Porsche 914 ~ 1969-76

In the early 911 days the 356 customer base requested a cheaper 911 model to equal the 356 price point. Porsche replied with the 912, basically a 911 with a 356 engine. The 912 was cheaper, but it still missed the mark and Porsche knew that developing a new car would be cost prohibitive so they asked to partner with Volkswagen to reach their goal. VW was smitten by the idea of offering a sports car developed by Porsche with VW parts, so a deal was struck and the VW-Porsche 914 was introduced in September 1969.

Simply named the Porsche 914 in the USA, this little two-seater, mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive with a “Targa” top (removable top panel) was all built by Karmann. The Porsche 914 had an awkward look, but it screamed sports car with its very low to the ground stature, pop-up headlights, and width for its size. The front fenders were raised and finished slanted with turning signals by the headlights. Behind the occupants was a short roof line serving as a roll bar and the flat rear lid ended straight with two rectangular tail lights.

Inside the Porsche 914 the interior space was just adequate for two adults. Three dials with the rpm dial right in the middle fitted into a wide rectangular binnacle welcomed you. No center console could be found and the gear shifter came straight out of the tunnel console with no more special treatement than the usual rubber acordeon at its base.

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The 914 flat 4-cylinder pushrod engine came from VW, this one had a 1.7 liter (102 cu in) capacity at first producing 80 hp at 4900 rpm matted to a painstaking 5 speed dog-leg gearbox. Performance was in the VW department with a 0-62 mph time in 13 seconds and a top speed of 109 mph (175 km/h).

Alongside the flat-4, VW/Porsche introduced the 914/6, this model had a Porsche 911 T flat-6 two liter (121 cu in) motor developing 110 hp at 5800 rpm and moved the game higher with 9 seconds to reach 62 mph and a new top speed of 127 mph (205 km/h).

The Porsche 914/6 was also better equipped with vinyl on the “roll bar”, chromed bumper with fog lights, leather steering wheel and Porsche wheels. The 914/6 didn’t sell much though with just over 3300 cars sold in three years due to its high price tag approaching 911’s money.

The 914/6 was dropped in 1972 in favor of the 1973 two liter (120 cu in) VW flat-4 engine making 95 hp at 5000 rpm in US and 100 ps in Europe. Performance was better than the 1.7 liter flat-4 with now 10.5 seconds needed to reach 62 mph and 118 mph (190 km/h) in top speed, but aside from the improved VW engine figures, this 914 was much easier to operate with a new and less sloppy 5-speed transmission (from "tail shifter" to "side shifter").

Also in 1973 anti-roll bars were added improving greatly the handling and a center console with gauges found its way in the cabin, then in 1974 the 1.7 liter got replaced by a 1.8 liter (109 cu in), mainly to compensate the catalytic converter in the USA. It developed 76 hp in the US and 85 ps in Europe, again in 1974 rubber pads appeared on the US model’s rear bumper and in 1975 US 914s received ugly front and back rubber bumpers.

The end arrived in 1975 in Europe and 1976 for the US, and while the 914 and 914/6 never caught up with the snob Porsche crowd, it still sold almost 119,000 units and could handled better than a 911.

JJP.