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Story by Norman Garrett • Photos as Credited
Broken cars whisper to me. I’ve owned some 60-odd cars in my life, and fully half of them did not run when I bought them. Of course, most …
Great article! I just tried my hand at auctions this week. I missed it by $50. (128i with sport package). This has given me great insight going forward. Thank you for sharing your experience.
This was a great article. I am going to be using some of this for a non profit organization coming along.
Love this article!
I purchased a 1987 Porsche 924S with 46K miles for $900 as a totaled insurance car. The car suffered a fuel line leak in the rubber pressure hose going to the injector rail, and the underhood wiring harness, rubber bits, and a spot on the hood were damaged. I had to replace the bits that burned and repaint the hood - that's it. I also replaced the front seats with matching power seats from a later 944 just for effect, although it was not needed.
In the end I got a car that was pretty nice. The photo is from the 70th Birthday of Porsche last week at the dealership in Orlando. There is a complete writeup on the project at https://924s944.com/2016/07/12/insurance-company-junk/
In reply to Tom Suddard : I’d like to blame you guys for the hours I’ve spent on Co-part and IAA sites finding pieces of my next race car.
I’d like to but the truth is I’ve enjoyed the process.
damn you for giving me ideas for this. I might have to really start looking on their for the next few rides. i know I think when I read this last time I singed up for copoart....damn you guys for ruining my life when it comes to cars. I can not look at super cars or other high end stuff with out thinking about beating them challenge style.
Regardless of the color in the photograph I’m surprised at how few seem to share my excitement over the chance to buy cars fresh from the wrecking yards.
I spend far too much time on those sites selecting, calculating, deciding, occasionally bidding.
Looking for a particular model but often distracted and dreaming of others.
I look not just for a car but parts for a car. If I can buy that one I’ll take the brakes and supercharger off it and still be able to scrap it, or maybe sell the remains to the guy who specializes in that brand.
Or maybe combine two cars into one whole car? Take that flood car and that wrecked car use the wiring and soft good from the wreck and the body and other pieces from the flood car to come up with a really cool whole car
So this happened. First vehicle i have purchased without an inspection or test drive. 1997 LS400. I bid 275 and forgot about it. I ended up winning. With fees and registration it came to about 675. Not sure what I am going to do with it since i wasnt expecting to win--but I digress. It has 212K miles and moves under its own power. It needs a front fender some brake and exhaust work and a hunting idle issue fixed (iacv?). Timing belt is also due. Heat works and AC seems to work. Interior is about a 5/10 and it has some rust on the rear wheel arches. Thanks to you all I checked another thing off my car related list. Obligatory craigslist style picture attached. 
In reply to hotchocolate :
Dude, enjoy a pimpin' ride, and when it needs more than you're willing to spend on it, you can make good money parting it out.
I deleted my three posts re the photoshopped photo. After reading them they really did not add any content to this thread.
It's fun to do! Bought an insuranced totaled one. Fixed it, had state inspect it to be street legal, given a salvaged title and new VIN for a 1999 Miata sport, prepped it to be legal for showroom stock, got a log book, ran a few regionals to test it out, never trailered it and drove it to Summit Point, WV for the 2000 SCCA 12 Hour, won SSB and drove it home! 
Behold the One Lap CRX...in the before times.
This is at Copart. Sold the running HF drivetrain for the purchase price of the whole car.
I may have missed it in the article, but a GREAT source of track cars is the flood, hail or storm damaged cars on Copart and IAA. Everything the flood hurts will be tossed (interior, electrical components, etc) or rebuilt (engine, trans, hubs, etc).
I used to work for IAA as a Catastrophe Center director and saw tons of these kinds of cars come through from floods in Houston and Hurricane Floyd, Georges and Katrina. Many of the cars were driveable with no damage to drivelines.
My current employer has a rule that any car with water on the floor gets totaled. This is due to all the electronics on modern cars. I would not buy a flood car made after about 2010.
We insurers total cars for a reason. However, I will say that when we are talking the usual GRM type cars (older stuff), you can get nice project/race car donors this way. I totaled a 1999 Mustang SVT Cobra a few weeks ago. Easily repaired, but not a single part was still available from Ford. In particular, the airbag, which we cannot write for used due to liability. So, totaled. In this case the owner retained it and decided to parts shop himself; probably the right choice.
Gotta be careful, though, particularly when bidding off photos. I send a lot of cars to their death because they have structural damage that frequently doesn't show from topside.
In reply to ddavidv :
Since you are pretty familiar with PA laws is there any way to undo a flood title? Bought my Baja knowing it had a flood title but a suby tech and I could not find any sign of water damage in the car. It did have the engine replaced. So the theory is the PO ran it thru a puddle and claimed flood damage for a settlement. PO is a shop with very questionable ethics. Would love to try undoing this flood status, is there a process?
In reply to ddavidv :
It doesn't even take a flood to do damage. I have a 15,000 mile R53 MINI that had a leaky sunroof. Not a lot of wet, but enough that if left sitting for 72 hours the battery drains to a no start level.
I'm pretty certain that once branded, forever branded in PA.
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