What is "Fair Condition" for a Porsche 356?

That, and the Ghia is better looking too.

Can I borrow your flame suit?

NOHOME wrote: What you are buying is the serial number. The rest can be hand-built. At this point, all that matters is how complete the pile is insofar as trim and interior bits.

Bingo, if its a rare option car I would go as far as to say that 8K might be a deal.

12-15K around here buys a kinda running C car with holes in the floor so you can stop.

At least with this one the rust is on the outside.

I hate to say it.. but I would take a hotted up ghia too

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote:

Rob_Mopar wrote: But if I were going air cooled Porsche replica I'd Beck 550 Spyder.

You and me both. I have wanted one of those for a long time.

Sorry, you are both wrong. Beck 904 FTMFW!

Maroon92 wrote:

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote:

Rob_Mopar wrote: But if I were going air cooled Porsche replica I'd Beck 550 Spyder.

You and me both. I have wanted one of those for a long time.

Sorry, you are both wrong. Beck 904 FTMFW!

The 904 is beautiful, but I'd still build a 550 first. They had both on display at Carlisle, and I kept getting drawn to the 550.

Rob_Mopar wrote:

Maroon92 wrote:

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote:

Rob_Mopar wrote: But if I were going air cooled Porsche replica I'd Beck 550 Spyder.

You and me both. I have wanted one of those for a long time.

Sorry, you are both wrong. Beck 904 FTMFW!

The 904 is beautiful, but I'd still build a 550 first. They had both on display at Carlisle, and I kept getting drawn to the 550.

904, YES PLEASE!

the 550 has more charisma.. plus who can say no to a roadster?

Please please PLEASE let me find one of those Beck 904s under the tree come Christmas!!!

David

In reply to DWNSHFT:

The 904 has always been my favorite Porsche bar none. I remember watching them racing 1963-65 before I was old enough to to drive. His replicas are going for 65 K. While that's more spare change than I've got in my wallet at the moment, I'm actually thinking maybe someday.

I alternate between lust at the Beck 904 and crying despair that I will never spend that much on a car. But such beauty. And I assume it has the lovely feel of any air-cooled Porsche...

David

I love that Beck 904. I met him at a Chicago Auto Show First Look one year... 2003, maybe? He had one there. I was drooling so much he let me crawl all over it. It was wicked. He was truly flummoxed when I asked him to autograph a brochure for me.

Ha...just got an e-mail / FB friend request from Chuck Beck.

So, I am watching the show 'South Beach Classics' on Discovery now and what do I see, but the car from the original post aired on the show! The guy said it was a '62 though. He passed on it and stated the value at $500-$1k. The seller mentioned he had a guy in Atlanta willing to buy it for $3k. Apparently it had been sitting outside under a tarp for 20 years.

TR8owner wrote: I owned a couple previously - 61 cabby and 60 coupe. They're bitches to restore. Once the unibody is rusted forget it and chop it up for parts

That's just simply NOT TRUE -- all the sheet metal parts are available, and they are not that spendy. Buy a MIG, learn how to use it, and nothing can't be fixed. For the crazy prices these things bring now, do all the work yourself and you'll never be upside down when you finish.

Here's a picture of my car done, with all the old metal and patches arranged more or less in the position they were in the car. Yeah, I was 4 years doing it, but I'm still less than $6k into it. (Of course, I bought the car in '75 for $600 -- timing is everything!)

I'll put on my flame protection suit before saying this - I liked them but now feel they are way, way over priced for what they really are. You can get the same thing from a mildly hotted up Ghia at a fraction the price.

Now that IS true, I agree completely ---

GRM Photo of the Year!

moTthediesel wrote:

In reply to Woody:

Thanks!

I had that picture in mind the whole time I was working on the car. Every part I cut off got thrown into a pile in the corner of the shop awaiting that day.

Now those bits have all gone into a big tip to be shipped to Korea and come back as a Kia -- so it goes ---

moTthediesel wrote:

TR8owner wrote: I owned a couple previously - 61 cabby and 60 coupe. They're bitches to restore. Once the unibody is rusted forget it and chop it up for parts

That's just simply NOT TRUE -- all the sheet metal parts are available, and they are not that spendy. Buy a MIG, learn how to use it, and nothing can't be fixed. For the crazy prices these things bring now, do all the work yourself and you'll never be upside down when you finish. Here's a picture of my car done, with all the old metal and patches arranged more or less in the position they were in the car. Yeah, I was 4 years doing it, but I'm still less than $6k into it. (Of course, I bought the car in '75 for $600 -- timing is everything!)

I was into them in the '90s and many of the sheetmetal parts weren't available, or they were poor quality. Particularly for the early cars that I liked. I remember reworking repro panels and salvaging decent panels cut off another cadaver to build my '54. Many of the trim parts weren't available at any realistic price. I bought multiple cars so I could take one or two correct parts off them, replace the part with something else that would function correctly, and sold the car on to the next owner. The prices back then were bad. Today they are just silly.

In reply to modernbeat:

Well, "correct parts" are the problem, you're right -- they can be silly expensive, but if you are building an "Outlaw" like mine, who cares? Just keep it cheap and cheerful and use what works. That's "Grassrootsy"

Most everybody will think it's a kit car or a Karmann Ghia anyway, so why worry?

moTthediesel wrote: In reply to modernbeat: Well, "correct parts" are the problem, you're right -- they can be silly expensive, but if you are building an "Outlaw" like mine, who cares? Just keep it cheap and cheerful and use what works. That's "Grassrootsy" Most everybody will think it's a kit car or a Karmann Ghia anyway, so why worry?

I was competing in concours until the 50th anniversary at Monterey and then got back into motorsports. Correct parts were required.

In reply to moTthediesel:

I didn't realize the body panels are now available. They weren't back when I was into 356's. I still think they're way over priced however. I bought my last one in 1984 for $3000 and sold it three or four years later for $6000 thinking I had made a killing. I always thought that someday I'd own another, but now realize I won't - not at today's prices.

JFX001 wrote: Ha...just got an e-mail / FB friend request from Chuck Beck.

I am headed to Chuck's shop this weekend. I will post some pictures around the first of the week.

TR8owner wrote: ... I liked them but now feel they are way, way over priced for what they really are. You can get the same thing from a mildly hotted up Ghia at a fraction the price.

I own an old Ghia, and once mentioned the same thing to a guy with a restored 356... he was not amused.

There really is not that much difference. The 356 does seem to have a wider wheel track.

TR8owner wrote: In reply to moTthediesel: I didn't realize the body panels are now available. They weren't back when I was into 356's. I still think they're way over priced however. I bought my last one in 1984 for $3000 and sold it three or four years later for $6000 thinking I had made a killing. I always thought that someday I'd own another, but now realize I won't - not at today's prices.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that 356 cars ARE crazy overpriced -- it's the replacement sheet metal that is quite reasonable -- go figure?

I need to have all the fun I can with this one -- because I'll never be able to afford another one either

Pretty soon all these great cars will be sitting in the man cave garages of fund managers and plastic surgeons, to be polished monthly and driven semi-annually -- and that's a damn shame....

moTthediesel wrote: Pretty soon all these great cars will be sitting in the man cave garages of fund managers and plastic surgeons, to be polished monthly and driven semi-annually -- and that's a damn shame....

Until the next economic crash.

And then we swoop in...

I was gonna say, $3600 for a replacement front clip sounds downright reasonable. You can't even get a new clip for an older Lexus for that money.