Amazing barn find and a journey of discovery

[bjmullan]

And for you who think the story is told, it's just starting and I don't even know the end ...

[Bruce M]

This will be like "the one that almost got away." :D
If this lasts a week, the wife will probably stamp on my iPhone....

[mycar]

' Sure, let me know what you want to offer'
' How much do you want'? 
'That's for you to decide'?
'It's pretty rough'
'It's all complete'
'It will take a lot of work'
'It will be worth a lot when finished'
'How much were you thinking'?
'Make me an offer'
'Let's think about it'

 

Never in my life have I haggled with a dentist... it`s usually, 5,6,7 occlusal.. that`ll be 500 quid thankyou very much.

I don`t fancy the poor blokes chances.

Mike.

[Mick Cliff]

How does the song go?..... "Some guys have all the luck"

Well done Mike and Brendan, it's keeping me amused out here!

[964RS]

We were as you can imaging 'excited'. Now, you know how these Scottish guys are at closing a deal ( read my first post about the previous attempts).
The conversation eventually got round to asking if the car was for sale.


' Sure, let me know what you want to offer'
' How much do you want'? 
'That's for you to decide'?
'It's pretty rough'
'It's all complete'
'It will take a lot of work'
'It will be worth a lot when finished'
'How much were you thinking'?
'Make me an offer'
'Let's think about it'

So can you believe it,

So we parted company not knowing if the car was really for sale, wondering if the owner knew any history (we dare not ask in case we gave the game away that this may turn out to be a special car) and we wanted to do some research. 

Why didn't you just say I'll give you £500.....and see how he reacted? You could then judge from that what he knew and if he got miffed just burst out laughing and say 'well it was worth a try'

"Ok 2 pigs, a cow and a sheep....and we'll service your tractor for you"

Such a cool find and couldn't have happened to two nicer guys.

Every time I've ever been with Mike or talked on the phone we've discussed 'imagine finding something really special in a barn" and recently he has been more sceptical that there was anything really left....this HAS to be fate

[jtparr]

Without doubt, this will be thread of the year without any doubt...what a weekend...can't wait for next week...great story guys, glad it's been found by someone who will respect the original quality of the car

Jp

[myatt1972]

This is just fantastic !
I know only too well that feeling of making an offer and wondering whether it will be accepted, I had many sleepless nights as I waited for an answer. I wasnt dealing with a Scotsman though, just a soliciter.
Keep the posts comming, I seem to be checking every hour.

[210bhp]

So our journey home was full of intense chat.

There were so many possibilities and unanswered questions. Thinking,

Is it a fake?
Does the owner know what he has if it's not a fake?
Did we check if everything was there?
Why is it RHD?
Did we read those numbers correctly?

The owner was forthcoming on all fronts. Brendan had seen the V5. All in order. He was convinced the car wasn't a fake. I wasn't as sure. He seemed to have very little knowledge of early 911's but had hung onto the car for over 20 years. He knew it was a 2 litre engine but not that it was an E. He thought the exterior had been colour changed at some point but was not aware that the red interior was anything special. He had been in the motor trade previously but had never owned any other 911's.
Maybe a previous owner had done some number changing rather than him. I had checked the numbers for originality and there did not seem to be any tampering or 'cutting in' of metal or regrinding of surfaces. The numbers, on the face of it, seemed genuine. I had desperately wanted to drop the lower knee bar to check the build number but did not want to draw attention to it's location.
The fact that he hadn't mentioned a purchase price could have worked both ways.

We did know, however, that if it was real it must be an important piece of Porsche history........

[210bhp]

More photos

[210bhp]

It was time to do some serious research. We did not want to let this car get away but equally we did not want to be hoodwinked either. The car did not have a number plate commensurate with its age (a real red light to me) so it must have been re- registered. We pondered over this fact for ages and it did suggest it might be reshelled or possibly an insurance write-off at some point.

The owner said he had bought the car from a chap in East Kilbride near Glasgow and it was a runner then. So things added up (he seemed a very honest guy) and yet they didn't.

We used our Internet detective skills, called in a few favours from knowledgeable archivists and laid out a few 'innocent' questions on various forums and became more and more convinced this was a special car. 
The journey of discovery lead us all over the world, US, South Africa, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the UK. The conclusions became pretty convincing.

[210bhp]

We decided to persue a purchase knowing that after many years of slumber this 911 had to be saved even though it was in a poor state. Arrangements were made to go back with a trailer and a lot of hope that a deal could be struck. A good friend of mine, Leslie, (totally non Porsche person) was so intrigued by the story that he asked if he could come with us on pickup day. It seemed only fair to say 'yes' especially after he had agreed to loan us a van, trailer and subsequent storage space.  We had a good laugh on the outward bound trip, good craic as they say.  It was another lovely day too. Early start, and we arrived bang on the agreed time.  

[leedurrant73]

We decided to persue a purchase knowing that after many years of slumber this 911 had to be saved even though it was in a poor state. Arrangements were made to go back with a trailer and a lot of hope that a deal could be struck. A good friend of mine, Leslie, (totally non Porsche person) was so intrigued by the story that he asked if he could come with us on pickup day. It seemed only fair to say 'yes' especially after he had agreed to loan us a van, trailer and subsequent storage space.  We had a good laugh on the outward bound trip, good craic as they say.  It was another lovely day too. Early start, and we arrived bang on the agreed time.  

Hey mike great story, could you tell me if your vin plate on the passenger door shut is the type which have both the paint code and the vin number?

Thought I'd ask as you car is early like mine, good luck..

Lee

[210bhp]

I had asked by pm to our vin number guru Ian McLeod about early lwb numbers. I hope he doesn't mind me reposting his reply here.

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/ucp.ph ... 0&p=247604

[210bhp]

We decided to persue a purchase knowing that after many years of slumber this 911 had to be saved even though it was in a poor state. Arrangements were made to go back with a trailer and a lot of hope that a deal could be struck. A good friend of mine, Leslie, (totally non Porsche person) was so intrigued by the story that he asked if he could come with us on pickup day. It seemed only fair to say 'yes' especially after he had agreed to loan us a van, trailer and subsequent storage space.  We had a good laugh on the outward bound trip, good craic as they say.  It was another lovely day too. Early start, and we arrived bang on the agreed time.  

Hey mike great story, could you tell me if your vin plate on the passenger door shut is the type which have both the paint code and the vin number?

Thought I'd ask as you car is early like mine, good luck..

Lee

Patience Lee, patience,

[210bhp]

The journey of discovery continues tomorrow.............