The seller of today’s 951 describes it as being “rough around the edges.” It’ll be up to you to determine if its price makes roughing it worthwhile.

I don’t why it is, but seems in popular cultures the little sister is always the provocateur. Younger, usually prettier and more vivacious, they’ve vexed everyone from Elvis Presley to Marilyn Manson. There’s really only two instances where the little sister gets the short shrift in comparison to their older sibling, those being matters involving Tiffany Trump, and Datsun’s second generation Z car, the 280ZX.

We featured a last Friday, and while its $7,600 asking did engender a narrow but laudable 52 percent Nice Price win, there wasn’t much love for the model as a whole represented in the comments.

Many of us do love Porsches, some of dearly so in fact. However, within that venerated brand there are divisions. For years, true adherents couldn’t stomach anything from the German company that wasn’t rear-engined and air-cooled. Concessions might be made for certain mid-engined models, BUT THAT WAS IT!

That cult-like following put Porsche in the uncomfortable position between those loyal traditionalists with their generous bank accounts and the desire to build something that might not spin you into a tree while sounding like you were mowing the lawn in the process.

Today, Porsche builds four distinct models, with a couple more on the way. Of those, only the 911 maintains a rear-mounted mill, although it, along with every other of their offerings are water-cooled. Tradition be damned, emissions control and production efficiencies demand this to be the case.

Porsche’s first stab at a production car that eschewed the traditional rear-engined, air-cooled design was the 924, which debuted in 1976. That car placed its water-cooled four cylinder up front, powering the rear wheels via a torque tube and transaxle. Porsche loyalists shunned the car, but its price, capaciousness, and near 50/50 weight balance brought new fans to the fold.

Today’s is an example of how the company grew the platform to live up to ever increasing expectations, if only in performance, not physical presentation.

Internally dubbed the 951 during development, the Turbo offered up a 2.5-litre SOHC four with a KKK (geez, could a company HAVE a more unfortunate name?) turbo for an output of 217 horsepower. A beefier transaxle in back helped push those ponies to the pavement while a recalibrated suspension kept things tidy at the car’s new-found extremes. Visually, the 951 gained an integrated front bumper for better aerodynamics and an under-bumper tray in the back.

This 174,000 mile example is now black, but according to the seller it was white when it left the factory. The original coat is said to be visible under some rock chips, but overall the car looks to be okay from a distance or on a dark moonless night. There’s no apparent corrosion or major bodywork needed, and all the trim seems intact.

The interior is also a bit of a mixed bag. There’s a cap on the dash, a Momo tiller at hand, and seats from a later car for your ass. All of those are owed to the factory bits having worn out, and should originality be your jam, the seller notes that those pieces do come with the car.

The car also comes with two sets of wheels and tires. The gold lace units seen in a couple of the pics are 16-inchers from Hayashi Racing. Also coming along for the ride are a set of 996 Twists wrapped in Michelins.

I’d like to point out that the Twists exhibit one of my major automotive pet peeves which is uni-directional wheels that point one way on the left side and the other on the right. Like a ship’s wheel stickling out of a pirate’s pants, it’s driving me nuts.

The current owner says he bought the car as a project, but has since decided to devote his energies to his 911 (braggart) and now offers the 951 to a new owner. In the ad he details a ton of work that was undertaken on the car by the previous owner—or PO as he calls him. That includes an update of the struts, replacement of the steering rack, and new rotors and pads all around.

The rest of the mechanicals are said to work as they should with no drips, leaks or major noises to alarm. The power steering pump is claimed to moan when cold, but then again, who of us doesn’t? The A/C needs a new compressor, an expensive pain in the ass on an old car like this. Other issues include a bad fog lamp, intermittent turn signal function, and non-working clock. Other than that it seems to be ready to rock.

To rock, you’ll need to come up with $9,999. Now, 951 prices are all over the place since the cars tend to be, well, all over the place. You can find well-loved examples for beaucoup bucks, as well as fright pigs for a mere pittance.

This one seems to baby bear that spread, but does that make it worth almost ten-grand? What do you think, is this rough-edged 951 worth that kind of scratch? Or, for that price should it have had more of those edges smoothed off?

You decide!

Cincinnati, OH , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!

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