Would you buy a collector car without the main piece of the puzzle as it relates to the parts that make it special? A Porsche 914-6 was known primarily for one thing, and that was the 2.0L six-cylinder engine from the 911T stuck in the place of a rather underwhelming 1.7-litre four-cylinder engine. It later became quite sought after owing to its limited production, which is why cars like this one here on eBay are quite desirable, even with the engine missing. But is it worth the $35K ask?
From an armchair quarterback perspective, the 914-6 seems like a smart buy as a collector car. While it’s not necessarily been as white-hot as a long-hood 911, the genuine six-cylinder models don’t tend to hang out long when they come up for sale. This one is a conundrum for anyone who’s been hunting such an elusive model, as it is claimed to be entirely rust-free and in storage for many years, which may mean a fairly straightforward return to the road without any major bodywork involved. But will the lack of a numbers-matching engine forever hurt its value?
Now, it’s not entirely a lost cause: there is an engine case included with the sale, along with a transmission. The seller doesn’t confirm nor deny whether these are numbers-matching pieces. The fact that they were found with the car is a good sign they may be original to the 914, but it’s not a given I’m a little surprised the seller didn’t do some modest homework here to confirm whether they are in fact from this particular six-cylinder 914, as it could absolutely drive more interest from potential buyers.
Seeing the lime green the floor boards also leads me to believe this 914-6 wore one of the more desirable factory colors available when this car was new: Weiden Grun. This is an extremely desirable OEM paint scheme, so all of the sudden, this rust-free roller of a 914-6 becomes even more desirable and viable as a project. Even though there’s no rust repair needed, you will absolutely need to paint this car to bring that amazing original color code back to life.
You know,,,one of the many downsides of getting old, is seeing a car that was such a prominent car,,,reduced to a beater. The only place I ever saw’r one, was at Road America in the mid 70s. I had my MGB, and Elkhart Lake was a regular thing with all my other sports car buddies. The 914-6, possibly heavily modified, literally cleaned up on everyone, even other Porsches. It was fun to watch the others struggle, but no match. That must have been fun for the 914 driver. The sound was unmistakable.
Far as the car itself, my 2nd least favorite Porsche, close behind the bathtub, but at one time, no question this was the hottest stick out there.
Nice looking chassis here but not 35K nice. Our second and last 914 has a 280 hp 2.7 six in it and the fun factor is off the chart. Never bought a new 914 because of the world class ugly design but they were fun to drive and even more fun to modify. The world has turned the 9146 into an expensive classic when it should have been let to be the fun driver it is.
I saw this Porsche on TikTok a while back. Dodi auto sales. Well known for finding and having cool classic European cars. I even directed a person on the 500E forum to this company looking for a 914-6 project. From a performance standpoint it would be easier to just buy a 2 liter 4 cylinder 914 and modify it if bang for your buck is what you are after. Or wrap up 100K in this project. Anything air-cooled Porsche is so out of my league at this point. I saw just a 2 liter aluminum 911 engine case bring over 8K! It’s hard to get your head around this when you were able to buy reconditioned engines back in the 90’s in the 3-4K range. Now they are 15K at least.
I live close to Dodi’s… He has a lot of cars, all in every condition you can imagine!
I am acquainted with an engine builder who could put this back together and make it sing, but it would still look…like it looks. One thing about this body style, it looks road hugging, very stable.
Hard NO
35K are you kidding me
In the Porsche world, putting a big engine into a 914/6 is accepted. Even the legendary Chuck Stoddard did it. You don’t find a relatively rust-free 914/6 every day. The only thing wrong here is the price.
Here’s a thought: put a hot-rod Type 4 engine into it.
We put a 2.5 four cylinder engine in a friend’s/customer’s ’73 and added an upgraded suspension. Ate up the 911s on the race track and at autocrosses. Absolute blast to drive.
i like these almost as much as the 924/8 for looks and design (frnt, bent8, water)
but 914 for twisties pleasure.
Cant combine so as a non-porsche fan I’d end up w/2? No, uhn-uah.
But, as can B seen, w/this company, I like em cheep~
First time commenting on a forum like this.
Owned numerous 914 4 2.0 and a 74 914 2.0, 914 6 conversion track / autocross car.
Based on recent Porsche history, I forcast that clean pedigreed 914 6’s
Will soon blow through the 100k mark.
The difficulty here for me would be in resisting modifications and upgrades that improve the car but hurt the resale.
I’d be inclined to fit a 2.2 or 2.4, mechanical fuel injection engine from a wrecked 71, 2, or 3, 911. (Buy the whole car and sell off what you cant use)
Might as well get the 901 transaxle from the same car (71 only)while you’re at it.
(Better steel in the gears and shafts)
While at it, convert the shift mechanism from the gearshift knob all the way to the side shift on the transmission. (Factory upgrade starting in 73)
The above are easy improvements that involve no irreversible modifications to the car.
It’s a dead certainty you’ll need to fit a substantial auxiliary oil cooler along with associated plumbing and a thermostat.
Even the stock carbureted 2 0, 6 cyl won’t tolerate much spirited driving before it fails from excessive heat.
These upgrades would vastly improve the car while having not too prejudicial an effect on resale.
Fitting a high pressure type 4 engine to this chassis, although possible, would be costly, require a lot of systems modification, and harm the resale.
From this point on it’s very hard to resist fitting early 70’s “S” struts, calipers and rotors, and then a set of 15 x 7″ Fuchs alloys which will require minor burping of the rear wheelhouse openings. (Barely noticable if done right)
That’s about as far as you can go without hurting the classic car value
The above will get you a car that can hold it’s own in a modern performance car world and still retain its classic car vibe.
Zzzzz
Would go high as 20K, I would likely have it on the road sooner.
I think they made just over 3,000 of them and I thought I read somewhere that half that are still around. Super nice ones are going for $100k.
Before the 914, Porsche offered a 916 with flared fenders and a steel roof – no targa … very few were produced as in 1971 it was priced at $14k, which is $105k in today’s dollars – higher than a 911 – so very few were ordered and the project was cancelled … the 914 came out a year later …
I had a ’74 914 2.0 that was set up for autocross and track duty, with a balanced / blueprinted / ported 4 cylinder engine with two two-barrel Webers, suspension upgrades and a close ratio 5 speed trans. It was a real hoot to drive, although pretty noisy on the street.
Sounded like a pissed-off bumblebee, right … :)
Doesn’t look rust-free along the center tunnel.
Never have I spent so much and felt like I walked away with so little.
Buy my headache for the low low price of…… And sink another 50k … Hard pass