Porsche 914/6 – Cult Classic, Not Best Seller
April 22, 2022
The debate still rages on today, just as it did back in 1969 when the car was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show – is it a Porsche or is it a Volkswagen? You see, the Porsche 914 and 914/6 was a collaborative effort between these German giants. One would think that a coming together of two of the biggest names in the business to build a new sports car for the masses would be an exultant affair. Fireworks would explode, lights would flash amidst fanfares of music and the resultant machine would be a huge success. Right? What could possibly go wrong? Well, that initial ambiguity is something that would ultimately have a detrimental effect on sales and consign the 914/6 to the status of cult classic, not best seller. So what happened?
In the late ’60s, VW was looking to replace the Karmann Ghia while simultaneously, Porsche wanted a new car to follow its ageing 912 model. The two companies already had a close working relationship going back years and so this wasn’t merely a chance meeting over a Pilsner and some currywurst in the local brauhaus. Porsche wanted to broaden their horizons, so to speak, but keep costs down at the same time and VW head honcho Heinrich Nordhoff was more than happy to oblige having existing ties with the Porsche family and seeing it as a way to fill the Karmann Ghia shaped hole that was now in the VW line up.
Much like the dispute over the badge, the origins of the car itself are also up for discussion. Depending on who you speak to and what you choose to believe, the design of the 914 can either be attributed to Hans Gugelot, based upon one of his earlier, unused BMW outlines, or penned in-house at Porsche, with Ferdinand Porsche himself vehemently denying that Gugelot had any involvement whatsoever. Whatever the case, the 914 didn’t look either like a Volkswagen or a Porsche, which only contributed to it missing its mark entirely with the public.
Developed with a monocoque chassis and body and a mid-mounted, four-cylinder engine and gearbox pinched from VW’s Type 4, the base 914 could be seen as a precursor to the later Porsche Boxster. If you squint a bit. Initial power figures were around the 80bhp mark but due to a low curb weight of just 900kg the car could get to 60mph in 14 or so seconds and on to a top speed of over 100mph. But then there was the 914/6 which was a much more exciting proposition, featuring as it did, Porsche’s 2.0-litre, flat-six from the 911T. This meant a much more respectable 0-60 dash of a little over 8 seconds and a top whack of over 120mph. The front suspension for all models was nabbed from the 911 too in the form of torsion bars and there was a newly designed rear setup of semi-trailing arms and coil springs unique to the car.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the 914’s development, however. Nordhoff sadly died in 1968 and his successor, Kurt Lotz, set out his stall early on claiming that the 914 was solely a VW enterprise and would only acquiesce if Porsche contributed more to production costs. It was very much a case of “it’s my ball and I’m going home” and as a compromise, a new company was set up with each manufacturer owning half. All of this bickering had seriously soured the project though and it also meant that the cost of actually making the 914/6 went up dramatically. What was supposed to have been a cheap sports car ended up costing way more than it should have. The 914/6, with it’s more powerful, six-cylinder engine cost almost as much as a 911 but was distinctly poverty-spec in comparison. Featuring some old Porsche bits here and some VW parts there the baby Porsche was seen as a ‘bitsa’ car and as such it wasn’t as well respected or received as either company had initially hoped.
Along with its aforementioned identity crisis (the 914 was badged and sold as a Porsche in America but as Volkswagen-Porsche in mainland Europe) the high price tag proved to be the downfall of the 914/6 and production was curtailed in 1971 after less than 4,000 were made. The VW-engined version of the 914 continued, however and a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder version was also offered (among other engines of varying displacements). With 100bhp on tap this particular model is often cited as the Goldilocks of the range, sitting in that sweet spot between decent power and a more affordable price. The gearbox was also revised as the original five-speed unit – with its dogleg configuration – was a bit of a pig, something that had been a bone of contention since the car’s inception.
The fact of the matter is the 914/6 is a proper, bona fide sports car. A fact that was proven unanimously in 1970 when a 914/6 GT won the GTS class and finished sixth overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s quite the achievement for what was essentially a modified road car! It has a unique aesthetic, somewhat akin to the Fiat X1/9 or Triumph TR7 and that targa roof that stows neatly away in the back is a great design. It’s mid-engined, rear wheel-drive layout ensures balanced, predictable handling and it’s a joy to drive enthusiastically. It’s a well-engineered, rare car that was perhaps unfairly written off in the past as a failure. Although not exactly popular here in Britain, in reality the four-cylinder 914 actually sold pretty well in America and today it represents a relatively cheap, useable classic. The 914/6 remains the pick of the bunch though and it’s a less conventional but still incredibly exciting way into classic Porsche ownership. Or is it VW ownership? We told you that was still up for debate.
