They don’t all deserve to be saved. There are plenty of Porsche 911s out there in the world that won’t take thousands of hours of labor or tens of thousands of dollars to resurrect like this pile of junk currently listed on auction site Bring a Trailer. Start with one of those and throw this entire heap of bent metal, rust, and mold into a crusher. I had a long career as a Porsche parts specialist, including a few years at a Porsche junkyard, and I can spot about ten salvageable pieces on this decrepit monstrosity. Four of them are the wheels, and those need a thorough four-figure refurbishing.
At one point in this car’s life it was someone’s pride and joy. Maybe they saved up for years to be able to pay the $14,795 that this cost new in 1976. Someone clearly cared for the car to put a set of what appear to be Epsilon wheels, Koni reds, and a fiberglass (probably ducktail) engine lid on it. This thing might have been a little hot rod in its day, visiting various race tracks in the region in search of a perfect afternoon. Through the 1980s whoever drove this narrow-body air-cooled 911 was probably king shit, had a pocket full of Peruvian Marching Powder, and was friends with everyone in the room.
Fast forward to 2025 and this car has been through the ringer and back, but didn’t live to tell about it. The drivetrain is missing, almost every panel is beaten beyond death, and the rust has set in everywhere. The listing says “the axles remain installed” but really only half of each halfshaft is still there. When the transaxle was removed from the car the person doing the job didn’t bother to unbolt the CVs and just ran a plasma cutter through the damn things.
A 1976 911S is about the least desirable model to pick from anyway. These so-called mid-year 911 models built between 1974 and 1977 are unwanted by most. They don’t have the power and sophistication of a later SC, and lack the beauty and pared-back simplicity of earlier “long-hood” models. Even among the mid-year cars, this one seems to be one of the non-galvanized models, so rust is always going to be an enemy. You can pick up a good driver-grade example of this car for under $30,000 all day long, and have your pick of a number of fun 1970s colors. Just go do that and save yourself years of hassle.
I’m not sure why the seller decided to spend the fee to list this car on Bring a Trailer, I’m not sure why anyone would spend any amount of money on it, and I don’t see anything on here worth the time, effort, and money to go collect. Happy bidding, I guess, but why?
