Barn find - Trying to figure out what to pay

[89Campmobile]

62 356 notch, S90, Sunroof

Silver with red interior. I'm not sure yet if silver was the factory color.

2 owner. This guy has had it since the 60's. He was an enthusiast and this was his baby.

The car has been sitting in a dry garage for somewhere in the 5-10 year range.

The engine was removed to get rebuilt and is sitting on the ground next to the car. The seats, carpet and insulation were pulled to evaluate rust.

I do not know if it is numbers matching yet or not. My best guess is yes based on how complete the rest of the car is.

The car is complete with some minor items removed, headlights, engine, seats, carpet. Not fully dismantled by any means.

The windshield is cracked, the paint needs attention and has some peeling, etc, but there are not rust holes in the visible part of the body. There could be repairs, but I haven't investigated that deep yet.

There are rust holes in the floor and wheel well area that can be seen by looking under the car.

Dash, door panels, steering wheel. All look very nice. Has original wheels
seats are in storage near the car and appear to be in good condition.

So how rare is the combo? What should I pay? I want to buy it right.

The owners know it is valuable, but they have also let it sit for years and aren't really in the mood to clean it up and list it properly.

[doublecabmel]

$20- $30,000 would be a good price

[LHG]

I think a notch sunroof car would be really cool.
_________________
Brian O'Kelly
Central Coast Chapter, CA - Vintage Volkswagen Club of America
www.centralcoastvwclub.com
www.facebook.com/groups/vintagevwclub/

[Jon Schmid]

[tom coughlin]

You say "There are rust holes in the floor and wheel well area that can be seen by looking under the car." Can you do this work yourself? It can cost as much as you may need to pay for the car to have it done professionally (correctly). Then there are all the other costs.
For a strange reason, almost all the guys I know who have guesstimated the cost of these type of projects, have underestimated the final cost.
Tom

[89Campmobile]

[89Campmobile]

[MMW]

Not sure on price but as far as the desirability of the notchbacks I would think the amount of people who actually want one & would pay market value is very few. I have never been a fan of them & wouldn't buy one unless it was a steal & then only to flip it. I don't think it should bring anywhere near the price of an equal shape coupe. Just my opinion.
_________________
Mic
1959 356 coupe
Missing the original engine 72488
Update - third pc. found!
Now just need the case halves.
1965 fenderless beetle

[Sebastian Gaeta]

They are becoming quite popular, actually, and many buyers are now actively seeking them out.

Here is but one example of a very nice car that sold for $64,000:

http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1961-porsche-356b-super-karmann-hardtop/

The cost of a proper restoration, as you are aware, will zoom past the value of the car but that is true of nearly any 356.

So, to answer your question about what is it worth, the $20k to $30 may very well be correct, but some pictures would help determine that quite a bit.
_________________
Sebastian Gaeta

'63 Beetle Turkis
‘64 Karmann Ghia Coupe Manilagelb/Black Roof
'64 356C cabriolet Signalrot
'65 356C coupe Rubinrot
'66 Single Cab Velvet Green
'67 Karmann Ghia convertible Heliosblau

[Sebastian Gaeta]

[LHG]

[Sebastian Gaeta]

[LHG]

[dsrtfox]

I would say 356 ownership and Registry membership go hand in hand. Unless of course you know everything there is to know about 356's. If you can't cough up 40 bucks a year for all the knowledge in the world you won't be getting a 356 anytime soon.
Registry membership has saved me thousands of dollars over the years. Nothing is cheap with these cars anymore and mistakes will be very expensive.
Incidentally I was against the "pay to play" but the majority were not.
Premium membership in the Replica Speedster forum is more than the Registry and premium membership on the Samba is too !!!

Real name
Curt Vesely...

[Gearshift]

Buy the car. Get it between the quotes and you'll do good. With the appreciation value of the 356 cars you can park it in a good dry spot for two to three years and get a great return on your investment.

With the cost of restoration these days, restoring this car might not be cost efective. Park it and wait for values to increase as they will, and sell it as is. A Speedster, that is a different story.

If you just want a Porsche, go for it. I have also had the fever and nothing will take it away but a Porsche. If you don't get in too big a hurry you can still find some nice running and driving, rust free 356's for under 50K.

[roy mawbey]

Go to www.abcgt.com for free and look up the 356 restoration pages. enough reading for hours and hours! and all with descriptive photo's Its correct, the restoration costs will be high if you are not doing the work, and you need to see by looking on ABCGT to see just what is involved.

I have to say I have similar thoughts as MMW about notch backs but, like car colours every one has their own taste.

If you can do the body work and the mechanicals to make it a nice runner then by looking at abcgt you will know if its in your capability.

Without photos of the car its impossible to give a price idea and also someone who knows 356 well should have at least looked at it, a fair buying price is a complete guess without doing that.

Over here really rusty T2 coupe's with a pile of boxed up parts do seem to sell for a guide price of around 20K pounds sterling ( around $30K ) Its finding the rusty car that actually is not so rusty as everyone thinks, that is the problem!

Thats why at least photos are a so important in the first stage. Remember some people are spending around $60K restoring a car so it has to be the correct model to justify that in my opinion.

Roy
_________________
Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[MoPor]