This stalled Porsche 912 project was to be the owner’s final solo restoration job, but due to health issues, it will remain unfinished and up to the next owner to wrap up. Fortunately, this is a solid platform for completion without much in the way of rust to repair. The seller also notes it’s a bit of a rare bird, as this is a Karmann-built sunroof coupe, which is far rarer than those assembled by the factory. Much of the heavy lifting has been done, but it will still need some corrective bodywork, paint, and final assembly to be considered “restored.” Find the 912 here on Facebook Marketplace with a firm price of $25,000.
The seller sounds like he knows his stuff, and it’s refreshing to read a listing clearly written by someone who isn’t just flipping a car or who has freshly stumbled into the world of Porsche ownership. The 912 supposedly came to the seller with one of those aftermarket widebody kits installed that was all the rage in the early 80s to make your homely 912 looks like a Turbo car, and he painstakingly took it apart to find mostly solid bodywork underneath. The 912 of course had the ugly whale-tail spoiler and fender flares, so the seller sourced original fenders and replaced both sides. The rest of the 912 is largely solid, aside from some previously repaired floor pans that used homemade panels and the parcel shelf.
The interior is in decent shape for a car that’s been apart for quite some time, with clean carpets that appear original and a complete dash with all gauges and an aftermarket radio installed. The seller doesn’t specify whether seats will need to be sourced but does mention that “…several seals and trim” will need to be tracked down. The listing doesn’t highlight any other issues with the cabin, and most of the photos focus on showcasing how solid the body and the undersides of the 912 are. The seller mentions an almost complete assortment of sunroof parts as included in the deal, but doesn’t elaborate as to whether they are spares or if the original mechanisms were missing.
The engine was removed and then stripped down to the long block and cleaned, along with the tin and ancillaries, and the Solex 40s were rebuilt. The matching four-speed manual transmission was also removed, cleaned, drained, and refilled. The seller doesn’t specify whether the engine is numbers matching as well, a point I think he’d mention given it was called out when describing the manual gearbox. This isn’t as big of a deal on 912s, in my opinion, but it may matter to someone who is inclined to pay more for a Karmann-built, sunroof coupe model. Overall, a great project to pick up and run with provided you can justify $25K for an unfinished 912.
I really like this. I think the price isn’t crazy either
Price is not crazy and the sunroof is a $$ plus. Not sure I’d jump at this though when you can still find very nice, top class, driver for $40,000. I could see this car topping that number quite fas once you get into itt. 912’s are truly great cars..I drive my wife’s 68 all the time and it is just terrific. Nice to see 12’s getting their dues along with 914’s…
I’d have a 912 LONG before a 911. However….I see the engine lid latch is painted body color. They didn’t come that way. That latch is held on by two bolts.EASY to get out of the way to paint properly. That shows a “slap and dash” mentality paint job. Soooooo what else is hidden under the paint?
MIGHT be perfect….or…..
It’s an early three gauge Porsche, well worth completing. I don’t have the room so let me recommend it to anyone; 912s were wonderful. I’d take it over a 911 any day.
Me too..just love 912’s
I’m surprised with all the folks that posted that there were no corrections.
As an 11 Porsche owner, including two 912s (see below), anyone knows the 912 was only produced from ‘67 to ‘69, with the venerable 1600 motor, and for one year only in ‘76 with the bigger VW 4-cyl, as the bridge between the 914 and the 924 (later the wider 944).
This is not a ‘65…there was no such thing. And I am certain that I am not alone when I comment that either an actual factory 930, or one of the excellent well crafted 930 wide body conversions – many of which came out of talented SoCal shops, are arguably the most delicious automobiles ever to meet our eyes.
So so many stories to recount…when I take my ‘78 Guards Red slant nose cabrio out on a summer day, people of all ages, even little kids, literally shout out what a fabulous car, and I humbly agree. My wife and I were stopped at the gas station about to drive up to Mt. St. Helens (Washington) one afternoon, when a car pulled in nearby, a fellow jumped out, ran over and exclaimed “this was the poster on my bedroom wall as a kid”. It was his 40th birthday, he had just been freed from jail, and his mom had picked him up. My spouse said that I must let him drive it, and he put his hands in the air like he was on the Santa Cruz Big Dipper roller coaster, for his 40th birthday photo. Let me tell you, there is no more fun car to drive. My 4 year old grandson cannot wait for the first time my daughter will let him come for a ride with me.
So if someone flared the fenders, it was just fine. Drive these Porsches. Put a few dings in the hood and slide them around a little, that’s what they are for!
‘67 912 Coupe bright yellow
‘68 912 soft rear window Targa silver
‘70 914 neon green
‘72 914 radically flared and lowered white, later red
‘74 914 2.0 green
‘76 911S Targa in Oak Forest Green
‘77 911S with 930 wide body conversion, metallic blue
‘78 911S 3.0 Cabrio steel wide body slant nose, guards red
‘84 944 black
‘91 911 Carrera black
‘82 928S metallic plum purple
Umm…not certain that, “… anyone knows the 912 was only produced from ‘67 to ‘69.” Most sources suggest the 912 was first available in 1965 in the US, but not widely available until 1966. They went to 5-gauge dashes in 1967. But, I could be wrong and will happily be corrected. Merry Christmas!
Everything I find shows 912 production from 1965 thru 1969 and of course the one year 1976 with the larger impact bumpers! More than 32,000 912s were built from April 1965 to July 1969.
The long wheel base ’69s were the best handling Porsche of any kind that year. Lived with a ’69 Targa for a year that was great fun on weekends. We bought a new ’76 912E when we were in Europe. Great high speed cruiser on the Autobahns and easy on the over $3 per gallon fuel. 550 miles to a tank. Fully loaded, fully fun. Click on picture to get all Three.
I owned a 67 912 5 gauge coupe and several other Porsches over the years.
I know 911’s were first introduced in 1965. It’s my understanding that 912’s
became available in the US in 1966 and ran thru 1969. First year for 912 targas was 1967. Some soft window targas were produced in 1968 prior to change over to fixed window targas.