I was pleasantly surprised. I heard that rust-free was the most important thing, and this car had only been on the East Coast for four years--before that it was life-long San Diego. The car wouldn't start because the owner had forgotten to charge the battery the night before, and he said that it wasn't running all that well. The rest of the 914 looked pretty good, just neglected: five straight Fuchs alloys; uncracked dashboard; console with working gauges; only some surface rust in places with strong rockers. The paint was (and is) a godawful plum color, but it looks darn good from 10 feet. I liked what I saw, but I wanted to hear it run. I offered $1500 (what the hell) contingent on it starting.
As you can see, the engine compartment isn't exactly "clean." When I came back the next day, the battery was charged and it started! Fired right up, dead cold. The carbs were jittery, but it ran. I drove it around his neighborhood and said to myself, anything under $2000 and I'll take it. In retrospect, that was obscene: the guy is probably still paying off all the new seals he bought for the car. He countered my offer with $1800, and we met at $1700. I wrote a check, we signed over the title, and then he told me about his storage room full of parts: exchangers, extra tranny, door handles, switches, engine tin, etc., etc., etc! It was like my own private swap meet, and it was all mine. He even threw in his jack stands, saying that he's never even changing his own oil again after this car. Probably should have been a hint, but I merrily filled up my Saturn with Porsche parts (the beginning of a long, hard road for the poor Saturn) and promised to be back later in the week with a trailer.
