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Speaking of Porsches

TR6BILL

Luke Skywalker
Offline
My brother-in-law found out that I sold my TR6 and is trying to sell me his 914. Now, the car is in Oregon and I am in Louisiana. I realize that this is the Volkswagen 914 (4 banger) but he spent a lot of monies years ago having the body restored to better than mint condition and the engine/tranny unit rebuilt by Porsche (my brother-in-law has lots of money, bless him) and the engine is still in a crate with the body, ready to roll, in climate controlled storage. Just a matter of slipping it in. I have seen the car, total restore, just slip in the engine. The price will be really, really cheap. Like below 5K. My bro-in-law is a super nice guy and the Porsche is just taking up valuable storage space for his other toys, and he has lots. What ya'll think. Now, if this were the 6 cylinder model, I would jump on it. But the 4 cylinder model is, at best, peppy.
 
If I had the room/energy/money I'd grab it. I have broad shoulders and nothing to prove, 4-cylinders is perfect.
 
Ummm... It ain't no dog, Bill. A go-kart on steroids would be a better descriptor.

The only down side is: you're gonna have to learn to speak German (engineering).

If it's a matter of knowledge of th' model, you have resources Bubba.

And you're ALMOST correct. It's mostly a VW. But a 2.0L one with a C.G. about a foot below pavement level.


"Come over to th' DARK SIDE..."


mehheh
 
I once drove the flat six version a girl friend of mine had, the plates even said "FLAT 6" (she got the car in a divorce settlement). It went like a bat out of ... Made my 73 TR6 look like it was parked. She liked my TR, "a quaint touring car" as she would say. Oh, I saw a picture of her on the net and does she need a lot of restoration, but I guess that could also be said about me.

Go for the car, a lot of options to beef up even a 4 cylinder.
 
:iagree:

They can be amazingly quick. Have a friend who had a 914-6, it was a money pit. The four is a rocket and much less "exotic" to maintain.
 
Go for it. Lot's of go fast stuff available for VW's: big jug sets, cams, induction systems, etc. You could probably get it to out run the flat 6's.

And, pulling that engine is a 30 minute job. Put it on the bench to work on it rather than breaking your back leaning over a wing.

If you can get for under 5K and don't like it, there would be no problem, I don't think, in getting your money out of it with a small profit.
 
Bill's not lookin' fer "profit" methinks.

As for th' "fun per dollar" factor, that thing is MADE for THAT.
 
I've had a good amount of seat time in a 914. plenty of fun. no mods necessary. All the look of a 911, but cheaper to fix. I'd jump on one if it ever came by. I'm not a crazy power driver anyway. that flat 4 had more than enough getup to have fun with.
 
And there's more in there if ya want it... and cheap.
 
And thats what I was sayin, Dr. 'Profit" was only used as a further enticement to go for it. Once he drives the 914, he'll keep and enjoy it.
 
Bill,

I rebuilt one of those engines and stuffed it (and I mean stuffed) it into VW bug. They have 4" pistons and gobs of torque. I got rid of the FI and put a 2bbl. Weber on a plenum chamber that connected to the 4 intake manifold pipes. Reworked ignition, headers and off to the races. Literally.

That car was so fast it was scary. You easily pulled the front wheels up on take off and in second. I sold it to a guy who wanted it so bad he could taste it because it looked stock, except for the fat tires on the back. I made enough to buy a nice sedate GTO and moved on.
 
Die 914 geht wie eine rakete, und sie können zu herausfließen wie eine englische auto.

The manuals can be problematic
 
A good friend of mine bought one new back in the day, a 2.0, blue with black interior. We drove it from VA to FLA, nary a problem. It would cruise at 80 all day long.

I had a GT6 at that time (modified engine - very fast) and the Porsche couldn't outrun the Triumph in a straight line, but in curves or autocross the Porsche could literally drive circles around it! No comparision, it cornered as well as any production car of the day (in the same price range). Okay, maybe not a Lotus Europa, but close.

Very, very fun car to drive. Tons of interior room (no tranny tunnel), very comfy seats, good brakes and suspension, and a pretty big front <span style="text-decoration: underline">and</span> rear trunk. Great touring car, excellent gas mileage.

I love 914s. There are usually a few nice examples on eBay.

Like many Porsches, excellent, fun car.

GET IT!!! :yesnod:
 
TR6oldtimer said:
Die 914 geht wie eine rakete, und sie können zu herausfließen wie eine englische auto.

The manuals can be problematic

At least (thank God) it isn't Spanish. German I can deal with :smile:
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]What ya'll think.[/QUOTE]

No thinking required... I'd jump on it, myself.
 
If the price is really, really cheap, go for it...unless that body has tons of rust in it.
 
If you don't want it, I'll take it. (Ummm...wait a minute, gotta ask the wife...well, better forget about it.)

Seriously though, a sports car isn't a mini American muscle car. Balance between all capabilities, not just raw power, is the defining characteristic. Sometime in the last 30 years or so American automotive designers, and ones designing primarily for the US market, lost sight of this. The 914 with the 4 cyl engine is based on the correct idea. I'd love to have one.
 
Dee-troit lost sight of engineering back in th' fifties, IMO. Marketing the latest, biggest-finned lumps on a chassis design straight outta 1939. The "public" ate it up: "Longer, lower, wider!" an' all that jazz. Nevermind that it wallows around corners like a drunken shoat pig. All about: "Look how BIG it is!"

By the late sixties they shoulda been lookin' at what was UNDER th' things. Instead they just "re-skinned" decades old ladders and increased the engine displacement. Then they whine like clubbed seal pups as the Japanese and Europeans started sending mass produced MODERN vehicles on-shore. feh.

By the time the 914 (and some other VERY quick cars) came ashore there should have been Motor City fire alarms. Instead, there was derision and a "faith" that people wouldn't look under their dress. Collective recti-cranial inversion.

I'm a Lotus guy but at this age I'd gladly pedal around in a well prepped 914, too.
 
DrEntropy said:
Collective recti-cranial inversion.

I laughed for 10 minutes over that one.

Well said


m
 
Mornin' Mark. :wink:

<span style="font-style: italic">
EDIT: If I didn't get coffee thru th' nose-pipes, I'm not doin' it right!</span> :jester:
 
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