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What should I pay for a 964 donor car?


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G'day, I'm new so please be nice ;)

I need to source a donor/base car for my upcoming restoration. I'm looking for an Australian registered 964 coupe. The requirements from Singer are:

A suitable build car candidate should be meet the following prerequisites:

  • Porsche 911 (964 series) 1989-1994 Coupe or Targa (A Coupe will always remain a Coupe, and Targa will always remain a Targa)

  • Carrera 2 (5-spd manual, or Tiptronic auto transmission) or Carrera 4 (5-spd 4WD) are acceptable chassis

  • No major accident damage, with a straight and true chassis (measurement process

  • highlighted below)

  • Minimal corrosion

  • Engine does not have to be running, however the engine should turn over freely and the main case should remain intact and free from defects or damage.

  • Interior should be complete, or near complete.

  • Mileage is not of concern.

What should I expect to pay for such a car? Any pointers for how to source one? (other than buy off carsales - the cars I see there are kind of too nice to use for a base car anyway).

Thanks.

 

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34 minutes ago, Pilko said:

G'day, I'm new so please be nice ;)

I need to source a donor/base car for my upcoming restoration. I'm looking for an Australian registered 964 coupe. The requirements from Singer are:

A suitable build car candidate should be meet the following prerequisites:

  • Porsche 911 (964 series) 1989-1994 Coupe or Targa (A Coupe will always remain a Coupe, and Targa will always remain a Targa)

  • Carrera 2 (5-spd manual, or Tiptronic auto transmission) or Carrera 4 (5-spd 4WD) are acceptable chassis

  • No major accident damage, with a straight and true chassis (measurement process

  • highlighted below)

  • Minimal corrosion

  • Engine does not have to be running, however the engine should turn over freely and the main case should remain intact and free from defects or damage.

  • Interior should be complete, or near complete.

  • Mileage is not of concern.

What should I expect to pay for such a car? Any pointers for how to source one? (other than buy off carsales - the cars I see there are kind of too nice to use for a base car anyway).

Thanks.

 

Are you doing a restoration or Singer?

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47 minutes ago, Pilko said:

A Singer - I guess they call it a 'reimagination'.

Congrats!

Are they letting them into Australia yet? Used to have compliance issues but I did hear one was booked for Melbourne some how.

Last time I checked these were getting North of $600K US... With the Aussi dollar the way it is...wow...have you figured out the LCT/GST costs??

Saw one out in the wild in LA last week. Still an incredible car

 

 

 

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Was talking with Anthony at AH last week whilst picking up the SC. He mentioned they had Just recently sourced one for a build they are doing for a client so potentially from shaking the tree they know where a couple of others are.

 

 

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You could look for imports which are priced lower or maybe an ex race car?

i assume this is happening because of the upcoming import changes in Dec, which IIRC had a carve out for restorations done OS. 

The changes also means other market cars could be in your frame  for your source car - all UK/HK/NZ 964s were not importable previously unless personal imports, whereas after Dec 2019 all 964s are importable under the new rolling 25 year rule.  Makes no sense to pay the aust delivered tax on a donor car if you ask me.  Just have to watch out for rust on UK cars.  Unfortunately most JP cars are LHD but you might get lucky in the auctions.

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12 hours ago, turboT said:

figured out the LCT/GST costs??

Singer managed to get a ruling - no LCT as the car will already be registered and owned by me before it is shipped to California, no GST either, something to do with repair and restoration.

It would be a different story if, for example, I bought a car in the UK, shipped it to Cali for the resto, then brought it in to Australia and tried to register it, or if Singer owned the car and sold it to me once complete.

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1 minute ago, TINGY996 said:

Grant told me last year they had already sent one over to Singer for a customer.

Is Grant at Autohaus Hamilton? I'll give them a call this morning.

Think I'm Singer number 4 for Australia, I'm sure I won't be the last.

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Yep Grant is the owner. If you can’t get Grant when you call ask for Anthony as he does most of the vehicle sourcing and knows what’s in stock or in the pipeline from customers wanting to sell.

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Options and variables based on your description are vast so hence an exact figure is near impossible to determine. I'd be thinking anywhere from 40-80k to get a straight, non rusty, complete car that would be suitable for the basis of a build. 

Best of luck! 

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2 minutes ago, hugh said:

Options and variables based on your description are vast so hence an exact figure is near impossible to determine. I'd be thinking anywhere from 40-80k to get a straight, non rusty, complete car that would be suitable for the basis of a build. 

Best of luck! 

Thank you. I'll have to go with whatever is available - and as it is a limited market I understand I might have to buy a car that is too 'good' for my needs. That sounds like a sensible range though.

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1 minute ago, Pilko said:

Thank you. I'll have to go with whatever is available - and as it is a limited market I understand I might have to buy a car that is too 'good' for my needs. That sounds like a sensible range though.

It's a difficult thing to price but I'd like to think you should be able to find something in that range suitable pending you obviously don't care about colour (they are all red anyway:ph34r:), man or tipper, C2 or C4 and condition can be poor but critically straight. An original RHD would be neat though. 

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Is there a time frame on this purchase? I just looked on asking prices on car sales. Unless you manage to find a repairable write off, I think you'll be hard pressed to find an original RHD, manual for less than $80k. I might be wrong. 

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1 minute ago, reggiegums said:

Is there a time frame on this purchase? I just looked on asking prices on car sales. Unless you manage to find a repairable write off, I think you'll be hard pressed to find an original RHD, manual for less than $80k. I might be wrong. 

I'm not looking for a write-off, I need a straight shell. Something in my favour is that the colour, gearbox and sunroof options are unimportant to me. I have some time before my slot in the Singer schedule however (if the car is roadworthy) I would like to drive it for a month or two before it goes on the boat.

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I don't think you should be turned off by a repairable write off, if you can even find one for sale and further considering your time frame. These cars were once very cheap circa $20k and were written off quite easily in the early 2000s due to panel damage.

I also just learnt that cars that are older than 15 years do not need their VINs marked as repairable write-offs. 

All your panels in a Singer would be stripped off anyway. Just saying, it could be an option.

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7 hours ago, Pilko said:

Singer managed to get a ruling - no LCT as the car will already be registered and owned by me before it is shipped to California, no GST either, something to do with repair and restoration.

It would be a different story if, for example, I bought a car in the UK, shipped it to Cali for the resto, then brought it in to Australia and tried to register it, or if Singer owned the car and sold it to me once complete.

That is amazing news. I looked at ordering one about 4 yrs ago (when they were $350K and the dollar was near parity...). Even bought a donor (when you could pick up a good Aussi car for $60k...). But at the time it was impossible to import and no one had resolved the tax implications. 

If you haven't had the factory tour its well worth it if you are in LA. Some very funky interior colour combinations going on it that place. 

still a 2 year wait?

 

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mate where are you located?

I'd call Simon at Classic Throttle Shop or Dutton's as they get offered things all the time and can source whatever you're after

Alternative would be to call Richard or Paul at PR Tech or Hamilton's.

 

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