1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa

With three previous keepers recorded on the V5 registration document and in the care of the same owner for 23 of those, this delightful little 911 SC Targa will need recommissioning after having been laid-up for the past three years.

Having owned it since the odometer read just 72,000 miles, the previous owner used it as her daily driver – and when the years started to take their toll on the Porsche, she decided to treat it to a light refurbishment.

Sadly, the work wasn’t carried out and the car was eventually returned largely untouched after a lengthy period. At this point we sold the car to its current owner who has had the engine seriously serviced and bought a number of significant parts for the restoration but who has lost his storage and can see that selling now is more pragmatic than never getting round to finishing the job.

This is does give someone the opportunity to buy a classic Porsche 911 for what will almost certainly be a significant saving on the price you’d have to pay for a fully fettled example with a long MOT.

Being offered with No Reserve, the car sounds worse on paper than it actually is, and we think that the recommissioning it needs should be fairly straightforward.

It starts and runs and drives and while we’ve been as honest as we can in the description, as is always the case with projects like this, we would strongly urge potential bidders to visit us here at The Market’s headquarters in Abingdon where you will be able to examine the car for yourself.

Please take a look at the two short videos in the gallery section of the listing, which includes the start up and engine running.

The bodywork is pretty straight and tidy, and still shows the sort of tight, even shut-lines and straight, unruffled flanks that made Germany a byword for top-notch automotive engineering.

The iconic Guards Red paintwork is slightly sun-faded in places but we think a decent machine polish would bring most of the colour back; while red is one of the fastest colours to fade it is also one of the easiest to bring back.

There is a small crack on the nearside corner of the rear bumper, some rust on the base of the offside B-pillar/driver’s door shut, and the black paintwork has rubbed off from the rear window surround. There is also some rust around the bottom of the rear valance, but this does not appear to be serious.

Importantly, at face-value the sills look to be solid (although there is a dent on the nearside, which has taken the paint off), as does the underside, the wings, the windscreen surround, the floor, and the A-pillars. So, the remedial bodywork should be limited in scope and therefore reasonably inexpensive; possibly even a DIY job if you’re handy with the welder. Red is also an easy colour to match too, so you shouldn’t need to have to splash out on a full respray. The original Porsche bonnet badge is included with the box of parts.

The targa top is in reasonable shape and looks to only need a decent clean and, perhaps, new seals and a rip on the inside repairing. The rest of the exterior trim looks fairly good.

The alloy wheels could do with some work to bring them back to their former glory, this might be a simple weekend job or you may need to get them refurbished, but we’d be tempted to allow for a new set of tyres too, just to be on the safe side, although there is still plenty of tread on the those fitted.

But, please do come along and take a look at the car in person so you know what you’re letting yourself in for and so are able to set your budget at the appropriate level.

The interior has been partially stripped out, which is good news because it will save you having to do it. It’s true that the carpets could do with a quick wash on a delicate cycle, the instrument bezels needs painting, and the rear headlining needs re-fixing (which might just be as simple as tucking it back under the rubber seal) but it isn’t as bad as it looks.

Because, while the black leather seats do need some work, they’re not damaged, just in need of some TLC, a little colour, and lots of hide feed - but the vendor has acquired two very good seats anyway and these are included in the sale. 

The steering wheel is probably too far gone to be reused, but the door cards have now been reupholstered and what appears to be a very long list of new components for the door trim are also included.

So, as you can see, none of the interior work is either expensive, hard-to-do, or even extensive in its scope.

The front boot carried the space-saver spare wheel and tyre, jack and what looks suspiciously like a recent Bosch battery. The owner has found the original equipment tyre compressor too, so you can add that to the list of contents.

The engine bay is really quite clean and tidy. The engine starts and runs beautifully now that it has had the following attended to in the past few months: alternator, full fuel injection system strip and service, new oil lines & cooling hoses along with a host of other bits and pieces including new oil and filter.

Some of the suspension components have surface rust on them, so if it were ours we’d probably take them off, strip them down, paint and/or powdercoat them, and then rebuild them up with new bushes and joints before refitting them. This would probably be unnecessary given the way the car has been maintained over the years but they’d look fabulous, wouldn’t they?

A new clutch was fitted in 2013, along with two new calipers, front and rear discs and pads, and some other minor fettling and servicing. New calipers have now been added at the rear along with new handbrake cables.

And, if you’re unconvinced that this is a car worth saving, just take a look at the fuse-box! Using real brass connectors and big, slot-head retaining screws, it is laid out and constructed in a fashion that the Victorians would have appreciated; no area of the 911’s innards better demonstrates that this is a properly engineered Porsche from a period when it concentrated on the quality of its sportscars, rather than the volume of its SUVs.

A large number of spares come with the vehicle; please see the photos for details.

The MOT certificate has expired, but the owner is now fairly confident that it is ready to pass mechanically although obviously a fair degree of interior reassembly is still required. While it will be exempt by virtue of its age soon, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

The car comes with a huge number of expired MOT certificates plus a thick sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it, along with a stamped service history book.

The recent mechanical works completed by the vendor does not include an invoice as the works were completed by a friend (just over £3000 equivalent), but the list of completed tasks is included along with a list of parts he has bought for the rebuild is included in the Gallery.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a high standard.

Let’s pretend this is a barn-find, shall we? There, now your pulse is racing you’ll be even more delighted to hear that it’s in much better condition than the average long-abandoned barn find, largely because it has been treasured for 23 years and only unused for fewer than three. And a long list of parts has just been bought to help along.

This isn’t a problem child being foisted onto the naïve and the unsuspecting; pampered for more than two decades, the car’s faults are laid bare and open to inspection. Pop along and you can see how well it runs (please see attached video, too) and crawl over, under, and within the Porsche until you know whether or not it is within your capabilities.

As a targa, it offers the best of all worlds, too: open-air motoring when you’re in the mood, and coupe-like civility when you’re not. And, it’s offered in the very best of all colour combinations. (Philosophical question: is an eighties’ 911 even a Porsche if it’s not Guards red?)

As for price, the owner is content to let it run its course on a No Reserve basis. 

That said, it’ll sell after the first bid has been placed, so why not come along, take a look, and then bid what you think it’s worth. It’s going to sell no matter what, and think of the peace and quiet it’s going to buy you this winter. (Or even the next few, if you want to spin things out to give you some much-needed respite from the family...). Estimate of £14,000 - £21,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.