This Porsche 914 is the forgotten sports car from the company
An eye-catching original sports car turns 55 years old and hardly anyone will remember this spprts car from Porsche.
Meet the Porsche 914. Porsche was the first German manufacturer to bring to market a production mid-engined sports car in 1969.
In the mid-1960s, Porsche was striving to expand its position in the market with a sports car in the promising segment beneath the 911.
However, such a project would not have been viable for the small company on its own. The Zuffenhausen-based car manufacturer found a partner in Volkswagen, since at the time VW was looking for a successor to its then rather outdated Type 34 sports coupé, better known as the Karmann Ghia.
Ferry Porsche and VW Director Heinrich Nordhoff shook hands on a joint project in the mid-1960s. When Nordhoff unexpectedly died in 1968, the project was in danger of collapsing.
Meanwhile, Ferry Porsche worked out a solution with the new Managing Director of VW, Kurt Lotz and so the two companies established the VW-Porsche sales company.
It marketed the project on the European market as the VW-Porsche. It was available in two versions: the 914 with a four-cylinder engine from Volkswagen and the 914/6 with a six-cylinder engine from Porsche. In the USA, both variants were sold under the Porsche marque.
High power output, low weight and mid-engine
The VW engine was a completely new design and marked the first production injection engine offered by the marque. The 1.7-litre four-cylinder model developed 80 PS at 4,900 rpm, meaning it could reach 100 km/h in 13 seconds and topped out at 177 km/h.
In contrast, the Porsche six-cylinder engine came from the 911 T and was designed for maximum sports performance with its overhead camshafts, triple carburettors and high-performance capacitor ignition.
The two-litre boxer offered 110 PS at 5,800 rpm, making it both much more powerful and more rev-happy than its VW counterpart. With a dry weight of 900 kilograms, or 940 kilograms for the six-cylinder variant, the 914 boasted a truly exceptional power-to-weight ratio.
