This 1968 Porsche 912 strikes me on being just over the right side of that jagged edge of project car ownership. It’s rough, but it’s solid in enough places that you can tolerate the bad spots. A complete interior, tired but complete exterior, and a matching numbers engine are all good indications of a project’s worthiness, even if this 912 is a bit crusty underneath. Find it here on eBay with bidding over $10K and the reserve unmet.
The European style license plate on the front could be the result of an over-zealous owner looking to call attention to the car’s lineage, or it may be a remnant of a genuine European delivery experience. The seller doesn’t elaborate but does note that the 912 comes with extensive ownership history back to its first caretaker, which may determine if the car was purchased new in Germany. Obviously, the paint isn’t perfect, but you could live with it for now.
The interior presents nicely, with cloth buckets in good shape and a presentable dashboard. The contrasting red and black door panels are an interesting look, and one that I can’t recall seeing before. The OEM radio is missing and the seller shows photos in the eBay listing revealing plenty of rust in the floors when the carpets are lifted up. Again, while rust is an issue, at least you don’t have to track down a replacement interior or drivetrain.
The rust here looks fairly similar to my junkyard-rescue Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth project, and you can check out a video documenting its rusty underbelly here. In the case of this 912, I’d say its substantially worse, but I could just be trying to make myself feel better. Regardless, the completeness of this 912 and the claimed documentation factor well in its favor, and I suspect this one will be brought back to life following some extensive rust repair.
Jeff…. Add expensive to your repair comment. That’s a real rusty car.
Are we to be endlessly subjected to this junkyard 190? God,I hope not.I think I will just skip any story by Lavery to save myself the aggravation…
I’m with ya.
Caretaker…should be fired.
I bought a ’66 912 thru Auto Europe, for $4200 plus shipping to port of L.A. They fixed me up with an international drivers license and plates. someone drove it to Rotterdam, about 200 miles, and qualified it as a used car. Saved plenty on customs duty. Tried to get a new ’65 356 SC, but it was out of production.
Jack, that my fathers business models. He did quite a bit of business with Auto Europe and a few other brokers (though Holland where Ben Pon had the distributorship).
I always try to look on the bright side but when I see rust the only bright is when the sun is shinning though the hole!! I would inspect this ride closely before putting a bid in!! Being there isn’t a bunch of underside pictures!!
Reserve not met at $10,500.