If I were in the market for a 356 project, I probably wouldn’t buy this one. I wouldn’t mind dealing with the seller though. He purchased the car in 1977 and is the third owner. He is very upfront about all the issues in his auction listing and even states because of the limited auction timeframe he has set the reserve and buy-it-now prices high for the first go around and will then relist the car with more realistic numbers on the second. He might not have to do that though because there appears to be some serious interest in this roadster. That’s understandable though considering that this is as close to a Speedster as you are going to get for under a $100k. The car is located in Washington, D.C. and is listed here on eBay.

This Porsche was supposedly parked in 1980 because of a bad master cylinder. The engine may have run then, but the body was already rusty. A new floor pan had been put under the car and some body work had already done at that point. The seller is realistic about the quality of the work though and mentions that some of it will need to be redone because the door gaps are not right on one side. We have seen much worse brought back from the dead though so that is definitely not a deal breaker for the hardcore Porsche guys. Personally, I’d want something without potentially botched rust repairs, but I suppose that living on the western side of the States has spoiled me.

Back in the engine room you will find a later 1600C, but the original 1600 Super is included as well as a 90 horsepower S-90! The extra engines add a lot of value here because they are worth a pretty penny by themselves. There are also two transmissions included. The original one is out of the car, but is said to be rebuilt. So, you will have lots of options when it comes time to put this car back together. You could return everything to stock spec or you could put the original drivetrain in storage and build yourself a mild hot rod. That’s probably what I would do, but I also buy cars to drive them, not for their investment potential.

Anyway, I wish this seller luck. He seems like a straight shooter and this is obviously a highly desirable offering, so there is no doubt in my mind that he will get top dollar for it. I only wish that every car listed for sale online was presented this well. Sellers would get full market value and there would be more happy buyers out there. Some of the mystic of a barn find is the mystery of the unknown, but when you are spending this kind of money, it’s probably wise to know everything you can about the car.