Even Porsche wasn’t immune to the 1970s trend of stripes ‘n’ stickers special editions. For 1976 and 1977, they produced the Martini special edition of the 924, and for 1979, the Sebring edition of the same car. However, while the Martini cars received front and rear sway bars, the Sebring cars were purely striped, and wore a red and blue tartan interior. The stickers were likely added because the car was selling slowly, receiving the same reception as the 914 in its day, and that continues to be the truth today. You can find this 1979 Porsche 924 Sebring Edition for sale in Orange, CA, for $2500, where it has been for sale since at least this May.
Check out that sticker on the front, proudly proclaiming that you are an aviator-glasses-and-porn-mustache-wearing 1979 Porsche 924 owner. The 911 is something for old men, a car that’s been around for 15 years, but this is the modern sports car! And in 2013, this car is in remarkably good shape, with only 84,000 miles. The car is said to run well, and isn’t priced outrageously, so it’s hard to see why it hasn’t yet sold. In fact, these can be quite reliable cars, and the 1979 model year benefits from a 5-speed transmission to complement the black-with-polished-lip wheels and fog lights that were part of the Sebring package.
It’s nice to see this shape without a big rear lip spoiler, for a change. The stickers are a little silly, but cool in a 1970s kitsch way. The filler panel between the tail lights is a nice touch, and the shape still manages to look quite modern. Punching the license plate number into BAR’s smog check history lookup yields no results, so you may have some work to do there – perhaps this is the reason for the no-sale?
Awesome interior. There’s no way you’ll fall asleep while driving this beauty. The driver’s seat is said to need new upholstery, but other than that, things look quite decent. With electric windows and mirrors, is it possible this one has the touring package?
Even the engine compartment is pretty clean, quite an achievement for a car in this price range. At the very least, you’ll want to do a hot-start to make sure the Bosch CIS injection system is working properly. It’s said to have new pads and discs on the front, and starts every time. And while these have a reputation for being slow, they also handle quite well, so may be quite competitive when compared to other sporting coupes of their period.
Rusty But Trusty 
December 5, 2013 at 1:21 am |
Yikes. I had one of these. Bought (and driven) from a junkyard for $700. It was red and had “Sebring 79” stripes, but for some reason the stripes were just black. No orange and white, and no tartan interior. So likely it wasn’t really a Sebring.
I drove it off and on for a few years, spiffed up the paint a little, and resold it for what I paid for it. I found them to be a bit dull, and pretty Volkswageny.
Though I loved the long, wide flat cargo area. I surprised the Home Depot guys by putting a 4×8 sheet of plywood in the back (hanging out a few feet of course).
Love those sports car hatchbacks.
January 9, 2015 at 12:32 pm |
Saw this video and looked up the car which lead me here. Same car, see the same tag in pic and video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDIJ-jqYulI
January 10, 2015 at 4:07 pm |
Wow, cool… the fact that a beautiful killer drives the car makes it much more intriguing 😛