One of my few value adds in the process of restoring my car, other than writing checks, is scouring the internet for hard to find parts. It’s fun and the only skills required are internet savvy, patience and understanding how to avoid all the scammers out there.
When I first put eyes on the 930 after it arrived from Japan, I noticed the air filter was held on with a bungie cord…not a great sign.
That’s okay, Porsche made these cars from 75-89, how hard would it be to find a replacement airbox or just the missing end cap? After flipping through Ryan’s book on these early Turbos, I learned it might be a steep hill to climb. Porsche used a unique airbox design for 1975 cars, switched to a new design in 1976 and yet another design that lasted a bit longer in 1977. Wonderful…they only made a few hundred of these cars in 1975 so how many spares would still be out in the world?
Fast forward a few months, after posting on every site and Facebook group I could find and ignoring about 1000 clear scams, I received a direct message from a post I put on the early 930 Ferrari Chat thread (an incredible resource).
A few different folks had directed me to “Peter from Germany” and it was clear that he was a legit early Turbo owner and great resource. He wasn’t willing to sell me his 75 airbox directly…he gave me a mission to find a 76 airbox (also one year only) and then he would trade with me. I love a good mission impossible…accepted!
Fast forward a few more months, and 1000s more scammers, and I got a ping from a Pelican Parts Classified post I created. I got connected with a nice guy behind Aircooled Exclusive, a clearly legit source of hard to find Porsche parts. He had a pristine 1976 airbox with my name on it, for the low low price of $1500. Hell, at this point, I would have paid twice that! Worst case scenario, I would have to run the 76 airbox and be mocked by every early Turbo expert for all eternity.
Peter from Germany and I took a long time to connect again. Busy travel schedules and I only had Ferrari Chat messaging to reach him. We finally exchanged email addresses and things move faster. I sent him photos and videos of the 76 airbox I had secured:
He took the leap of faith, packed up his 1975 airbox and shipped it from Germany to Seattle.
After receiving my correct, one year only 1975 airbox, I packed up the 76 and shipped it off to Peter. Trade completed!
While there are a lot of scammers out there, I’m constantly amazed by the wonderful people I meet in the car community, and how much support there is out there for restoring classic Porsches. There are so many experts, and thankfully hoarders, willing to offer their expertise, time and collection of hard to find parts to make it happen. Huge thanks to Peter and Aircooled Exclusive for helping me complete this piece of the puzzle.
