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Rare 1964 Porsche 356C Barn Find

When the owner says this 1964 Porsche 356C for sale here on eBay in Chattanooga, Tennessee “needs a complete restoration,” you better believe it. Bidding is at $8,600, but that doesn’t meet the reserve. This is a rare find though and would be worth serious money if properly restored. The question is, who’s up for the monumental task?

I have seldom seen a more comprehensively rusted car. Even the motor is heavily rusted, which likely happened since it was stored outside—after accumulating 218,108 miles. The door bottoms look to have been victimized by a giant pair of tin snips. Now here’s the good news. The original engine and transmission are in place, and the motor turns over. “The gauges are in good shape.”

Also note that this was a special-order car, with Bali Blue (navy blue) paint and red/oxblood interior. The owner admits the car needs “lots of rust repairs,” but notes optimistically that all the necessary panels can be found online.

Parts prices are kind of high, but this is a sought-after car. Hagerty lists a Concours example at $148,000. But in #4 condition, which this one could only aspire to? $49k. Buyers and sellers need to be realistic.

The 356C is the last iteration of this classic model, introduced in 1964. For the first time, the car had disc brakes all around. And the 95-horsepower SC was on the options list. The 911 debuted the same year. It was a good year for the 356 in 1964, with 14,151 sold. The 356 sold so well that North American dealers kept the model around even as they started to sell 911s.

It’s a Porsche, so fast, huh? Hardly. The standard 356C has 74 horsepower and 86 pound-feet of torque on tap. You could outrun it with grandma’s Toyota Corolla. But the mystique, well, that’s priceless.

So are you brave enough to bring this sleeping beauty back from the dead?

If you can do the work yourself and have a good dry-state parts car handy, it may pencil out. Sending it to a high-end restorer with a blank check, probably not so much.

Comments

  1. Avatar bobhess Member

    I’ve been “brave” on several restorations, but never “stupid”. What “stupid” is leaving the Florida tag on which indicates the poor condition is what happens when salt water flooding gets to it. Stupid is thinking you can restore this car as there is very little left of it to restore. Stupid is not getting the car evaluated professionally before putting on the market with a really stupid price/reserve. Stupid is me even bothering to comment on this pile of rust.

    Like 41
  2. Avatar Mike W_H_ Member

    well, about 90k oughtta put this right. So a bit of upside assuming in the four years it take to restore, nothing happens to tank the market.

    I’d be more comfortable starting with a 45k driver and putting in another 45k.
    Would only take half the time as well.

    Hard pass on anything from Florida.

    Like 12
  3. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Happy to see the miles on this. This poor car paid the price for someones fun. Well done! I would say a daily driver for most of its miles.

    Like 7
  4. Avatar Luki

    Peruse the auction sites.
    Find the 356 of your dreams. Bid to win. Get it home. Dive it and enjoy it.
    All in less than a few weeks.
    Most people that want a 356 (myself included) doesn’t have many years left so why waste time on this pile of rubble?

    Like 13
  5. Avatar Cadmanls Member

    Just amazing that they keep bringing crazy prices for these cars in poor condition, this is worse than poor! Maybe someone needs well used very expensive parts.

    Like 5
  6. Avatar greg

    Parts car. Not rare enough to replace the body shell. Thought for a second the car was in Beverly Hills

    Like 8
  7. Avatar mike

    Nothing a donor car wouldn’t fix.Porsche people are a strange lot…sorry

    Like 1
  8. Avatar Bultaco

    These are cute to look at and they were well put together, but they sure seem to me like glorified Karmann Ghias. A little more content and a little faster maybe, but not prettier, and about the same high build quality. Go figure the crazy values of these things, but I hope this one gets restored given the number of miles it has traveled.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar Rob

    I lived about a block and a half from the ocean in FL at one time, and I noticed something interesting after a while. I went out one day and noticed corrosion and some rust on my car that was only a year old.

    The reason? Salt is in the air. That “sea breeze” that we all love, contains salt, a lot of salt. Net/net, any car that’s within 20 miles of the beach is a candidate for rust, a lot of rust.

    Anyway, this car is way, way too far gone to restore.

    Like 6
    • Avatar Robert White

      It’s just a small restoration of every single part on the entire car, as well as the whole car body, and frame components.

      It’s a small car, and not that much work when you tear it all down to just parts.

      I could rebuild this entire car within 12 months, and paint it too.

      Little cars are easy, big cars are a chore & a half.

      Bob

      Like 1
      • Avatar bobhess Member

        Bob, it’s very obvious you’ve never restored one of these cars, especially one without any good metal left on it. Example…. the rusty area below the windshield area almost never looks like that except after it’s been filled with saltwater.

        Like 2
      • Avatar Robert White

        I can rebuild anything made out of steel, metal, or wood. I’m a Mechanical Engineering Technician of many decades.

        Nothing in this world that is mechanical engineering can stump me.

        I restored my 66 Acadian Canso Sport Deluxe which was toast in some spots just as this Porsche is toast in some spots. I realize that the whole Porsche needs all new metal, but that’s really no big deal as I’ve done it before.

        You, on the other hand, haven’t and that’s why you think I can’t do it.

        Frankly, you never spent years as a Mechanical Engineering Tech so you don’t know how we think.

        Bob

        Like 0
    • Avatar Solosolo Member

      I lived half a mile from the Indian Ocean for over 50 years and rust was a big problem with the earlier cars but by the start of the Noughties was no longer a problem. Better grade steel I should think.

      Like 1
  10. Avatar Chris

    That is crusty. I think the little remaining paint is holding it together.

    Like 3
  11. Avatar Bob the ICEMAN

    Well Wilber, there I was getting ready for another day’s work out in the “glades”, here in Florida. Got my air boat gassed up and looked from the fuel dock down into the brackish water only to see that Porsche roof about six inches down. I turned around and asked Billy, the fuel dock master: What is that car doing down there? Billy replied that it has been used as an anchor for the fuel dock since 1978 and that his boss “ Big Dan “ had been following the Porsche market and figured he could at least get $10,000 for it. So he will haul it out tomorrow hose it off and sell it to some fella who has more money than common sense.

    Like 6
  12. Avatar Neville

    Another GSM, ( German shale mine) ready to open, win the lottery and pay someone to restore it, nice car when done !👍😀

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Darrell J Dirr

    Just needs paint, my favorite line !!

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Gary

    The only thing “rare” in this car is the pork the owner has been eating. He must have got trichinosis in his brain. Dementia has set in. Mamma always said you need to cook Porky through and through.

    Like 4
  15. Avatar bobhess Member

    Robert White. Interesting you think you know what I haven’t done.

    Like 5
    • Avatar Solosolo Member

      Yeah Bob, a lot of the commenters on these pages figure themselves to be mind readers.

      Like 2
  16. Avatar Jon.in.Chico

    Sold for $17,600 … amazing !!

    Like 2

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