Cheap rockets from Zuffenhausen

"The thing about buying a Porsche which isn't a 911," the chaps on Top Gear once mused, "is that the first thing you have to do when you meet someone new is explain why you didn't buy the 911." I'm assuredly getting the quote wrong, but the point is an undeniable one: the 911 is the real star of the Porsche bunch. It's got the looks and performance to put it at the very top of the sports car list—and even if it is eclipsed by Porsche's more radical supercars (like the 959 and the Carrera GT) the 911 has the history to stand out. If you drive a Porsche other than the 911, you'll be telling the girl at the bar that you drive a Porsche—and then you'll have to explain that what you drive isn't a 911, it's a Porsche with the engine at the front or it's a Boxster or it's actually a damned SUV. If you drive a 911, all you have to say is that you drive a 911.

That's not to say that there aren't problems with the 911. The damned Germans have put most of the parts on completely backwards—like the engine, which hangs waaaay out back where it doesn't belong, and the ignition, which is in an even nuttier location than on an old Saab. The gas tank is in the wrong spot if you ever want to maintain your suspension settings and although I could mention that all the storage space in the car is up front, it really doesn't matter because it's not large enough to be useful in the first place.

And then there are the bits that the Germans designed to be wrong even though they're put on in the right direction—like the lawnmower-style air-cooled engine and the gauges which have just been lined up on the dashboard from left to right instead of clustering them. There's a reason it's called a "gauge cluster" on most cars.

Most importantly, though, is the price—and this really is where things get quite nutty. A new bottom-of-the-range 911 will set you back at least $70,000, and that's without any of the typical gouging associated with buying a luxury sports car. Even used examples on eBay fetch between $20k and $40k—and that's for cars that are 20 years old.

The thing is that all of these little flaws aren't really flaws at all—the engine is in the back because it really does make the most sense under hard acceleration or heavy braking; the price is way up there because these are damned collectable cars; and even the placement of the ignition makes sense if you think about it hard enough.

Nevertheless, no matter how collectable they are, they're still damned expensive. So that's why I'm going to talk about older 911s—they have all the class that a 911 is supposed to have but they don't cost an arm and a leg and don't make the outlandish statements that a brand-new 911 does. They're cheap, old cars and they've got mountains of mountains of character.

There are a bunch of special models (think Carrera RS 2.7) that are so ridiculously rare and expensive that we won't concern ourselves with them—and since we're thinking cheap, we'll also discuss the Porsche 912 which, although it technically isn't a 911, is largely indistinguishable save for the badges.

We'll start at 1963—when the 911 was first introduced—and will end at 1989, when it was replaced wholesale by the redesigned "993" generation 911. All 911s listed below had 2.0L engines until 1969, 2.2L engines in 1970 and 1971, 2.4L engines in 1972 and 1973, and then 2.7L engines until 1977. Things get a bit muddy after that, so we'll stick to the older models.

So, here they are.

• 911S (1966–1989): I start with the 911S because it's the least-reasonable of the three cars. The 911S ("s" stands for "super" or "snuggle," depending on whether you got the gearhead or the regular version of "Baby's First Reader") was, for a long time, the top 911 model available. It was originally fitted with a 160hp engine but was bumped to 180 in 1970 and 190 in 1972 before dropping back down the 165 for 1974. The 911S was eclipsed at the top of the range by the Carrera and Turbo models (the latter introduced in 1975) but it nevertheless involves a premium on used models.
  
• 911/911L/911E (1966–1973): The middle 911 model was originally named simply the "911" but was renamed in 1967 as the 911L and in 1968 as the 911E—the E stands for Einspritz, or fuel injection. The 911Es were fitted with the same fuel injection system as the 911S, although they were detuned slightly—generally to the tune of around 30hp less than the S models. Early models made around 130hp and climbed alongside the 911S. The great thing about the 911E is that it's got the fuel injection system of the 911S but since it isn't the top-range model, generally doesn't command as much of a price. If I'd ever look into buying an older 911, it would be a 911E. It doesn't make as much power as the 911S, but these cars really aren't for flogging in the first place.
  
• 911T (1967–?): The 911T was introduced as the bottom 911 model as a replacement for the 912 (see below). Instead of the fuel injection system fitted in 1968 to the S and E models, the 911T (T for "Touring") got a carburettor. Predictably, these models made significantly less power—to the tune of 110hp at launch to 140hp in the mid-1970s.
  
• 912 (1963–1969): Sold below its 6-cylinder 911 brother, the 912 was fitted with a 4-cylinder engine but the two cars were otherwise fitted almost identically—the body and running gear are almost the same between them. The 912 reportedly outsold the 911 by a significant margin in the first few years of production. The 912s seem to be priced similarly to older 911Ts, but they're probably much cheaper to maintain—the 912 engine is closely related to the VW Type 1 engine, whereas the Porsche 6-cylinder engines are a good deal different.
  

I haven't talked much about price because the condition of the car is a much more important factor than the model itself—and the quality of these cars varies wildly. A very solid 2.4L 911S will likely command the better part of $20k, whereas a trashy 912 will be lucky to fetch $3k or $4k. The L and E models generally fare around $10k for one in really fairly good shape, and a bit less if you're willing to put in a small bit of work. The 911T and 912 are all priced a bit lower, but the price difference isn't as pronounced as between the 911S and the 911E and isn't, in my opinion, worth the price break.

Cars with rusty floor pans or smoky engines should really be avoided entirely. Getting a chassis reworked or a 911 engine rebuilt is often a $10k+ adventure.

Oh, and it seems now that I have neglected a discussion of the 911 Targa and 911 Cabriolet. I'm not a big fan of either. Below are some shots that illustrate what I'm talking about.

So there it is. I think the older (1969–1973) 911s are fantastic little cars—especially the 911E and 911L models. Although they're not the most powerful and will be outhandled by a Civic, they're unbeatable in terms of old-car character and, as an added bonus, are unlikely to depreciate at all if cared for.