In the ‘80s and ‘90s, there was sizable amount of people that were willing to update the look of their depreciating Porsche 911s, oddly enough, all but destroying their original value in the first place. That’s why today, we have this Porsche 993 Turbo look-alike that is in need of some TLC. But is it worth it?
This car started life as a 1976 Porsche 911 S coupe. It had less horsepower than a current 6-cylinder Camry, but that wasn’t important. It was an all-manual, all-analog masterpiece that just may have over-steered you into the nearest embankment should you forget that lifting off while in a turn is bad. The seller of the car (or a previous owner) found it necessary to outfit the car with the body styling of a 993 Turbo coupe, along with the interior from the same car, although pictures are scarce and largely uninformative. For the $12,000 asking price, I’m not sure whether this car is a good deal for Porsche fans and aspiring sports car drivers or not, simply because I can’t gauge the quality of the work performed.
The car is all complete, but it does have some noticeable blemishes in the bodywork, which are visible in the rear quarter panel and hood sections, likely from the extensive grafting and filler work needed to make this car look like a much younger car. Here’s an excerpt from the description:
1976 Porsche 911 S, 2.7L, Non Sunroof Coupe – WIDEBODY
10 years in storage. RAN WHEN STORED
This is a mostly complete 993-widebody-conversion project.
Will need new gas, battery and professional tune up. Motor turns freely. Gearbox is fine. Complete car. Everything is there. Car is near road worthy.
Title in hand. Clean/Clear
This car begs the question: Is it worth it to have an essentially worthless Porsche 911? I don’t think this falls into the pool of appreciating classics, because it’s been so heavily and irreparably modified, so I’m not sure it would be an ideal flip or investment car, but it could be a very, very cheap way to get into a vintage Porsche 911 for Toyota Yaris money. If I had the money, I’d at least check it out, if only for the fact that this is the most complete conversion I’ve seen in a long time.
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes and makes videos about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world’s cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he’s the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn’t feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.
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