Mid-Year Madness – 1974 911 Carrera

January 8, 2010 by Dallas

It’s been said recently that the mid-year 911s (1974-77) will be the next generation of Porsche’s venerable air-cooled masterpiece to really take off in value.  By the look of things this very attractive 1974 Carrera is leading the charge!

1974 Porsche 911 Carrera For Sale

Model year 1974 rang in many changes for the 911, some well-received, some not so much.  The so-called “impact bumper” made its first appearance that year, replacing the more delicate chrome bumpers worn by all previous 911s.  Conformity with US crash impact standards required the beefier bumpers, but Porsche master stylist Tony Lapine designed an elegant and attractive solution.  Out back, engine capacity was increased from 2.4l to 2.7l in three levels of tune – base 911 with 150bhp and 173lbs/ft torque, 911S (175bhp/174 lbs/ft) and Carrera (210bhp).  Unfortunately for Americans the Carrera powerplant (from the famous 1973 Carrera RS) was still not approved for US emissions standards so US Carreras sported the “S” engine.

The car on auction is a “Carrera” albeit with some tasty upgrades, most notably the very desirable sports seats.  The transmission is the usual 5-speed, with lower ratios.  This may be good or bad, depending on your proposed use for the car.  Maybe not so great for highway cruising, but nice around town and at the track with added low-end grunt.  This car looks great in Grand Prix White with the buerzel (ducktail) spoiler and Ruf-style front valance.  The only thing I’m not feeling is the wheels – they need black centers pronto.

Seller reports he is a long-term (15 years) owner of the car, and that various upgrades have been performed.  The most important of these addresses the infamous “camchain tensioner” issue.  While the standard upgrade is to change to “Carrera” (i.e. 1984 model year) tensioners, the seller states that the tensioners have been “rebuilt”… further querying required on this.  Also, what’s up with the speaker enclosure on the back deck combined with radio delete??

Mid-year 911s have long been the poor relations in the collector Porsche family.  While “longhoods” (1964-73.5) and especially short-wheelbase (1964-68) cars have skyrocketed in value of late, the 1974-77 models have lagged.  Whether the reason was their (marginally) poorer performance, slightly increased weight, impact-bumper styling, or poor engine reliablity (especially on 1975-77 “thermal reactor” cars) the middies just haven’t taken off in value.  Recent trends, however, seem to indicate that this may change.  As longhood values grow out of reach for many, the relatively lightweight middies with their narrow-body vintage appeal are becoming more and more attractive, and this demand will drive prices upwards.  The particular car on auction certainly seems to bear out this trend.

-Dallas

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Posted by Dallas in Porsche | January 8, 2010 |
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6 Responses to “Mid-Year Madness – 1974 911 Carrera”

  1. #1
    Jim
    January 11th, 2010 3:48 pm

    This car is already bid over its value IMO. I would expect the sale on eBay would not actually go through.

    The mid year cars are not going anywhere in price. Non galvinized cars with the lousey 2.7 motor and heavy impact bumpers. You can buy a nie 78-83 SC for a lot less than that silly bid on eBay and the SC is a heck of a lot better car.

    I always get a kick out of the BS sellers put in their adds.

  2. #2
    Dallas
    January 11th, 2010 5:07 pm

    Thanks for the comment, Jim!

    I am a big believer in the market setting the price – I think that the fact this one has been bid over $22K is indicative of mid-year cars trending upwards. I’m not sure why you would immediately assume that the sale would not close…? However I agree that the price bid for this car is big money for a middie.

    I also agree that an SC is probably a much better car for all the reasons you point out. However, as you know, the fact that a different model is objectively “the better car” is often irrelevant in the world of Porsche values… for example a ’73 Carrera RS is a $200K+ car when a ’74 RoW Carrera with the same motor (and production numbers of only 1,036 vs. 1,590 for the RS!) will bring a mere fraction of that.

  3. #3
    Jim
    January 11th, 2010 5:55 pm

    Drive the 73 and the 74 and you’ll understand why.

    When ebay was young you would see markets that were out of line with reality, all be it usually on the low side.

    The way eBay is used today by so many dealers, collectors, wholesaleers etc. You wont see someone paying up well over fair value on these cars and you wont find any rediculous steals.

    Its an interesting car but nothing special, the wider 16 inch 7 and 8 fuchs are worth a couple extra bucks, the RUF yellow bird copied front bumper actually takes value away. This car wuold be worth more if it were all original, and its nowhere close.

    All in all it looks like a very nice car. For 22k you can get a very nice G50 Carrera (87 to 89) and its a whole lot better car which wont rust.

  4. #4
    Dallas
    January 11th, 2010 6:13 pm

    >You wont see someone paying up well over fair value on these cars and you wont find any rediculous steals.

    That’s my point — values on 74-77 cars are going up. Doesn’t matter that SC’s are “better” but sell for less. A G50 Carrera is “better” than a longhood “S” but which does the market value more?

  5. #5
    Jim
    January 12th, 2010 7:25 am

    I dont agree. The value of a plain old middie (74-77) realy is not going anywhere and thats because the SC’s are better cars and plentiful.

    The head service writer here has a 74 ROW car with about 40k on it in pristine condition all original and its a sweet old 911 but its not exactly a desirable car and anyone looking would probably buy an SC for the same money.

  6. #6
    Jim
    January 12th, 2010 7:41 am

    Not sure how to add a new post to this blog but here is an interesting RSA at a decent price.

    http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/1547933401.html

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PLEASE NOTE BEFORE LEAVING A COMMENT: I don't own or represent any of the vehicles for sale on this blog. Click all the links in the post to discover if the vehicle is still for sale. I don't have any further information if links are broken and will delete comments asking if a car is still for sale. Thank you for your understanding