A or B?

OK, I am shopping for Porsche No. 7. It's been a couple of years since I have had one in the garage. Here are the two primary suspects that I am considering. Not interested in diversity. I want another Porsche. (Our $2012 Challenge car is a Lotus - that counts as diversity) I am shopping with a typical GRM level budget of sub $5K. Which do you think?

Here is a 1975 914 1.8 barn find. From an estate sale. It has spent the last 14 years in a heated garage. It is an original survivor in near perfect condition. 64K on the clock. When I was younger and had disposable income I bought a new 1975 914. I loved that car. Who cares that a Toyota Corolla will beat it in the quarter mile. 914's are just a lot of fun and this one is unmolested and hasn't turned into a pile of rust. I expect that clean, rust free, original cars will probably increase in value as they become harder to find. Then again, this is not the desirable 2.0 model.

This is a 1989 944s2. Kind of a rare model. The top of the 944 evolution. Big 3 liter 4 cam normally aspirated engine. Equal to, or faster than, the 944 turbo in everything but top speed (down by 7mph). Only a few thousand sold - for good reason - the s2 option package was stupidly expensive and drove the price up to within $2K of the Carrera (nothing much changes at Porsche, eh?). Still the s2 could match the same year Corvette in the quarter mile. Likely to be a collectable. Has 190K on the clock. But then I sold my last 944 (actually a 924S) with 265K on it and never did anything to it except regular maintenance. (Edit: The asking price of this car is $1500 less than the 914)

Two very different cars. Which do you think?

A, by a very very very large amount.

914

Ask yourself what you want the car to do. DD? 944. Track car? 944. Toy run-about? 914. Other than fixing minor weaknesses, modifying the 914 would probably lose money overall so I think that's out. How do you envision yourself driving it?

All that said, there are many, many 944 fish in the sea. There are >darn few< 914s like that left.

David

I loooooove 944s, but if that 914 is as good as it looks in the picture, for under $5k, go buy it yesterday.

ur kidding right? 914 dude

I believe the appropriate response is

"which one is an ls1 swap easier in?"

skierd wrote: A, by a very very very large amount.

+1. 914s are cooler.

Yea, A and finding a rust free survivor is a big +!

914 by far. I even hate the later 914s with the giant rubber bumpers but the one in the pic looks super clean.

Also, I wouldn't say the 944 S2 is rare or collectible. I'd say it is a low production model of the 944 and that's about it. I think many would say the end of 944 evolution was when the 968 came out...

DWNSHFT hit the nail on the head though, what do you want the car for?

In typical GRM fashion, to meet your typical GRM budget, I also choose A, simply because I don't see (m)any 914s anymore...

Because nobody has said it yet, 914.

If I could find either car for under $5k, either would be in my driveway...with a strong preference to the 914.

Absolutely the 914. It's way cool.

A! The difference between a 1.8 and a 2.0 is 0.2

Smiles per mile? C'mon, how often is a 944 confused with an RX7 ? Even if you drove the 914 for a few years and decided it didn't fit your lifestyle, you'd make money with a survivor.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/cat.php?id=73

Having watched the 914s run around at the Mitty, I would say 914.

I gotta vote 914 also even though, like you, I don't care for the rubberbabybuggybumpers. Those wheels? Like that car I don't think I have ever seen a set that still had the original snap in plastic center caps.

A for the win.

A. The only problem with that 914 is that it seems too nice to track. Mind you B might be faster around the track.

As a car, I'd go for the 944. As a toy, the 914.

Do what makes you happy.

I'm in the camp of "depends on what you want to do with it". I think a 944 S2 is the better car in every objective, measurable way, except return on investment.

Subjective? Well, that's up to you. That 914 is saaahweeeet! If it's really sub $5K you'd probably make money selling it years later with more miles on the clock.

I think the simplest answer is, "Both". Buy the 914 as an investment, and the 944 as a toy.

Dissenting opinion.

B the 944 S2 if you want a car to:
1. Track
2. Autocross
3. Back street blast
4. DD
5. Occasional dd
6. Admire the lines off
7. Eeerrr anything

A the 914 if you want a car that:
1. Is ugly as sin and was ignored by all until so many had rusted away it was suddenly deemed cool by ‘Porsche-o-philes’ so it’s value has risen inversely to its actual appeal and worth
2. You want to drop insane amounts of money into to make into a completely useless yet fun autocross monster

This does not mean I don’t like 914’s, it’s just by any measure I can think of short of a $500 carcass to do an engine swap on, an S2 is the better bet.

get the 914. the 944 is just waiting to punish you.

Both, but if you go for B, say where A is :)