Karacticus wrote: R & T article that's attempting to get folks wound up-- gee, sounds like something by Jack Baruth. Check link, yep.
Jack is writing for R&T now? Cool.
I'll have to thank him for trying to get 996 prices to drop further, as I don't have one yet. Although I do know someone who picked up a nice runner for "nice 944" money, so there's still hope.
I saw that post this morning and clicked on it. I didn't bother reading it when I saw it was written by Jack Baruth. He writes to get attention, nothing more. This is evidenced by his article about it being time for the Fiero to be reborn as a Chevrolet. I don't disagree with that, but he said GM took a driveline and rotated it 180 degrees to make a mid-engined car. Shows a lack of real automotive knowledge, and it shouldn't have slipped by the editors, either.
I miss Peter Egan.
I have several aircooled 911s, but also really like my 74 914. What I don't like about the 914 is the sloppy shifter, which I hope to somewhat improve with new bushings, and the limited opening to work on the engine, otherwise it's a cool little car.
I also like the 996, but if I pull the trigger on one it'll be a TT and I'll keep my aircooled 911s too....they're just a totally different experience that I really enjoy.
This kind of elitism is what is wrong with some Porsche owners.
FTFY
There's nothing wrong with the 914 for what it is/was. It is just hard for some folks to see it when they have their noses pointed to the heavens. I mean, some of those folks bought Cayennes, for heaven's sake.
Well, he's right on all his points. He also included a link to another article saying the 996 was the "bang for the buck" 911 to purchase. Which it is.
I've driven several 996's, including the Turbo and the GT3. The GT3 is the only one with character. The rest of them, while fabulous performing cars, feel, well, clinical.
I'd still like a 996 Turbo though...
JeffHarbert wrote: I saw that post this morning and clicked on it. I didn't bother reading it when I saw it was written by Jack Baruth. He writes to get attention, nothing more. I miss Peter Egan.
Amen. Mr. Egan had the right balance of mirth, knowledge, modesty- not to mention he was incredibly talented with a turn of phrase.
One of my favorite Egan quotes: "Racing Makes Heroin Addiction Look Like a Vague Wish for Something Salty.”
I read JB on TTAC occasionally, and he has his moments, but generally I feel like he's just one of those insufferable dolts you'd meet at a bar yammering on about how much of a bad ass he is.
All he really said is, don't count on it increasing in value because there are a ton of them out there and they're pretty widely panned for their looks and longevity of interior finishes. Which is all true.
"The 914 was a terrible car made cool by time and nostalgia."
Just opinion there. Not a car to restore at all, but definitely a cool car to drive and modify !
I've owned many of them and am always looking for a repairable example to buy and drive. Except for the over-center pedals which can take some time getting used to (especially the clutch,) the car is a genuine ball to drive/flog around. Easy to fix, good substitution of VW parts for Porsche, loads of body and uni-body metal available new and used, fabricate what you can't find or afford. Still cheap enough outside of California and Connecticut, what's not to love ? ! ? ! ?
If anyone stumbles across a reasonable shell without an engine, please send along a PM !
Contradiction wrote: Frankly I don't really follow magazines like R&T and Car & Driver because the focus is weighed to heavily on new cars and stuff that I will never be able to afford short of winning the lotto.
The problem with this mentality is that it ignores the fact that the new cars focused on in them BECOME used cars in a short time. I have a collection of R&T and C&D going back decades and you know what? They're full of cars that were new then but affordable used now. And you can get a great idea of how to compare and "learn me" those cars against similar cars that are ALSO used now.
My daily driver E38 740i Sport was an $85k new car at one time and "unaffordable" to 36 year old me. But it BECAME an $8500 used car and the articles about it are still important all these years later. And BECAUSE of those articles and paying attention to the cars when new, I know all about them as USED cars now.
Not seeing the problem here. The article is pretty much spot on.
They made oodles of 996 911s. They're not rare as Porsches go. That's just a fact. They have IMS issues. Again... fact. The article recommends the 997 over the 996 because the most egregious reliability problems were addressed during the 997 production run. That's not new information.
I'm never going to be able to afford a GT3, GT4 or probably any Porsche ever... Unless I want a 944/924 I don't. Is it just me, or does it smell a little like flounder in here?
Some of same factors driving down 996 prices mean that early Boxsters and Cayennes are easily found in the $5-8K range. That sounds pretty GRM-friendly to me.
At some point in the last few decades, writers decided to throw objectivity to the wind and write about their "feelings." So it's just one guy's opinionated ramblings. Kinda like the fake evening news. Who cares?
Edit: I actually just read the article, and I found it somewhat amusing. I mean, we read car magazines to amuse ourselves, do we not?
In the end it's entertainment. Some people like it or he wouldn't be there. I've long ago given up on the R&Ts of the world. GRM and Classic are my last automotive magazine refuges. I predict in a dozen years or so the 996 will be looked at with nostalgia and talked about how great they feel because you could actually drive it yourself! 
After witnessing a fellow dinner meltdown at lunch, I've decided that the world today is far too full of meanness, negativity, and a lack of class. 
The way this article was written pandered to this mentality to me. Sure by today's standards the 914 is not as good a car as a modern Boxster, but compared to it's contemporaries, it more than holds its on. Keep in mind in parts of the rest of the world it was a VW and not a pure Porsche.
Car magazines suck. They just do. I think most used to be ok. Then a douche bag named David E. Davis I believe thought that car magazine people had to be Ernest Hemingways instead of Smokey Yunicks. The result is flowering writing at the expensive of simple, concise writing. The focus now is on verbal gymnastics instead of the car, whether its a 996 or whatever. To make matters worse, they no longer take clear pictures of the car from various angles. Instead, you get blurry pictures so they can show cars "at speed", you get artsy fartsy photo layouts and extreme closeups of details as if each component is some piece of art. As I've said before, the moron who runs autoweek ruined the magazine when his dad died and he took over the company and turned the rag into a lifestyle magazine, where they focused on high end watches, shoes, pens, etc and cars became secondary. There is only magazine I like these days...
^This.
I don't subscribe to anything anymore. I re-subbed Hot Rod magazine a few years ago at $5.00 for the year and was grossly overcharged.
GRM and CM are still good, I miss Motor Trend Classic and Automobile Quarterly.
Hemmings Classic Car has good stuff on occasion.
As for the Porsche thing, I drove a 90's 911 Targa once and couldn't get past the wonky pedals and driving position.
Meh. His main point is that the 996 isn't going to go up in value, but who actually buys a car for that anyhow? I was looking at 996's pretty seriously not that long ago and decided to take a pass. If articles (and attitudes) like this bring the prices down to the $9-12k range I might be convinced to pull the trigger.
I bought mine for ~12k and have no regrets.
Those monteros are slower than anything other then a non turbo old Mercedes diesel lol. Is it the two door with the 4g54?
Remember when i talked about buying Starion parts off you? It's still in its 'pre turbo phase' right now, but it seems like so much of a keeper that the turbo phase is inevitable, just a matter of when. It'll be a hoot with 150-200 hp but i also really want to cruise it all over the Colorado rockies without insufferable power loss.
Vigo wrote:Meh. His main point is that the 996 isn't going to go up in value, but who actually buys a car for that anyhow? I was looking at 996's pretty seriously not that long ago and decided to take a pass. If articles (and attitudes) like this bring the prices down to the $9-12k range I might be convinced to pull the trigger.I bought mine for ~12k and have no regrets.Those monteros are slower than anything other then a non turbo old Mercedes diesel lol. Is it the two door with the 4g54?Remember when i talked about buying Starion parts off you? It's still in its 'pre turbo phase' right now, but it seems like so much of a keeper that the turbo phase is inevitable, just a matter of when. It'll be a hoot with 150-200 hp but i also really want to cruise it all over the Colorado rockies without insufferable power loss.
Lol I don't remember
plance1 wrote: Car magazines suck. They just do. I think most used to be ok. Then a douche bag named David E. Davis I believe thought that car magazine people had to be Ernest Hemingways instead of Smokey Yunicks. The result is flowering writing at the expensive of simple, concise writing. The focus now is on verbal gymnastics instead of the car, whether its a 996 or whatever. To make matters worse, they no longer take clear pictures of the car from various angles. Instead, you get blurry pictures so they can show cars "at speed", you get artsy fartsy photo layouts and extreme closeups of details as if each component is some piece of art. As I've said before, the moron who runs autoweek ruined the magazine when his dad died and he took over the company and turned the rag into a lifestyle magazine, where they focused on high end watches, shoes, pens, etc and cars became secondary. There is only magazine I like these days...
Ugh, yeah, how about it. Our car magazine article bingo sheet would need:
A flowery but worthless introduction about the history of something that is only vaguely related to the car, or maybe the name of the car.
"replete with"
"[car] boasts [feature]"
"vaunted"
"brethren"
"moniker"
"clad with" (will also accept "clad in")
"at first blush"
"what's more"
"on par with"
I think someone was looking for a 914 shell? NMNA 914 Shell
God I love searching Craigslist with the only criteria being $900 max price.
Doug Demuro has a different opinion of the 996
Bobzilla wrote: The 73-87 chevy trucks are suffering that same fate. the 67-72 market is out of reach for most people now and the supply is drying up. So they move on... Before long the 88-98 will be desirable because the 73-87 is too expensive.
Its happenning now. From what I can see, the GMT400 is just now becoming collectible.
Peter Egan still writes an occasional article for Cycle World magazine, which is about the only reason I still have a subscription for it.
ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) wrote: I think someone was looking for a 914 shell? NMNA 914 Shell God I love searching Craigslist with the only criteria being $900 max price.
Cripes, I was looking for 914 seats on eBay and they were more than that.
I am SO glad that I don't have room for this. I'd have an EJ22 engined 914 by this time next year, maybe.
(Nah, it'd be a 13B with whatever ACVW trans I could find)
mattmacklind wrote:Bobzilla wrote: The 73-87 chevy trucks are suffering that same fate. the 67-72 market is out of reach for most people now and the supply is drying up. So they move on... Before long the 88-98 will be desirable because the 73-87 is too expensive.Its happenning now. From what I can see, the GMT400 is just now becoming collectible.
Agreed, shortbed, standard cab GMT400 trucks in nice shape seem to be bringing in a noticeable premium.
Back on the topic of the 996, Jack may be correct in a lot he says in that article, but he's wrong about it not becoming collectible. I mean, hell, he basically gave the 914 as a similiar example, yet gives no good reason why the 914 has become collectible and the 996 won't be.
You'll need to log in to post.
