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Porsche 912

Coupé, 1965

Highlights

A starting point for your next Porsche project—or an incredible piece of garage art
$10,000 - $15,000 USD Offered Without Reserve
Magnus Walker The Outlaw Collection

1965 Porsche 912 Coupe Project by Karmann

A starting point for your next Porsche project—or an incredible piece of garage art. – Early three-gauge, non-adjustable shock tower 912. – Sold new in Burlingame, California. – Originally finished in Polo Red with a black interior

My 1965 912 parts car is a great example of an extremely early three-gauge, non-adjustable shock-tower-strut, early 912. You can tell from the photos that the front suspension pan is gone. I actually used that front suspension part from this car for one of my many short-wheelbase sport-purpose builds.
Apart from that, the car does need a front suspension pan, a nose panel, but those are pieces you can get. And then all the other parts, fenders and everything else, you can probably bid on those in the 144 lots of parts that I’m also offering. —Magnus Walker

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The vehicle in detail

Even with its front fenders, hood, running gear, and interior completely gone, this deconstructed 912 is instantly recognizable as a Porsche—not something that can be said for most cars.
Similar in style to the 911 but prioritizing handling over outright performance, the entry-level 912 was powered by a variant of the reliable and efficient flat-four from the 356 SC it replaced in 1965. With less power and less weight behind the rear axle, the 912 was more forgiving to drive than the 911. Also more affordable, it sold briskly, outstripping the 911 before being replaced by the 1970 Porsche 914.
You would not know looking at it today, but this example came finished from the factory in Polo Red with a black interior and chrome, perforated disc wheels, according to a copy of its original Kardex. Dispatched on 11 November 1965, it was shipped new to prominent Northern California distributor Porsche Cars Pacific in Burlingame and sold to its first owner, Richard J. Paoli of Richmond, California. The Kardex also notes several entries for service work in 1966.
Valued for their aesthetic purity and seen as a bridge between the 356 and later Porsches, early-model 912 examples such as this one, featuring the three-gauge cluster, are relatively scarce, having been produced only for the first couple of years before the now-ubiquitous five-gauge cluster was implemented. Whether used as garage art or a blank canvas to rejuvenate and get back on the road, this 912 chassis holds much promise, especially as interest in this once-overlooked Porsche model steadily rises.