The Porsche 914 was developed within the mid Sixties as a joint venture between Porsche and Volkswagen. Porsche wanted a brand new alternative for their 912 mannequin, VW wanted a alternative for the ageing VW Karmann Ghia, and so the 914 was one stone for 2 birds.
Regardless of its entry degree nature the 914 is a wonderful little sports activities automobile, it’s powered by a mid-mounted flat-four or flat-six, it has impartial entrance and rear suspension, good dealing with by the requirements of the time, and it weighed a bit over 2,000 lbs with a full tank of gasoline.
Quick Info – The Porsche 914
- The Porsche 914 was launched in 1969 in each Porsche and Volkswagen variants. The Porsche powered automobile was the 914/6 with a 911T flat-six engine, and the 914/4 was powered by a VW flat-four.
- Porsche wanted a brand new entry degree automobile to interchange the 912, which was mainly a 911 with a smaller engine. There have been fears that it was diluting the model picture and so a distinctively distinctive new Porsche was the order of the day.
- For consumers within the late Sixties or Nineteen Seventies who wished an inexpensive mid-engined sports activities automobile with racing pedigree and sharp dealing with, the Porsche 914 was an apparent alternative. That is, partially, why the gross sales of the automobile beat expectations with virtually 119,000 of them bought between 1969 and 1976.
- Within the USA each variants of the 914 had been bought as Porsches, however in Europe the sooner four-cylinder automobiles had been bought as Volkswagen-Porsches.
The Porsche 914
The Porsche 914 is an oft forgotten automobile from the German marque, which appears a disgrace because it supplied mid-engined European sports activities automobile thrills to a whole era of people that might not have been in a position to afford a Porsche 911.
The inside of the 914 doesn’t look dissimilar to the 911 of the identical period. This automobile is completed in Bahia Pink and a black leatherette inside with corduroy inserts.
Given the expansive line up of automobiles now being supplied by Porsche it’s simple to overlook that there was a time when the corporate’s road-going mannequin line up consisted of simply the 911 and the carefully associated 912, with a couple of further particular racing fashions largely supposed for competitors use.
The Porsche 912 was basically a stripped down, cheaper 911 powered by a model of the flat-four engine as a substitute of the 911’s well-known flat-six. To the untrained eye each of the automobiles seemed kind of equivalent.
Porsche was dealing with a lot of Volkswagen’s improvement work on the time, and as famous above VW wanted an all-new alternative for his or her Karmann Ghia. A deal was struck and Porsche engineers started working on the brand new design.
The automobile could be launched in two key iterations – 914/6 with the flat-six from the 911T and 914/4 with a variant of the VW flat-four. Regardless of its uncommon seems to be the 914 would show to be a shock success, promoting 118,900+ models between 1969 and 1976.
The 914 would additionally see some notable successes on the monitor, a 914/6 GT pushed by Claude Poll-Léna and Man Chasseuil received its class on the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans and got here in a powerful sixth total.
This Porsche 914/4 is fitted with a 2.0 liter VW flat-four, the engine is now carrying a pair of Weber 44 carburetors and in inventory trim it will produce roughly 100 bhp at 5,000 rpm and 118 lb ft of torque. It was the most important and strongest engine supplied within the /4 manufacturing automobiles.
On the earth of Formulation 1 the Porsche 914 is remembered as the primary ever security automobile, it was deployed on the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix to assist handle the tempo of the automobiles as there had been quite a lot of incidents attributable to inclement climate.
Surviving examples of the 914 now typically change fingers for little or no cash, notably the 914/4 mannequin, which continues to supply an exquisite classic European sports activities automobile expertise for very affordable cash.
The Porsche 914 Proven Right here
The automobile you see right here is without doubt one of the extra attainable 914/4 fashions, it’s an identical numbers automobile that advantages from a slew of enhancements and a few current upkeep to the tune of over $7,800 USD.
It was given a recent coat of its appropriate coloration, an eye catching Bahia Pink, again in 2013. Extra lately it’s had the sail-panel, varied physique/window/high seals, and the sprint pad changed. It’s additionally now fitted with SSI heat-exchangers, new Fuchs duplicate alloy wheels, and Weber 44 carburetors.
Energy from the two.0 liter flat-four is distributed to the rear wheels through the unique 5-speed handbook transmission, and the automobile is exhibiting 86,400 miles on the odometer.
It’s being supplied on the market out of Eldersburg, Maryland on Marqued and you possibly can go to the itemizing right here if you happen to’d wish to learn extra about it or register to bid.
Pictures courtesy of Marqued
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