Our story begins with an Oregon man purchasing a complete, but disassembled, 2.0 liter 911 engine that he found advertised on his local Craigslist. Mr. Oregon purchases the engine with the intent to reassemble, restore and resell it at some time in the future. For whatever reason he never gets around to working on the engine and simply sells the engine in its disassembled state to another Porsche community member in South Carolina.
Nine (9) months later, after having sold the engine in question, Mr. Oregon stumbles upon an eBay listing for an early 1965 911 (build date 01/65) that is missing its original number-matching engine. Doing the right thing, Mr. O contacts the person who has listed the car in Southern California to let him know that his Porsche’s engine is now in South Carolina, and he is willing to facilitate a line of communication between SoCal and SoCar. Confusing enough for you, yet?
While Mr. SoCal was interested in selling his 1965 Porsche when it was a non-numbers matching car, this new information prompts him to remove the car from the market with a handful of days remaining on the auction, before he’s certain that he can even purchase the original engine. Just the idea that the original engine is still out there gives him a modicum of hope.
It Worked Out In The End
California calls Carolina and they work out a mutually beneficial trade where the disassembled, but fairly complete numbers matching engine is traded straight up for a running, early two-liter engine in Mr. California’s possession.
As of last Tuesday, the engine and the Porsche have been reunited once again.Those among us who follow such things will likely have already picked out Mr. California as Porsche celeb Magnus Walker. Magnus sat down with us over the weekend to tell his tale, and it brought to light a heartwarming connectivity of the hive-mind in the Porsche community.
Magnus Explained That He Felt the Reunion “was a bit of Porsche Karma” Coming Back to Him, and Here’s Why.
A couple of years ago, Magnus sold a car that didn’t have its numbers matching engine. Months later he was contacted by someone who found the numbers matching engine that went with the Porsche he sold. Magnus, without any further investment in the project, forwarded the engine owner to the Porsche’s new owner and a deal was struck. For a second time, the cosmic forces brought engine and Porsche together in Magnus’ vicinity, and perhaps because of the first, he was able to reap the benefits of the second.
The “Why?” and the “What?”
When the red ’65 eBay auction was ended early, there was some question as to why and what would become of the Porsche. The “why” is now abundantly clear, the “what” is a bit murkier. Now that the original engine has been located, a restoration effort should begin in earnest. The Porsche, one of the earliest 911s on the planet, deserves as much. Magnus, for one, agrees that the Porsche should be brought back to its former glory, he’s just not sure if he’s the one to do it. You can be sure that we will continue to follow this story, and update as new information comes to light.
A Needle in a Haystack
Magnus mentioned that this serendipitous situation was a bit like “finding a needle in a haystack without even looking.” Personally, while I understand the metaphor, I like to think of it more as the haystack working together to deliver the needle to him. A hearty “well done” should be delivered to the Porsche community as a whole, and especially to those individual parties involved. There is something special in “the hunt”, in finding that one missing piece of the puzzle, but it is certainly equally rewarding when that one missing piece finds you.
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Magnus Walker’s STR II for Sale at Gooding’s Pebble Beach Auction
Magnus Walker’s Urban Outlaw
