching-numbers engine is a bummer, I agree with my earlier statement that there’s a silver lining here in that the next owner can likely sell the 356 engine for a fair price while hunting down a period-correct 912 engine. I could be wrong, but I don’t think 912 mills are commanding as high a price as genuine 911 engines. The paint on the rear quarter panels also presents well with a nice shine, but I wonder what happened to the various stickers and warning labels Porsche places on the edge of the engine bay. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a repaint given how well it cleans up, but the color at least appears to match the panels behind the engine itself. The seller claims he metered the paint depth and it appears consistent.
The 912 does run and drive, and the four-speed manual is said to shift well. It will need some minor odds and ends sorted out, but the seller notes that the fuel system is new (including the tank) and that it’s received the usual tune-up parts, like new points, plugs, cap, rotor, wires, and coil. The interior is said to be original, with noted flaws as being a crack in the dashboard, some stitching needed on the driver’s seat, and replacement rear seat bottoms. Overall, this is a surprisingly nice barn find that can be enjoyed immediately with some minor sorting. The seller notes his price as being firm, and I truthfully don’t think he’s far off in asking what he is, as it’s a reasonable price for a surprisingly sound barn find.
The 356 and 912 engines are one in the same as I understand. The 1976 911e used the VW type 4 engine however.
The 912 engines put out more horsepower than the 356s due to various mods to carbs, cams, compression rate, etc. We sourced one for our first Porsche race car and with even more mild improvements got a car that ate up the Datsun 2000s of the day. Agree with Jeff on what to do with the engines. This could be a very nice car if restored properly.
Metered the paint? Is that really a thing? Is there a special Porsche paint meter? I guess that would be called a Farbmesser.
Hi there,
Almost! It’s called a “Lackschichtdickenmessgerät”!
Greetings
Meter is a common tool the big auctions use to check originality of paint and spot repair work, especially body filler. Also gives folks trying to revive old paint a clue how much paint is left to work with.
Not original paint. 68s had side reflectors and they were removed when the car was repainted.
Hi,
Side reflectors came from late 68 for the 69 model year.
Greetings
The front reflectors are missing from a repaint.
Rear side reflectors are on the car. The holes to mount the front reflectors are there also. I’m leaning towards it having OG paint for the most part
Or a 3.6L/G50 in this light weight car, with some suspension mods and this would fairly zip.
ball peen hammer? could the dents be from hail?
To each their own butvthese are very enjoyable to drive
It’s been painted. As mentioned earlier the stickers are gone from the rear apron and no one removes reflectors and leaves open holes unless they panted that area.
Side reflectors were added in August of 67 not 68.
Cuz nobody I know has ever started taking something apart and then realizes it’s been forever since they touched it. The world has moved on and you decide to bless someone else with most of a car and boxes and bags of stuff.
The reality here is none of us can be sure what she is without laying hands and eyes on her in person.
She presents as a very eligible debutant who deserves lots of love and attention.
My wife was never a motorhead like me until she spotted a rare 1968 912 Targa. Totally restored, it was almost too perfect to drive. And it was never as much fun as our 356s.
Interesting, my 1968 912 does not have front or rear sway bars, maybe these were an option ? Nice car for what seems a reasonable price.