Will The Buyer Of This 356 Come Out On Top Post Restoration?

Good Morning! The market remained strong through the weekend, keeping pace with Friday’s vibe thanks to a few strong sales of cars whose markets were looking rather soft over the last few months. In particular, a GT3 and a 2.7l 911, as you’ll read below.

THE MARKET

Sell-Through Rate (STR): 82%
Market Volume ($): $1,347,019
Market Volume (Units): 28

TOP SALES

2019 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring 6sp $245,000 Bring a Trailer
1974 Porsche 911 Coupe $145,000 Bring a Trailer
1989 Porsche 911 Coupe G50 $110,000 Bring a Trailer
1995 Porsche 911 C4 Coupe 6sp $85,500 Bring a Trailer
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe G50 $78,500 Bring a Trailer

SPOTLIGHT

The sale of this 1953 356 Pre-A Coupe project couldn’t be more timely, as after I hit send on this morning’s newsletter, I’m off to PCARMARKET headquarters to record another podcast with the crew on what’s happening with the 356 market and how matching numbers, age of restoration, and completeness affect pricing.

And with this particular example, I’ll throw in “Who’s bidding on it.” More on that in a second. Today’s Spotlight car is most definitely a project car, as you can see from the picture above. Originally delivered in Azure Blue, it now shows the remains of a history of color changes with Black, Red, Blue, Grey, and Yellow paint flaking off the body. Previous repairs, rust, and missing metal are evident in the pictures provided.

Also evident in the pictures provided is the amount of work needed on the rest of the car. The non-matching numbers engine needs a complete rebuild, as does every other mechanical piece of the car. The interior needs a complete restoration as well, and then there is the parts hunt. Many parts are pictured in the gallery, but some key and expensive pieces are missing, such as the radio.

All-in, this car is going to need hundreds of thousands of dollars in work to restore to its original luster, with about $100,000 in metal work alone. So was the $70,000 paid worth it for a car this far gone? During the market peak of the summer of ‘21, a handful of perfectly restored examples sold in the $400-500,000 range but over the last twelve months, our top sale was $285,400 for an example sold at Bonham’s Scottsdale sale, making it difficult to see one coming out ahead at the price paid here.

But as I said, it all depends on who is bidding. My first thought when seeing this car was that it would make an excellent candidate for an outlaw, as it is pretty far gone with a non-matching numbers engine and a host of missing parts. That’s why it was no surprise to see Rod Emory of Emory Outlaw fame bidding early on. As bids increased, though, even this one was too far gone for him. But one man’s scrap metal is another man’s masterpiece in waiting, especially when that man happens to be from Czech, where highly skilled metalwork can be had on the cheap. Expect to see this one restored to concourse condition at a European auction in the next few years, hopefully in the original color of Azure Blue.

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