Classic 911 as a daily driver / what to look for?

[Shed]

Hi All,

First post, so be gentle!

I'm after some advice on a classic 911. I'm contemplating purchasing one as an everyday car to use everyday (is this considered feasable in London stop-start traffic??) Currently I have a 5 year old Range Rover that I use for a 15 mile roundtrip commute in West London traffic everyday and load lugging when neccesary, and I have a concours Mk1 Jensen Interceptor as a toy for the weekends.

Few questions - I'm 6ft 4" and of "ample" build (!) will I fit in OK? My first car was a VW beetle and I fitted fine (head room / leg-room) I've also driven a 1990 Carrera 4 and it was also fine.

The idea is to run the 911 through my business as a classic company car, (can anyone point me in the direction of the list prices when new of the various models?)

Ideally I'm after RHD and pre-1973, in obviously the best possible conditon for my money, Can anyone indicate the models I should be looking for and the sort of price ranges I should expect to pay...I'm completely new to Porsche's so an indication of yearly running costs would be great.

Many Thanks,

Steve.

[Viv_Surby]

Steve - firstly welcome to the forum....and well done on having great taste!!

I'm 6'3 and have no probs with the size of the car.....so I shouldn't worry about that if I were you.

New prices I can't help you with...but someone here will I'm sure (Andy/Nick?) as for running costs, I have mine on limited mileage insurance which costs around £450 with an agreed value. Fuel wise, rather surprisingly right now I'm getting mid 20's (more than a RR I'm sure ) and I guess a sensible figure of £1- 2k a year for 'stuff' and servicing is about right (provided nothing needs sorting).

As for model, well it's horses for courses - T, E or S. S's are thought by some to be least suitable for town driving as they are high revving and RHD versions are now getting SERIOUSLY pricey. For T versus E....again others here will speak in more techincal terms - but the E has high power and is probably more torquey. Perhaps better for town driving? But again prices are rising!!

RHD will add £3-5k over a LHD depending on model. Again others have more knowledge but for a 'good' RHD T or E prob budget for £25k or more.

We have a get together at the Fairmile in Cobham every 3rd Weds - why not come down and have a look at the cars and see what you think?

Viv

[pmjt]

Hi All,
First post, so be gentle!

Welcome We all had to make a first post sometime

I'm after some advice on a classic 911. I'm contemplating purchasing one as an everyday car to use everyday (is this considered feasable in London stop-start traffic??)

It depends on how much of a 'hard nut' you are There are lots of guys on this forum who use their 911's as daily drivers - they're wonderfully useable cars. But you need to go into ownership eyes open and always carry tools / spares - oh and get to know a mechanic REALLY well

I know I'll probably be shouted at for this but have a look at a Sportomatic - the early four speed sportos are fantastic fun to drive and cope really well with town driving - the Sporto is an electrically actuated clutch - so to change you have no clutch pedal - simply put your hand on the shift lever and it declutches - make the change - take your hand off and the clutch comes back in - you can probably tell, I love mine

Few questions - I'm 6ft 4" and of "ample" build (!) will I fit in OK? My first car was a VW beetle and I fitted fine (head room / leg-room) I've also driven a 1990 Carrera 4 and it was also fine.

I'm 6'2" and a fat git - I find the room in an early car wonderful - far better than any other classic of the period - some people reckon LHD has more room than RHD but I've never noticed the difference.

The idea is to run the 911 through my business as a classic company car, (can anyone point me in the direction of the list prices when new of the various models?)

They weren't cheap - I have the purchase invoice for my '67 Sporto when she was sold in '72 - for the price of two E-Types in the day! Don't know how the revenue views the list price - do they 'scale it up' to current values?

Ideally I'm after RHD and pre-1973, in obviously the best possible conditon for my money, Can anyone indicate the models I should be looking for and the sort of price ranges I should expect to pay...I'm completely new to Porsche's so an indication of yearly running costs would be great.

Prices are generally split into three groups:

- Short Wheelbase (SWB) vs. Long Wheelbase
- 'Rare' vs. other models
- LHD vs. RHD

Nick Moss on here can tell you much more accurately - but assuming you're buying a car that has had body restoration and requires no major work to use as a daily driver - but not a concours garage flower:

RHD £15k to £30k
LHD £11k to £25k

Assume £40k minimum for an S and £15 to £35k for anything else - price depends on condition, spec, originality and there's always the LHD vs. RHD argument.

Don't be afraid to ask questions - there's a LOT of knowledge on this board - and check out some of the cars in the for sale section - little gems regularly come up.

P

[pmjt]

This one looks very schweet

P

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewto ... highlight=

[Ferry Man]

Steve,

Well you're getting replies from all the tall guys here.
I'm 6' 3" and 'ample' and I fit just fine.
I've got an 'S' and it likes plenty of revs and open roads.
Maybe a 'T' or 'E' would be a good compromise around town.
I use my car to commute on occasions but not as a daily driver. I'm sure it could handle it but it's nice to keep it for the weekends (makes it that bit more special!).
I confess I don't know too much about classic car tax but I'm sure you'll be taxed on market values and not original list price (my car was £5,400 back in 1972). Can't see the revenue letting you get away with that.

Welcome to DDK and good luck with your search.

[hot66]

Classic Cars

Special rules exist for assessing the benefit in kind value of classic cars over 15 years old, which are now worth over £15,000. For classic cars worth less than £15,000, such as old MG and Triumph sports cars, the traditional rules apply, basing the benefit on list price, which in this case may only be a few hundred pounds.

and :

special rules apply when, at the end of a tax year, a car

* is 15 years old or more
* has a market value of £15,000 or more, and
* the market value is higher than the list price at the time the car was first registered.

The price of these cars for tax purposes is the 'market value' on the last day of the tax year (or the last day in the tax year on which the car is available to the employee). The market value of a car is the price which it might reasonably have been expected to fetch on a sale in the open market on the relevant day.

The market value must include any accessories. Values may be arrived at from

* valuations (eg. for insurance purposes)
* prices in the market, or
* published prices.

my accountant sent me an interesting leaflet on this subject, but i have lost it

[hot66]

if i remember, if the car is valued less than £15K you can use the original price.... but my memory is fading as I head into my mid 30's so probo worth checking

[Shed]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the warm welcome and the replies.

Looks like it could be shot out the water at the first hurdle? - As has been posted; the revenue rules state the car has to be below 15k market value in the given tax year - and BIK tax will be calculated using the original list price - you guys have confirmed my suspicions that I'm unlikely to get a nice example for under the 15k threshold...

Thanks again,

Steve

[Viv_Surby]

Mmmmmm.......not much creative thinking there Steve!

[Bootsy]

I am not 6 foot but am ample There is plenty of room in a Classic 911 and plenty of room for creative accounting

PS - welcome to the forum, hope you find it useful!

[Viv_Surby]

I am not 6 foot but am ample There is plenty of room in a Classic 911 and plenty of room for creative accounting

PS - welcome to the forum, hope you find it useful!

[Bertroex]

I am 6 feet 3 and acocording to my sisters I have to start wearing a sport bra soon.

That aside, I never struggled to be comfortable omn a 911, but I do find that the pedals in a RHD a skewed towardst the left -of -centre and I cant have a centre console in a 911 as my feet are 10,5. The LHD 911's are just perfect and will fit like an old comfy shoe.

Head room in a coupe is fine but beware that if you are going to wear a helmet that a sunroof equipped car can make it very tight at the top.

Also, I find that the fancy RS buckets in a 964 or hillclimb recaro hip hugging things might "need to be tried first".

There was a post a few months ago about caveats on old 911's , i'll try to find it a bit later but I use my car as an everyday driver. Knock wood it tends to break down *after* a 1500 mile trip abroad (its the trottle cable linkage this time) but on an old car AND on a car that has been standing for a while, you can expect the usual suspects such as alternator, windscreen wiper mechanism, clutch cables, trottle linkages, suspension bushes, relays for this and that, indicator stalk, every year about £1500 for oily bits and another £750 for keeping bubbles of rust at bay, the wireing loom that has been butchered in the 1980-ties for an alarm/immobiliser etc etc.

The journey is -for me at least- as pleasant as the goal but then again that might not be for everyone, especially that you might become familiar with every breakdown guy in your area.....


Best regards,


Bert

[Bootsy]

Although you're keen to have a Classic have you considered a later 3.0 SC or a 3.2 - good money these days, almost deprciation proof and a good one will give you little trouble and not cost too much to run.

If I had the space (actually I've just viewed a nice house with loads of space to build a 3 or 4 car garage!) and the money (if I buy a new house I won't have any so that knocks that one on the head) I would go for a impact bumpered car as a daily.

Worth considering!

Joss Sadler at Autofarm uses one daily so there's a vote of confidence for you.

[pae]

Can we have a poll to find out just how many DDK'ers are 6'3", coz i've counted quite a few in this thread. Meanwhile, back to the original post...

Phil

[Peter]

How about a 912. That'd be under the £15k limit.

(By the way, I'm 6'2".)