I am not a Porsche fan…from the moment I started recognizing cars to even today, I think they are the ultimate form of the Volkswagen Type 1, the natural evolution from basic bare-bones automotive utility to what proper engineering, decades of research and racing experience, and the best-case scenario of small changes to a winning formula applied to one model. They were too restrained to be a late 1980s poster car, they were too revered by doctors, lawyers and bankers to really be taken seriously by this kid, and over time they have stayed that way. It’s a flat-six that when turbocharged, did it’s absolute best to meld man and machine…usually at the apex of a turn when the driver realized that lift-off oversteer was something they hadn’t thought of. 
Now, I’m not completely downing the 911. This 1981 Targa is actually something I kind of dig, from it’s red paint to the choice Fuchs wheels in wide and wider setup. This isn’t an Autobahn burner and it’s not a trackday screamer. This is the car you pop the roof cap off of and hit the PCH, or downtown Vegas, or New York City at night with. Except, with this particular car, the annoying helicopter-like flat six noise is very absent. The seller of this car is a magnificent, mad genius who managed to mate a Cadillac 500ci mill and it’s THM-425 transaxle into the Porsche with just about no obvious showings. It’s too easy to skip past the “8.2 Litre” badge on the tail and so long as nobody moved the engine cover, you’d just swear that was the matching luggage, left for visual sake. 
The Caddy 500 was built by Maximum Torque Specialties and has had no cost spared. Forged rods and pistons, a roller cam, high-flow oil pump, Bulldog aluminum heads and more equates to about 537 horsepower on the dyno and in a car this size, would be somewhere between entertaining and horrifying. And with the 2.73 gears out back and the Cadillac mill’s torque, fuel mileage just might be decent to boot. Racing this car is out of the question, but those nice cruises with a couple of good straights? That’s where this 911 is going to absolutely shine. That, and around any Cars and Coffee event as necks snap over the exhaust note!
eBay Link: 1981 Porsche 911 Targa
(Courtesy: Bring A Trailer)
Does it come with a 911-shaped coffin?
It IS a 911 shaped coffin! Haha
There’s a guy in Tulsa who has a Northstar powered Fiero, one of the later, fastback versions. Beautifully done, he drives it almost daily, and shows it. Beast.
A Beastly 911, LIKE IT (like the renegade conversions too, mostly LSs today, just for Geordie)
Seems a lot better done than most, and what great detailing. Usually the Toro/Eldo swap guys just let the wheels stick out the fenders six inches too far and conveniently leave out any pics of the drive and suspension.
They also leave out how well it drives. In the eighties there was a guy w/ a Toro mini-truck that seemed to be at every show I went to in CA/NV, one night travelling there was a back up on the freeway due to everyone having to maneuver around one slow-moving car, and there he was doing like 45mph and holding on for dear life like it was the fastest it could safely go, hard to believe he still drove all over the West that way. Will never forget that one…
So the thought that comes to mind…can I maybe rent that Porsche for a day? (smile)
what a clever way of fixing the rust in the pan. Given the sale price, I bet someone put it back to stock – those things are stupid expensive anymore.