Update 2/26/20 – This one got bid up to $39k back in December but has resurfaced here on eBay. It’s listed by the same seller so we can only assume the deal fell through.
From 12/26/19 – This 1964 Porsche 356 C represents the end of the line for the classic bathtub-shaped coupe before being replaced by the iconic 911. The seller alludes to an interesting story accompanying this example but doesn’t provide any details for why it’s been sitting in what looks like a California backyard with its transaxle removed. The body looks quite nice as does the interior, and underside photos appear to show a largely rust-free pan. You’ll find the 356 here on eBay with bids to over $35,000 and no reserve. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Patrick S. for the find.
The seller says this is a one-owner car parked in 1983 in Torrance, California. The 356 still wears old-school California blue plates (see top photo) and the body looks reasonably sound, but I can’t quite tell if there’s some rust emerging along the edges of the door in this picture. Curiously, the transmission has been removed and is deep in a storage unit as the seller claims it was the first item in and will among the last ones removed when the storage locker is cleaned out. However, the transaxle is not included with the sale and will only be included if sold for the Buy-It-Now price.
….but there is no Buy-It-Now price! All I can figure is this 356 is either running again on eBay or the bids have surpassed a point that the seller feels his odds are better if there’s no bottom-line price listed in the description. Still, it seems sort of cheap to not include the original transmission just because it’s currently removed. If it were sitting next to the 356 on a pallet, would you still say not included with the sale? Regardless, the interior looks more than fair and the painted dash presents quite well. The seller lists the interior color as red, so perhaps the seats and carpets have been changed.
Floors look quite good in this photo, but another shot in the eBay listing appears to show some rot-through underneath; however, given the quality of the pictures, it’s not fair to say one way or another if any rust has started poking through underneath. The seller does provide a picture of the engine case to verify this 356 C remains a matching numbers car, and combined with the fact that these later models came standard with four-wheel disc brakes, you can see why bidding is so strong at the moment. While the Porsche market has cooled a bit, survivor 356s will always be in season.
Red dash, used to be red car. Engine case number but transmission held hostage. Doesn’t say engine included. Some structure rust underneath. 35K? This guy has been hitting the nog long before Christmas.
No, just greedy. I am glad if people find pleasure in these cars, I just wish the greedy money grubbing types would go away so the people who understand and appreciate them could do that with out having to worry about value.
Yep, what bob wrote.
Seller hitting nog? Me thinks it’s the bidders or the chandelier that have gone daft! Love his comment about $200k restored. Is BHCC going under a new handle? Smells like a rodent.
Why do you knock BHCC ?? I’ve done business with them several times and hopefully again in the future.They sell cars that people don’t finish, in all stages of disrepair
BHCC is terrible. I have seen them sell a Pantera with a standard trans stuffed in side. Acted like it was complete.
I know of 2 BLACK original cars with red dashes. Looked silly . Carpets were hessian-like , also in red. Only thing I am not sure of was the colour of the seats , although I think it may have been black.
This car is not that good. A complete rust bucket and not worth it. Look at the holes. Sometimes these torsion bar tubes rust are damaged where they mount by rust out or broken torsion bars. What junk. What value is there with withheld parts. Does anyone understand how long it takes to purchase all the missing parts. This guy has caused any possible buyer to turn away. Keep the car, with the transmission and we will move on. The seller has just tainted any sales possibility. Learn the sellers roll not the dictators roll.
Seller’s a jerk for not including the transaxle in the sale, especially as it’s a matching numbers car. And anyone who spends big money on this thing without it is crazy.
He’s holding it hostage so you will be compelled to buy at his price. He’s kinda doing the same with a VW bus, holding some of the interior pieces unless you pay full price. Someone could point out that he does mention the word “COMPLETE” in all caps whatever that means.
This has to go down is one of the worst write ups on ebay. The difference between genius and stupidity is genius has limits.
And yet more and more eBay sellers are like that. And more and more people are buying. Just the other day someone posted a 79 Ford crew cab 4-wheel drive that had tons of rust the biddings already over 25,000 it has seven days to go go figure
There is a crack in the Bondo next to the driver’s side headlamp. Accident repair before the repaint? Still, except for the Free Rust, this is still an eminently restorable, mostly complete, car. The seller does mention the engine number, but not the trans, but does say that this a numbers matching car. I have owned two (or was it three) 356s that make this look like it’s in the showroom. I drove them every day.
I will be watching this closely.
That seller is a real grinch extra toadstool with sauce. Transaxle held hostage, really, nothing more to say on that. Tribe has spoken…
The seller is a W@*ker! Hope he off loads the car, then discovers that he has been paid in fake bills. Now that would be a good New Year present.
These cars have totally lost their luster for me. Crazy money for a car sitting outside with rot and not including the major mechanicals. I saw a nice original red 356 at the grocery store on Christmas eve and just thought for the money they are bringing they are just a nothing car (and I had a nice once a few years back)
The car you want is one being offered by an active, longstanding member of a particular marque’s club, who has cared for and babied the car for years and years. Someone who genuinely cares about it and can (and will) tell you about it in detail.
Then there’s the two-few/fuzzy photos and poor description crowd. Honesty goes a long way and it’s always been in short supply in the used car arena.
Why bother with this car when you could join a 356 club and network your way to a much nicer car that is hopefully not being tossed about on the internet looking for the highest paying victim?
I’d pay more for one of those and wind up spending less when all in.
And to think a lot of us would have trouble just getting in and out of these things !
Contacted the seller. He says he’ll throw in the trans if the bidding passes $50k+. I guess you have to make it worth his while.
Any ebay listing that hides bidders id’s is suspect in my book. In other words you’re probably bidding against a shill.
@dab I didn’t know ebay offered such a thing, but I do know. Thank you for bringing it to light. And I agree with you. The bidding is all constructed by the seller.
eBay does that for all listings, not just auctions. It’s a way to keep people not involved with the item for sale from contacting a buyer. There is nothing shady about it. The people that think eBay is doing this to promote shill bidding tend to be tin foil cap wearing conspiracy theorists.
Steve R
Steve R you are mistaken. It has nothing to do with contacting a prospective buyer. The seller has to chosen the option for the bidders identity to be hidden. You can’t contact the seller with either option.
He’s listed on thesamba as a private sale as well for $55k. Still the same crappy pics and write up.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2333580
Now reduced to $28,000
Is it my eyesight, the photo quality or what…looks like minor hail damage on the paint over entire car. Or is that just odd oxidation ? Years ago I lived near where this car is located, actually before it was assembled. For those that don’t think they’d fit in one of these, they’re actually quite spacious…at least for tall folks. An attorney friend has 3. All one owner. HIM ! He’s got a “B”, “C” and one of those non-Porsche well-made Spyders with the extended wheelbase/footwell. That one also has an early 911S engine. I’m over 6’1″ and he’s taller than me. The originals NEVER go out unless it’s nice weather, but he drives that “replicar” even in our horrid Chicago Winter. Don’t believe he’s interested in another, and since he’s my friend, I don’t need one either….
I hope it doesn’t sell as holding out the transaxle is straight bull crap. Do the MATH and put what you want to sell all of your rusty Porsche.
He probably botched the removal…
Maybe some day you will get the same Karma returned.
Its like going to hospital with the so sorry to wake you from anesthesia but the valve needed for your heart is an extra to the 100 grand as its only for the skilled incision. Do you want to pay the extra 25 grand or let us stitch you up? 😏
The seller is the kind of person who in my opinion has ruined the collector car hobby. Obviously he’s only in it for the money. But his way of holding a part of the car, and knowing where it is, just makes me angry. He deserves to get burned on every car he purchases for the rest of his day’s.
WOW! THAT SURE IS A LOT OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!
Why is everybody dumping on the seller? If somebody doesn’t like the car or the terms of the sale, they don’t have to bid on it. You can sit there and say the hobby is “ruined” or you can go find the car that floats your boat – they are out there.
Currently for sale here for $28,000
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2333580
The eventual buyer didn’t see the Samba ad for 28K because it SOLD for 30K on EBay.
I drove an original 356C full convertible in September of 2016. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to see what motivates people to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars with sixty horsepower, but no closer to understanding. They’re nice cars, in the same way that a CRX Si is a nice car. Just without the performance and comfort.
No trans and only the engine “case” included. Add poor pics and description and I can’t see it going above what he got last time but as has been said many times “There’s an ass for every seat.” Currently at $25k with 1-1/2 days left.
So he’s got the parts, and holding them hostage… It’s like a kidnapper after you pay the original ransom.
FORGET IT & MOVE ON.
Where do people find these things? Better than the California gold rush! Seller should read Bible about greed. Trans not included at that price? Madness.
Listed again because the seller is obviously a flake….. selling parts as extra? Then the blue plate on an original owner 63? Um no. Those plates are from the 70s or 80s.
People win a auction on e-bay and for some reason, the sell doesn t happen and the item goes to another option…this is the obscur e-bay. In REAL auctions, you win, you pay, you keep your purchase…and too bad for you if you got a bad deal, you face consequences…e-bay is just bad.
When I grew up in Northwest Detroit, Mi in 1965 my neighbor Ms Suzy Black who was a real “Fox” in the day showed up with a Porsche just like this one but she had a ski rack on the back. I often wonder what happened to Suzy and her beautiful car?