I’ll admit it, I prefer the pre-’73 non-Federal bumper Porsche 911. I would imagine that most do. You place a ramming speed banger on a Ford LTD or a Buick Deuce and a Quarter, no one’s going to notice. Trying to retrofit a small car like a Fiat X1/9, or an MGB, or a Porsche 911S such as today’s ’77 subject car, and it’s gonna stick out like a sore thumb. Federal regs run amuck? Not in the minds of those with the Carter administration or over at Joan Claybrook’s NHTSA. OK, let’s not dwell on the past as this 911 actually made do with the situation pretty well. That’s one of the things that I like about this Porsche – no monstrously fat quarters and no whale tail spoiler – it’s just a nice-looking 911 in a rather uncharacteristic Porsche hue. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, this German speedster is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $25,108 with the reserve not yet met.
The listing for this 911S is rather lengthy so I’ll condense it down. The seller has owned it for six years (he’s the sixth owner) and he, and the previous owner, always kept it garaged. The finish is original, other than some touchups. The seller adds, “Continental Orange is a 4/5 on the rarity scale. Rarely do cars come to market in this shade and almost never are they still original paint. This means that the car is still wearing the paint it left the factory with in late 1976 and was not resprayed“. He further adds that this is a “galvanized car”(?) so rot is usually not a problem. The seller notes that the “cookie cutter” wheels are OEM, and for all of you winter sports enthusiasts, the skis and ski rack are not included in the sale.
Now for the elephant in the room, this Porsche’s U.S. spec 157 net HP, 2.7-liter flat-six engine has experienced 290K KM or about 180K miles of usage. It is believed that the engine is original and has not been apart. The seller states, “Engine certainly doesn’t need to be rebuilt now and has no signs of weakness“. This item, alone, should be something for the next owner to consider carefully. The transaxle is a manual, and while not stated, I imagine it’s a four-speed. The research source that I used indicates that the five-speeds were reserved for non-U.S. spec cars.
Little is said about the interior other than the fact that the dashpad is not cracked. I will say this, it looks great, especially considering how much use this 911S has endured. The upholstery shows little sign of wear as do the door cards and what can be seen of the carpet. The gauges are all clear and an aftermarket radio has been installed – it would have been nice to find the original Becker unit. No doubt about it, it’s very original and gives off the perfect Germanic vibe.
Summary? Looks great, sounds as if everything works and there are no issues with running and driving. The Continental Orange may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I have to admit that I like it. Concerns? Yeah, that mileage and what attention an expensive Porsche 2.7 engine may require in the near future. That’s my assessment, what’s yours?
I think a rebuilt 911 engine just hammered for 18K on a popular auction site. Personally I find it hard to believe this engine has survived 180K without being apart. The 77 model year is without question the worse year for the 2.7L engine. Strike one is the magnesium engine case which started life as either a 2 liter or 2.2L engine. By the time Porsche increased the displacement to 2.4 and finally 2.7 they were as large as you could safely go. Strike 2 is the 77 models had a thermo reactor that baked the poor engine and its brittle magnesium case hard enough to pull the head studs and distort the case enough that the only repair was case savers and line boring. The 3rd strike is the 6 blade cooling fan which was bare minimum for cooling. In addition I thinkg the valve guides were really soft and wore quickly. So if this is truly a survivor go out and buy the next large jackpot lottery ticket
The car otherwise is a great seldom seen color and you can’t go wrong with black guts. The cookie cutters are correct for the car but my go to is the forged Fuchs for the benefit of strength and lightness. The one nice improvement over the 76 model was the introduction of power assisted brakes. I used to have to stand on the brake pedal pretty hard with cold brakes.
Refresh my brain Alphasud… Thought all the 915 transmissions were 5 speed. We had the 915 in our 912E. Assuming this car has the same.
I have never seen a 4-speed 915 on a 911S maybe ROW but they were 4-speed as well.
If you’d have bought the bright green Targa and this car you’d have to wear sunglasses to get into your garage. Still, nice unusual color.
Take that damn thing off the roof.
Safety vest orange, I’ve German highway Jacket in this exact color.
It’d be funny to buy this & wear all German orange work gear.
License plate “hi vis”
Darn, those old neck/back/knee breaker skis aren’t included in the sale.
I found some of those in an old barn when I was a kid with old leather straps and used to go down small hills on them. You just went straight, you could not turn them.