Any owner of a 944 is entitled to take the view that it's only worth a couple of grand so there's no point spending a lot of money on it. That's the normal course of events with used cars and in the end that's why almost every used car ends up in the crusher - it's just a case of when. If it's not the bodywork, it's a failure of the engine, or the gearbox that makes owners say "I'm not spending that much on a cheap car".
It's a fair point of view. I was one of the many who thought "I'm not spending that much on a cheap car" when I scrapped my three various Mark II Escorts, and my Manta, and when my friends were scrapping their Capris, back in the mid 1990s, fifteen years ago.
I now think I made a mistake and I'm not making that mistake again. If we'd had the foresight to spend the money then, we would not have lost out given what those cars sell for now, because although they used to be everywhere, now they are few in number.
Outside museums, there are only three categories of 944: the (presently) small number that have had big money spent on body restoration, and the majority which either need it now (most of which are getting scrapped) and those that will need it over the next few years (most of which will also be scrapped). In five years' time the supply of good 944s will be vastly smaller than it is today and most of the good survivors will owe their owners well north of five figures. Few owners will want to sell them at all (like Paul) and if they do, aren't going to sell them for peanuts.
Having started at the beginning of this year I am part way through getting a late 944 Turbo thoroughly overhauled and given whatever restoration it needs, including trim, glass, suspension, the lot. I am convinced it will cost a lot less to do it now than to do it in three or five years' time, and by the end of 2010 I will have the car in the condition I want it. Mechanical work by Hartech, bodywork probably by Daytona (whom I am seeing with it this Saturday). By then, including the original purchase price, it will probably owe me the price of a new Focus. Not a Focus RS, not even a Focus ST, but the price of an ordinary everyday model.
Some people might say that makes me a mug, that you can buy the best 944 in the world for £7,000, but I don't think that's actually the point. For one thing, the best 944 in the world isn't generally for sale. For another thing, most of the cars out there, even the very nice tidy ones, are still going to need the bodywork done at some stage. And this will still be a cheap Porsche, in the context of what it cost new, in the context of what it is still capable of delivering compared to, say a new Cayman, and better for me than any other car, (including an old 996 or Boxster, say) that is generally available for the same money. And my plan is to keep the car for ten years and then pass it on to my daughter (who is now 16 and will be taught to drive it properly). By getting everything done to the highest standard I can afford now, and then staying on top of the car, by knowing exactly what's been done, and by staying on top of it from a good starting point, I think the cost will work out pretty well over the medium and long term.
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