Here’s a car you don’t often see on craigslist: a highly original Porsche 914-6, un-altered except for one repaint in its factory colors. If you haven’t noticed, the six-cylinder 914s have been enjoying a solid rise in values as of late, with clean examples like this having little trouble pulling $75K or better. Of course, the devil is in the details in terms of making sure the engine is numbers-matching and that there’s no rust hiding in trouble spots like beneath the battery tray, but the seller of this example seems pretty confident it’s as nice as he’s described. Find it here on craigslist where it’s described as having 56,000 original miles with an asking price of $89,500.
In general, the 914 is enjoying a slight resurgence after years of being cast aside as just a warmed-over Volkswagen. Now, that being said, the four-cylinders were far from exotic, but finding anything affordable with a Porsche badge has gotten exceedingly hard to do. A 914 in clean condition with some decent options like the Fuchs wheels seen here are awesome summer drivers, especially if optioned with the later 2.0L engine. The 914-6 obviously takes the performance experience to a whole other level, and also offers some additional pedigree when you factor in the six cylinder’s involvement in competitive driving events in the 1970s, including factory-backed race cars.
The overall presentation of this 914-6 is that of an incredibly clean car with all of the factory configurations preserved. Aside from the glass-out repaint, the seller notes the carpeting was replaced, but that the original carpet is included. It was replaced due to fading, which is entirely likely with a targa-topped vehicle. The dash is otherwise mint, with an uncracked dash, original bucket seats with clean upholstery, and no aftermarket radios sticking out of the fascia. The seller notes the 914-6 will be accompanied by its Certificate of Authenticity that verifies its numbers-matching drivetrain and original paint code. While I’ve never loved the 914 steering wheel, it’s awesome to see how original this example remains.
On a purely anecdotal note, I remember a local owner with a 914-6 purchased out of Florida in the same color who unfortunately found out the hard way all of the places rust can hide in a 914. The car needed a total restoration, despite being purchased a completely gone-through example. I don’t see any of the same issues bubbling up here, especially given the expense of a glass-out repaint would likely justify performing any needed rust repair at the same time. For under $100K, it’s hard to find a better level of performance that wears the Porsche badge, especially given finding a 911 produced in similar limited quantities would set you back considerably more. Would you spring for this six-cylinder 914, or stick with the classic 911?
Is that really how much these cars are worth? I had no idea.
From the pictures, it looks to be a nice car. I don’t want to be one of those jerky “experts”, but I noticed that the air box that goes atop the carburetors is missing. Also, that steering wheel is same as that of a 911 of same vintage. Great car to buy & enjoy!!
For that kind of money, I would rather have a 911.
It’s a pretty cool car. For the average Joe, it will outrun an equally priced 911 on the track. Unless you really can handle understeer.
But at least it has a Porsche engine (albeit low end 911t). The first time I saw one in Germany with a VW symbol, it hurt.
Now if you really want to get serious, go with a 916. As long as you have a large piggy bank. Last time I checked, they were around a1/2 million. yikes.
Nostalgia sure makes you put on rose-colored glasses. They couldn’t give these turds away back in the 70s. They littered the back rows of the gypsy trade-in lots for $2,000ish. I test drive one that was only 3-4 years old back then. It rode like a weak go-cart and rattled like every nut and bolt was loose.
There are a handful of cars which have left an indelible impression in my sixty years, and this is one of them. I had the good (?) fortune decades ago of riding shotgun in a well-tuned 914-6 and can attest at that young age your life passes before your eyes quickly. The cornering ability and flat out acceleration of this model was very impressive on a stretch of river hillside twisties that night long ago.
I remember a kid driving the heck out of one in 1981 the year we graduated,he was trashing it. For years they didn’t seem to hold much value.
My brother had two different Fiat X-19’s which was kind of a clone of this body style. He had numerous engine problems with both.
914-6 handling all day over the 911, just as the 912 was better in that dept too. The 6 is exceedingly rare and the more money than brains club ruined the market for both of the down-market models as well, hence it’s $90K price tag.
Confused on the air box… or what air box? Last two of these we worked on had just what you see for air cleaners. The 4 cylinders had a big air box in the FI system. What you see was on the same year 911s carbs.
Google “914/6 air box” and you will see a black rectangular box with rounded corners and a horn-shaped air intake. I believe carbureted 911’s has same. Over the years, owners probably deemed them unnecessary and removed them…
This is priced as if it is a pristine original/correct 914/6. It’s very nice, but the reason why it is advertised all over the internet (Pelican Parts, Bring A Trailer) and it being on Craigslist doesn’t help. The hard reality is that this is a $65,000 914/6. It will sell at that price.
Sweet looking car. I find this way more attractive than the Porsche 911 of the same vintage.
Geez, $89K for one of these? If only I’d known back then! I went through a period around college when I had a Fiat 850 (great car!), a Bugeye Sprite, an MGB, a TR3B, and a 914. I think I paid about $800 for it and drove it for a year and sold it for about the same.
Every time I see one of my old cars on this site, I think, “if only I had room to keep them all” – 914, TR3B, MGB, Sprite, 64 Chevelle 2 Dr wagon, 74 Capri, 70 Challenger, 69 Road Runner, 68 Impala Convertible, 88 Mustang GT…
Since I’m not able to leave the house, I am going to pour myself a drink and cry now! It’s five o’clock somewhere…
TinCan, best comment yet. Same thoughts here. 77 T/A, 79 RX-7, 84 Monte SS, 78 Monte luxury edition T-Top, 85 Cutlass T-top, 72 Monte, 74 Fiat X 1/9 (pos), 75 Camaro, 64 Plymouth Belvedere sport coupe, and a half-dozen 70’s era VW beetles. Pour me a drink too.
And the same thoughts here as well: ’59 Impala, ’64 Impala SS, ’67 Cougar, ’68 VW bug, ’73 Monte Carlo, ’76 T/A. I have such great hindsight!
These were never cheap used cars. 4 cylinder 1.8 and 2.0 yes, these no.
For 90k I would buy something Italian or English.
90k? Is that pesos or American money?
handling is fair, quality marginal and worst shifter ever made
E55. Stand corrected. Do remember seeing the big box on the 911s. I’m digging into the memory bank on this one but the first time I saw the air cleaners like on this car was on a ’66 911S race car converted to a street car. I wouldn’t modify this particular car but even the ‘6s needed chassis and suspension strengthening. That done and you have a good handling car with good power. Not a green fan though. Ours was orange.
As a Porsche owner, I can certainly understand the value of a 6-cylinder 914. And yes, the mid-engines (like a Boxster) always corner better than the 911 but that’s where it ends and that’s only a part of the whole story when you’re on the track. For the money they’re asking – I’ll buy a slightly used 911 with a PDK.
PDK?
What is it?
A dual clutch transmission. Allows for faster shifting.
Dual-clutch transmissions are twin gearboxes linked by a pair of clutches. … That allows quicker gear shifts than manual transmissions. And since the dual-clutch gearbox does not require a torque converter, it’s more efficient than an automatic transmission.
Here you go
https://www.autoweek.com/news/technology/a1820991/what-pdk-autoweek-explains/
basically the best paddle-shifter transmission short of owner a Formula 1. Well, I don’t own one, but I’ve had my ’02 911 on Mid-Ohio and Sebring against them and they’re just unreal on their capabilities