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It has been about 6 weeks since I purchased this 1979 Porsche 928 5-speed (Black/Pasha w/S spoilers front+rear + Clubsport wheels) for $1,800 that had been in a storage unit for over 9 years in the high desert here in California. Engine/etc status: Unknown. 288,439 miles on the odometer. Super dusty inside and out.
(I live about 3 hours away in a town on the coast.)
The owner had passed away and the storage unit was eventually sold at auction several months ago. The winner of the storage unit didn't want the car -- apparently just some tools etc? that were also in the unit -- so he sold the car to another gentleman, who, after paying $900+ in back DMV fees, decided he didn't want to spend the time or money on this car. So I found his listing on craigslist in mid July. Status of car/engine etc was unknown. Car was not running (obviously nobody wanted to just start it after 9 years). Car was filthy inside and out -- I assume from the desert winds -- but looked pretty decent from what I could tell. So I took a chance and paid the gentleman and had it towed to my house. I spent the weekend cleaning it up and getting it looking pretty good. A couple dings and minor dents here and there. The paint appears to be original and a little faded on some edges. The interior is in pretty good shape minus the torn up Pasha on the driver seat, cracks in the dash, and cracked leather on the top of the rear seats. I replaced the battery and found that the lights, indicators, etc worked. Has original Porsche radio/cassette (not working) + Electric windows don't work. So had it towed to the local Porsche specialist to see if the engine was still good etc. They took baby steps, drained all fluids, etc etc and to my surprise got it running! So next they replaced the timing belt and a bunch of other stuff. Just several thousand dollars later + set of new tires I have a pretty nice little pleasure car in pretty good shape. So fun to drive! I love the handling on this Porsche muscle car. Got 4 new 928 logo floor mats (black w/charcoal thread) + new 928 logo mat for back hatch area (also black w/charcoal thread). For fun got some static cling decals from gochecker.com (179) for some photos.
A fun fact is that it came with a box of receipts dating back to 1979 (!) and the first 1000 mile service was performed at Vasek Polak as well as a few additional services - I can probably assume this is where it was purchased.
The original owner was a woman from Hermosa Beach (later Malibu) and owned the car from '79 - '87. The second owner was the gentlemen who passed and owned the car from '87 - 2016. I am the third (driving) owner. (This box of receipts is fascinating.)
Here's a couple pics from my driveway and garage:
P.S. I may do more work to it. Right now the investment seems alright. Maybe this will increase in value over time?
Great find it looks like, and I hope the "bunch of other stuff" included fuel lines. Yours may be even crispier than most after that length of dry hot, storage. Old lines have caused a lot of fires, a search will give you some idea of the danger.
Love it! $1800 was a bargain. As for value, it has been modified quite a bit with "S" spoilers, the wheels, exhaust, which all actually hurt value from an investment standpoint, but these are easily reversed (altho the spoiler involves body work to refill drilled holes). Anyway, these early cars are really rising in value, and it seems like you got a good one. You have already discovered the greatest value in an early shark - driving it!
To this! Great job and I am glad someone took the time, money, effort to safe this one. Where did you find the keys? Spoke to the storage lady, she did not know who had the keys.
Those are club sports and you can tell by the way those holes blend into the rim and do not have the distinct "spokes" into the rims. However, these are 944 CS and not the wider 928 club sports (no "curves" into the rims).
Still nice, and the car comes with H4 lights. If I remember correctly, the interior was pretty trashed though.
Plus "several thousand dollars" thus far on a car with 288,000 miles on the odometer not that it is likely accurate. But looks like it passed smog and is registered so that is good !! Enjoy your hobby car.
To the person who asked where the keys were, I suppose they eventually found them in the storage unit - I had not heard they were missing when I finally got to this project.
For the person who asked for interior pics, here are a few. It cleaned up pretty nicely. Still a work in progress. The dust was thick and everywhere. Plus there were a lot of random items - pens, coins, tie-wraps, paper...
The split leather on top of the rear seats are now covered.
The torn Pasha on the driver's seat is covered, although the rest of seat/backing leather are in great shape. The cracked dash is pictured as well as a few tears in the passenger seat.
Also has the orange box with the light bubs.
The actual carpets under the floormats are pristine too.
(Next time: There is some strange Vacuum dial (not pictured yet) mounted on the left of the passenger side. I can post pics later to see if anyone has any idea what it is. The Porsche place is not yet sure what it is either. It has two adjustment dials.)
09-12-2016, 01:37 AM
Storage find: 1979 928 5-speed Black/Pasha w/S spoilers front+rear + Clubsport wheels
But I agree the odo probably rolled over an extra 100,000 or two.
