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I don't think it's mainly to do with the piece of paper. Rust is a big issue with UK imported cars. I thought the same thing when I started looking, but every UK car I saw had some form of rust. Bubbles around the tail lights, windscreens, front guards etc. Even the cleanest one I saw had small blisters. After looking at 3, I decided to steer clear. I'm sure there are good ones, but the odds are against you and given the price of these cars now, it's not unusual to do a quick sand and repaint, which will hide rust for a while to help sellers move the cars.  911's got to a stage where they were pretty cheap too and I even remember your 911 conversion needed to fixed, because it was very rough.  Again, not saying there aren't good ones, but sometimes they were converted to make profit by importers, so you need to make sure you know exactly what to look for. I was an importer of cars quite a few years ago. Mainly from Japan, but occasionally from the US and the UK. I rememeber a client brining over a 997 cab, which would have been under 10 years old at the time as a personal import and it was covered in surface rust. Australia never got the FQ Mitsubishi Evo 8's and neither did Japan, so we bought some in from the UK and I tell you, they had rust holes in the spare tyre cavity in the boot and even in the inner sills, which was fixed by spraying some black tar crap on it in the UK and saying it has been "rustproofed" from the factory. We used to do alot of RHD conversions on Silverados, camaros and mustangs. Albeit, a bit more complicated than an early 911, but the work was horrendous unfortunately. The stigma is there along with the premium on Aussie cars, because people have learnt over time.  Give me two early 911s, identical besides one being UK delivered and one being Aussie delivered. To me, I'd rather save the money and buy the UK car, but most of the time you get what you pay for (as above, I'm sure there are good ones, but majority aren't).  The car for sale here looks very well sorted though. Building an engine like that and a glass out respray won't get you too much change out of $100k these days. I'm suprised it actually hasn't sold yet. As others have said, I think it's more a reflection of the market slowing. Price is right. 

😅 Well mine was a half decent SC from Hong Kong which I backdated meself, and a mate sold his very clean Aussie delivered '84 for not far off the money being asked above, and the buyer completely stripped it turning into an ST replica, so they don't have to be a rusty shed to attack them with a grinder 😁

Ha, a rusty shed with questionable drive train is your starting point for a backdate ST, you have panel work to do anyway, that's where your UK imports come in handy and nothing wrong with that.  

I have 16 of these, new, unused and painted in galvanised paint. Do not ask me how I ended up with them but needless to say it was a self inflicted cock up. These are very pricey. I am open to reasonable offers so that I can buy the correct 944 items. Cheers. Realised they are also used on early 924s.

So many people get caught up on a piece of paper that is only ever talked about when you buy or sell. An Aussie car, an import, or a properly converted car can all give you the same driving experience. In fact some could argue the cheaper cars are more enjoyable to drive so you don't worry about the 'value'. Once you own the car, no one else knows or cares what the lineage is. I also find the argument that an Aussie car is a better 'investment' flawed. Yes they sell for more money, but the discount for the 'lesser' cars always sits around the same percentage. When the Aussie cars go up or down, so do the 'bastards'. The only ones that really seem to get crazy money are the cars that were bought new and never driven and to me the people who buy and sell those cars aren't real car people anyway.  

SHIT!! Thought it was next weekend 😡 Love the Mallala historic meeting.  Is that the real Bryan Thompson V8 VW Fastback or a replica?  And Clem Smith's old Charger 👍 Clem used to own Mallala track for those unaware. His family sold it to the Shahin family (The Bend owners) after Clem passed away. 

Yep, very common practise for rebirthing stolen cars. They steal a car, then transfer the VIN plate from a wrecked one they bought 'legitimately' cheap. Most end up interstate or overseas

Yep, By all reports they are a blast with the PDK is a capable fun unit the wife's new car.

Seeing it differently. When it comes to some of the higher end priced manual 996  turbo's, purely the buyers are dreaming and the reason for no sale.

It's generally to avoid scammers using/copying the car's ID - In a similar way to obscuring Number plates. The scum that plan to scam people, will use anyone else’s genuine ID to pretend they own that car to solicit a buyer in a fraudulent sale.