Late G50 3.2 Wanted

[Guest]

I have a colleague who is searching for a very good late G50 3.2.

He wants a genuine enthusiasts car with ideal spec. of Sport suspension, LSD, Sport seats, wider Fuchs, oh and aircon(?). He will look kindly on SS performance exhaust and sensible performance upgrades, but will demand FSH from OPC and recognised independents.

He has cleared his garage and has ample cash for the right car.

Oops almost forgot: it needs to be Guards red he keeps telling me (I personally believe he would accept White or Silver)

Can anyone help?

Alan
07802 296 917

 

[Guest]

Sounds like my car but he can' t have it - so there!

Roy

 

[Guest]

Come one, there must be cars of this spec for sale out there.

Apparently a black car would also be well favoured.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Alan

I think the problem is that if you' ve got a good one what do you replace it with? Granted I would probably like a 73 RS or a 993 C2S or similar but the first is way out of reach and the second would still need another 15K or so to get me one in similar condition to what I' ve got.

I mentioned this post to my partner and she did the usual ' well you don' t use it all the time and think what you could buy as an everyday car' but after thinking for about 10 minutes simply said ' don' t you' ll regret it forever'

I know this doesn' t help but it gives it a bump!

Good Luck

Roy

 

[Guest]

You could make me an offer but it would need to be a good one[]

 

[Guest]

This Ebay guy seems to think his is the best you' ll ever see. Doesn' t give much info though.

If you find a spare silver G50, let me know![]

 

[Nick Moss]

This is the one on EBay that Chris mentions above (not my car and no connection)

" Porsche 911 Carrera Sport - SHOW CONDITION, Full sports black leather interior' 1988 E-Reg - 88,000 miles, Full Porsche service history, All receipts and MOT' s"

 

[Guest]

I notice with this car, that ' Buyer pays for all postage costs' is stated; how much would that be, I wonder ?

Porsche rated value of £24,000 - bit high ?

Very clean engine (too clean ?) - not sports seats, it seems.

 

[Jamie Summers]

Agreed, looks very nice - but as well as lack of sports seats I very much doubt it has Sports Bilsteins either ie probably not a ' Sport' at all but a non-sport with spoiler option (couldn' t see whether it has one or two engine lid struts - easy way to tell). Has no air-con and only runs 6" and 7" - so all in all clearly not what we' ve been asked to look for ! By the way I' ve got a black ' 89 with air-con and 7" and 8" plus some ' sensible upgrades' - yours for £17,500 (well not for sale really !)

 

[Guest]

Al,
How important is it to your mate that it' s a true sports model? Getting a normal car to sports spec is fairly easy. Did sports models come with LSD or was that an extra cost option? Condition would be more important I would have thought.

 

[Guest]

Hi Everyone,

I' m the person Alan kindly posted on behalf of.

Jamie, regarding your comments on the Ebay car, I presume you' re judging the wheel widths from the amount of rim showing? What were standard fitment for Sport and non-Sport?

Also, and what' s the difference between Sport and non-Sport suspension setups? Someone else told me they both have the same Bilsteins, and that an (after market) upgrade to heavy duty items was the way to go.

Neill, Stunning looking car! I' m almost tempted to make black my top colour after looking at yours. What' s a good offer [] ? From what I' ve read, the thing to be aware of when looking at the prices, is how soon it will need an engine rebuild. Is this a fair comment?

I' d value peoples' opinions on what to pay for what sort of car, especially regarding engine condition and how to determine this, if there are no bills for a recent rebuild. Also, of course, if anyone knows of decent cars for sale. Roy, if you change your mind, I' m sure I could give your car a deserving home []

TIA,

Jon

 

[Guest]

Chris,

I' d like a genuine Sport if possible, but so long as any upgrades have been done correctly, then I agree condition/price is more important. I imagine a genuine (twin strut) Sport spoiler can be fitted to a non-Sport, thus making it more difficult to ascartain it true spec.? Would the entry in the log book be difinitive, in that it would say ' Sport' or not?

As far as I can tell, the LSD was an option on both non-Sport and Sport, but was standard on the Club Sport. I' ve only seen 2 cars advertised as having an LSD, so it looks like it wasn' t a popular option.

Cheers,

Jon

 

[Jamie Summers]

Jon,
You' re right - I' ve got two struts on my my non-sport (but have removed the whaletail) ! 6" and 7" were standard - 8" rears were an option until late ' 89 models which had 6" and 8" as standard. Official ' Sports' had Sports seats and Sport Bilstein shocks rather than the standard Boge ones. Can' t remember any of the other differences, but you certainly can tell from the VIN no. / log book whether a car is ' factory' Sport or whether it' s just been brought up to spec at a later date. You' re also right about LSD being a pretty rare option, but worth it if you can find it especially if you intend to do some track days.

Have a good search on this forum for tips on what to look out for - there is some very useful information. If you still have questions then post away ! There are some seriously knowledgeable people around ( I don' t claim to be one of them !)

 

[Nick Moss]

Jon

My brother recently bought a very nice ' 87 3.2 with all the sport options and full history for £14K from a club member. Porsche Post is the place to look. I have seen late 3.2s advertised up to £20K, Autofarm had one recently. IMO go for condition and history rather than options or colour. Take your time and look at plenty of cars, then get a PPI done.

It seems the Sport option got diluted towards the end of the 3.2 production and has little meaning. You need to get an options list (in Peter Morgan' s Original Porsche 911) and check the option numbers listed in the service book, and on the sticker undr the bonnet

Where are you based?

 

[Guest]

Jamie,

Ah, that would explain why a lot of ads for Sports don' t mention sport seats. It must be because it' s implicit. Good news, as I was recommended to go for those. Do you know if there' s a number/digit in the VIN that denotes a Sport (or not)?

Nick,

I' m in Swindon. I think you' re right about colour being secondary to condition and history. I was concluding this on my own, just this afternoon! I' d prefer red, but I' d go for black or silver if the car was right in every other way.

I saw the car you mean at Autofarm. Apart from the interior being linen (I' d prefer black) it was spot on - a Sport, low mileage, LSD and aircon. I think they were asking £18350, brokerage price, which seems a lot, but then again it was an ' 89 with 63K miles. My worry about going for the premium end of the market, is that low mileage isn' t a guarantee that the engine doesn' t need 3K' s worth of rebuild. Would a PPI pick this up. If so how?

On the subject of PPIs, is it necessary if you buy from a big independent dealer, like Autofarm?

I' ve ordered a couple of books including The Red Book, which I hope will list options.

Thanks everyone for the advice, it' s very much appreciated.

Jon

 

[Nick Moss]

Jon

I am in Sussex, which makes it a bit difficult to help on a particular car.

A PPI should reveal any compression or leakage problems with a leakdown or compression test.

Low mileage is no guarantee that the motor will not need work. A car that has little use may need seals due to drying out, and if you are going to put miles on the car there is no point paying a premium for a low mileage car that you are going to devalue by putting a lot of miles on.

I have no particular experience of high mileage 3.2s, but I would have thought they could do up to 200K miles without major problems if they have been well looked after.

I would have thought that Red with black was the most common combo, so there should be plenty of cars out there.

Buying from a dealer? I personally would not pay the premium.

 

[Guest]

Jon

Basically agree with the above - I' d probably insist on a buyer getting a PPI done if I were selling mine

And you don' t really want mine - no LSD and no Air Con (and you can' t retrofit that). I also have the linen interior which I admit I wasn' t looking for but I love now - ' lifts' the interior. And My 7 and 8 Fuchs have the polished paddles which is a bit ' retro' for some. Also I have a problem with the low speed of the fresh air blower (it runs fast) so it' s not actually perfect!

Mine has 102K and runs perfectly - no faults could be found at the last service doesn' t use a drop of Mobil 1 or leak at all and they even approved of me using Optimax all the time!

The real commodity you need is time - I looked at loads, all advertised as immaculate, and saw a load of sheds! In the end I paid well over the top and haven' t regretted it for a moment since - no real problems in 4 years of ownership and a thing of great joy.

If in doubt - WALK AWAY - the good ones are out there just need finding

Good Luck

Roy

 

[Guest]

and no Air Con (and you can' t retrofit that).

Oh yes you can !

As to whether the expense/effort is worth it is another matter, but I believe all the cars had the holes etc. ready for it, just presumably blanked off. And you lose (rather a lot of) space in the passenger footwell - passengers, who needs them ?

 

[Guest]

John

I was led to believe that the holes didn' t exist (basically from a question on Pelican) but of course that may have applied to LHD cars!

Not sure whether I actually want it - how much HP does it absorb? It' s also not supposed to be very good anyway although an updated package with different compressor could help

Roy

 

[Guest]

Encouraging comments about high milers. Maybe I' m being paranoid about the need for a rebuild around 100K, but I was trying to say that it' s not a problem on a cheaper car as you' ve saved enough to do this, and keep within a sane budget. On an expensive car, you' ve spent this extra cash already, and it might still need the refresh anytime soon. I accept there' s a cost of ownership to keep these cars tip-top, but obviously don' t wish to waste my hard earned.

I' d hope that an 18K car would have bills to show a refresh was already done, and that' s why it' s 18K, but looking at the ads, it doesn' t generally seem the case. In which case, why pay the premium price? Better all round condition, or simply that it doesn' t need it due to its low mileage? The latter doesn' t seem the case, and many people have said there' s a lot of shiny rubbish out there.

What' s the issue regarding Optimax? Are these cars OK on 95RON unleaded, or do they need a lead substitute? Also, do they have knock sensors, so there' s a benefit from running 97/98 RON?

BTW Aircon and an LSD would be nice, but I think I' d buy without these if the car was right. Otherwise I think I' d be unwisely cutting down my choice of cars, and an LSD is a straight forward aftermarket upgrade (isn' t it?).

Cheers,

Jon