[Magick Man]

It has a hot-cammed 289 and twin-4 bbls w/ high-flow headers, makes roughly 380bhp through an upgraded LSD & IRS. The original parts come with it, but it's already been updated to a more modern and driveable spec. As I said, the only issue is that I have to take off my shoes to drive it, so we'll do what we did with the Pantera and widen the pedal box and spacing a little. Otherwise it's all set to go, the man who did the resto and updates is THE DT expert in Europe, so there really shouldn't be any surprises (better not be for 170k).

 

[Magick Man]

Holy #%%#. :eek: Some things are better than money, who would sell this?


http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-porsche-917k-mcqueen-auction-20140622-story.html

 

[Hutnicks]

Holy #%%#.

Some things are better than money, who would sell this?


http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-porsche-917k-mcqueen-auction-20140622-story.html

Oh dear!

 

[billybob_jcv]

It sounds like that car hasn't see the light of day since the 1970s. What a shame! This whole thing is weird. Who sticks the most famous 917 in the world in a barn? Who finds that 917, spends all the money to restore it, then sells it? Maybe the guy that did the restoration financed the restoration by mortgaging the ultimate sale?
http://slotblog.net/topic/49309-porsche-917-the-ultimate-barn-find/

 

[billybob_jcv]

I'm on my way to Texas again. It looks like it's going to be hot & humid with the typical humidity-driven rain showers the entire time I'm there.

On my way to LAX this morning, I followed an Audi R8 Spyder for quite a while. Beautiful car - not Ferrari beautiful, but still very cool. I don't know enough about the various years & variations to tell whether it was V8 or V10, or what year it was.

 

[billybob_jcv]

So, in my continuing quest to try every type of rental car on the National "Emerald Aisle", this time I went for a Dodge Avenger. I should have walked a little farther - there was a Dodge Charger on the far end of the aisle. Oh well...

If you are one of those people that says "I only buy 'merican" or "Chevy/Ford/Dodge sucks, I only buy Dodge/Ford/Chevy" or "American cars suck, I only buy Japanese." - I think this simply shows that you haven't actually driven very many different cars. I'm here to tell you - if you take the badges off all the basic mid-size, low-to-mid priced 4-dour sedans, and put them side-by-side, you won't be able to tell them apart. Even if you take it for a drive around the block, I'll bet the majority of people could not correctly name the make & model of each car.

The Dodge Avenger is a very unimpressive vehicle. It's hard to pinpoint the worst aspect - it could be any of these:

- Serious lack of torque
- Numb, lifeless & unresponsive steering
- Harsh, yet also sloppy suspension
- Transmission shift points that seems ill-matched to the engine

The engine+transmission is exceedingly bad. I think the issue is the common issue with cars in this class - they are completely tuned to score well in the EPA MPG ratings. So, they can cruise at 55 MPH at 2000 RPM, but God help you if you try to accelerate from 55 to 70. What's really sad is that once you finally get the engine into the powerband, it actually does OK. 75-85 is really not bad - or maybe it would be more accurate if I just say it's better than 55-65.

OK, now I need to say something positive...

The A/C works very well, which is appreciated in Texas in Summer...

The Chevy Cruze & Impala were better cars, and the Ford Fusion was better than all of them (albeit for more money). The Camry was also better than the Dodge. The Kia Optima was a better driving car, but about the same for interior cheapness.

In a sea of mediocrity, the Dodge Avenger is below average...

 

[Magick Man]

I'm thinking about the 917. Not that I can really afford it right now, the estimates are eye-watering (like 250 SWB money), but like I told my head mech, "how can I not afford it?" It's something that won't be available again in my lifetime. The thing is, I think it's being woefully underestimated by ~50-70%, for that very reason. IOW, if it doesn't hit $30M, I'll be surprised (there are businessmen in the far East worth 10+ figures eyeing it hungrily). I think you're dead-on, the scuttlebutt is the guy who owns it inherited a storage space that contained the car but didn't have the money to restore it, and isn't a car guy to begin with, so he partnered with someone who did and they're going to split the sale profits.

This, OTOH, is more my "speed", and I could fund a lot of it by selling the 275 GTB/4 I have now. M-hmm.

 

[Magick Man]

Billy, you'll love this.


[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klLSZooiirk[/VIDEO]

 

[Hutnicks]

I'm thinking about the 917. Not that I can really afford it right now, the estimates are eye-watering (like 250 SWB money), but like I told my head mech, "how can I not afford it?"

It's something that won't be available again in my lifetime. The thing is, I think it's being woefully underestimated by ~50-70%, for that very reason. IOW, if it doesn't hit $30M, I'll be surprised (there are businessmen in the far East worth 10+ figures eyeing it hungrily). I think you're dead-on, the scuttlebutt is the guy who owns it inherited a storage space that contained the car but didn't have the money to restore it, and isn't a car guy to begin with, so he partnered with someone who did and they're going to split the sale profits.

This, OTOH, is more my "speed", and I could fund a lot of it by selling the 275 GTB/4 I have now. M-hmm.

I imagine Porsche would be eager to have that car back in the fold. Seems they have remained stum on the whole issue thus far.
 
Wondered when you were going to notice that 275 hiding down in the corner there

 

[billybob_jcv]

The 917 is one of the coolest cars in the entire world. But I wouldn't pay $20-30M for a single car. I just couldn't do it. There are too many other cars for $1-5M that I would want to buy. I don't know, I guess it's a matter of perspective - if spending $30M doesn't stop all future purchases, then OK - why not - but if it's a choice between the one 917 or continuing to build and upgrade the rest of the collection, that can actually be driven, then I would pass on the 917.

 

[Hutnicks]

The 917 is one of the coolest cars in the entire world. But I wouldn't pay $20-30M for a single car. I just couldn't do it. There are too many other cars for $1-5M that I would want to buy. I don't know, I guess it's a matter of perspective - if spending $30M doesn't stop all future purchases, then OK - why not - but if it's a choice between the one 917 or continuing to build and upgrade the rest of the collection, that can actually be driven, then I would pass on the 917.

I think it really comes down to what kind of collection you are building. 1) It's a race car (sort of, only ran once really and then did the film work) 2)It belonged to McQueen so it has Planet Hollywood factor. 3)It is a 917 after all but that goes back to the race car moniker. Is it worth 30 meg? If you either collect race cars or SteveO memorabilia and have all the money in the universe to spend, maybe so. As an attraction in any other sort of collection it surely will stick out like a sore thumb.
 
I'd still rather see it back in Zuffenhausen than in any private collection.
 
Whatever happened to the T70MKIIIB's Lucas used in THX1138?

 

[Magick Man]

It wouldn't hamper the collection, just potentially put a wrench into my plan to move the operation to new digs. It's been a great year thus far in the markets and some good bets paid off better than we'd anticipated, but it would be crazy to expect that to continue indefinitely.

 

[Hutnicks]

It wouldn't hamper the collection, just potentially put a wrench into my plan to move the operation to new digs. It's been a great year thus far in the markets and some good bets paid off better than we'd anticipated, but it would be crazy to expect that to continue indefinitely.

One could make the argument that impinging on the move is in fact hampering.
 
No Offense but I still believe that vehicle belongs in a display where the public has access to it.
 
From a collection point of view. How much would you anticipate it to appreciate over the next decade or so?  How many other unique pedigree cars could be had for the same money, and what would their appreciation factor be?

 

[Magick Man]

The more I think about it, I have a few racecars, but don't specifically collect racecars. Not to say it wouldn't fit in, I'm thinking about going back to the F1's original Warsteiner Gulf livery;





but I believe there's merit to the idea that it should be in a museum. Not that it will end up in one, more likely it'll be socked away in some Chinese billionaire's garage, never to be seen by anyone in the West again. No, I didn't miss the 275 before, I've just been quietly watching it, and so far it's been thoroughly overshadowed by the 917, which IMO is a good thing, from a buyer's perspective.

 

[Hutnicks]

The more I think about it, I have a few racecars, but don't specifically collect racecars. Not to say it wouldn't fit in, I'm thinking about going back to the F1's original Warsteiner Gulf livery;





but I believe there's merit to the idea that it should be in a museum. Not that it will end up in one, more likely it'll be socked away in some Chinese billionaire's garage, never to be seen by anyone in the West again.

No, I didn't miss the 275 before, I've just been quietly watching it, and so far it's been thoroughly overshadowed by the 917, which IMO is a good thing, from a buyer's perspective.

Or perhaps Porsche can put the arm on Dieter Mateschitz to buy it and donate it back to them.
 
That is one of the all time most sinister paint schemes on any race car
 
I wonder how they will position the sale. Put the 275 up before the 17 to build hype, or after hoping to get spill over bidding from the uberriche.