Buying a vintage 911 - Help Wanted

[kiz75]

Hi there,



I am thinking of buying a classic 911 (roughly a 1973). I have found a company that I am going to see on Saturday,
www.fuchs.co.uk
. Problem is that although I have loved this car since being a kid, I know very litte about buying one. Can anyone give me some advice or have you heard of this company?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks in advance

K


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[Mikeroo99]

I found the buyers guide here
http://www.hartech.u-net.com/guide.htm
very useful. It is a blatant advertisment for the company but it was good reading and very informative.

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[bellies]

As far as I'm aware formula fuchs deal in lhd imports but if its that red targa thats been rebuilt looks good to me. The company itself I've not heard anything particularly bad but they aren't the cheapest.

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[James Ball]

I have been to Formula Fuchs and they seem to be a pretty well run operation. Most of their stock is LHD, imported from Europe or the US. I have heard a few horror stories but most dealers have a somewhat blemished history. They don't do a lot of work to the cars that they sell and, in my opinion, they often look better than they are. It seems that they spend more time cleaning and polishing rather than fixing! Also, don't be conned into the belief that US-sourced cars are rust free. There is no such thing as a rust free pre-'76 car. Even the Californian cars have had the effects of sea-salt to start rusting away at those hard-to-see places.

These early cars are a buyer's nightmare - each model has its own little differences and the is a lot to go wrong. If you send me a private email with you email address I can email you a buyer's checklist that I used when looking for a '74 Carrera 2.7 (never found one at the right price). Also do not buy anything without getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) done by an early 911 specialist. You would also do well to read the following:

The Used 911 Story - Peter Zimmerman (gives a good, brief overview of each 911 model and what to look for)

Original Porsche 911 - Peter Morgan (another, more glossy, hardbacked overview)

The 911 Story - Paul Frere - the bible of 911 stats. Probably over-kill for your needs but it has all the information you could ever need!

Finally, subscribe to the web-group for "Early 911"s on smartgroups. They are based in the UK and have some real experts in the group who can a) provide you wilth specialist advice and b) point you in the direction of some good, early 911s.



Cheers, James


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[nick-moss]

If you are going to look at a car just take a moment to look at some of the pictures of the rust that can be found on an early 911, even one from California.

http://www.nicholas-moss.co.uk/porsche/1970e/

This is due to a bodged reapir

And corrosion in the front suspension mountings

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[James Ball]

It brings a tear to your eye...

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[nick-moss]

K,

did you go and look at that car?

What did you think of Fuchs?


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[James Ball]

You don't write...you don't phone...

K - are you still out there?

Let us know how you got on


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[964man]

Speaking purely from personal experience, I used the Buyers Guide and Checklist from
[email protected]
to buy a 944 Turbo (952) a week last Saturday. They were invalauble - I felt a bit pedantic going through the checklist and not jumping in straight away for a test drive, but I spotted lots of minor things, and 1 or 2 bigger things that

a) helped me reduce the price of the car

b) got fixed by the dealer and

c) set my mind at rest that I had bought a good car - I now know of what is likely to go wrong, where I may need to spend some money.

I'll be straight up and say that I actually run the above web site, but I don't write the Guides, and its gratifying when a local friend of mine saw a customer arrive in a 911, told him he should have bought one of our Guides first and was told he did !

This post has been edited by the Moderator. Reason: overt commercialism
.


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[Andre]

I am looking for parts for a 1978 911 targa carrera with a six cylinder engine, prefferably a whole parts car itself, but I am not that picky. The car I have needs new brake calipers, possibly a new wiring harness, and sombody jb welded a crack that is on the engine block :roll:
, which means I have to replace or rebuild the engine. Other than that the car is in pretty good shape.

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[COLIN BABB]

I am in a similar situation to Mr Kiz75 (silver 69, 911), but what are smartgroups? Ta. ps Retro motors seem knowledgeable

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[nick-moss]

Also try
http://www.ddk-online.com
. There is a wealth of information on early cars there

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