There’s a price that many enthusiasts are willing to pay for originality that transcends logic. In the case of the Porsche 912, this is a model that was at one time the cheapest air-cooled model you could buy, with untold thousands of them cast into scrap piles after a few accidents or one blown motor. Those days are gone, and now a highly 0riginal 912 like this one here on eBay will command very strong money that still looks affordable compared to a 911 of the same vintage. This is a 1967 model that is said to remain highly original and has just three owners from new.
There was a time when I really didn’t care much for Porsches. I felt the hype was overblown and that the cars themselves didn’t live up to the price tags they commanded. But in life, as I’ve found, the cases of something being truly overblow both in terms of experience and valuation tends to occur with fairly obvious scenarios, where something is either way too good to be true or clearly indicative of a scam. The 911 is neither of those things, especially in vintage form. They are truly good cars, full of character, and making the sorts of noises you made with your mouth when you were a kid pretending to drive (well, if you liked European cars like me.) There’s the shape, too, which has never come close to being replicated by any other sports car, modern or vintage.
However, there’s also limits to the fever dream of air-cooled Porsche ownership. A reader of this site and friend helped me navigate some uncomfortable back channels recently as I chased a 1968 912 that had been hidden from public view for decades. That’s all I’m going to say aside from the fact that the attempted rescue was a dead-end once the number of dollars I’d have to present just to look at the car, which was insane, to say the least. For as much as these cars are a treat to drive, it does get to a point not unlike the VW Bus of the same vintage: these are still archaic implements, low on power and creature comforts, and there’s a definite tipping point where those detriments take on real meaning as the price ticks higher. In the case of this very nice 912 with its asking price of $57,600, one has to ask: is there enough driving pleasure here to warrant a $60,000 investment?
That’s a very personal question. This is a lovely 912, with one of the nicer interiors I can recall seeing in an old air-cooled Porsche in recent memory. The seller notes the interior has been restored in places with cognac leather and a handsome wood dash trim kit. The body is said to be highly original and free from major accident damage or rust; the engine and transmission have both been previously rebuilt. The 912 of this vintage came equipped with a 1.6L flat-four churning out 90 horsepower, which was certainly enough for the time but a car that requires some planning on today’s busy on-ramps. If you want originality, there’s sometimes no limit to the price that will be paid, and that’s likely what this seller is counting on.
