Six Cylinder Swap: 1974 Porsche 914

The Porsche 914/6 is one of the company’s most intriguing creations, a vehicle that seemingly shouldn’t exist and that no one was necessarily asking for. However, like all things made by Porsche that are limited in production and offer better performance than the rest of the product line, it immediately became a fan favorite and is quite sought after today. However, after a significant run-up in values in the last 10-15 years, prices have stabilized to the point that a driver-quality example can be had for under $50,000. This is a custom-built 914/6 with lots of track-inspired details, and is listed here on eBay with an asking price of $54,750 or best offer.

In 2023 and 2024, a period of time that was safely outside of the pandemic run-up in classic car prices, clean 914/6s were still trading hands for upwards of $100,000. Frankly, this is the last time I really checked values, as it seemed like yet another Porsche model was out of the barn and off to stratosphere. These days, however, several driver-quality 914/6s have sold for under $50,000 or haven’t sold at all. Granted, these are not preservation-grade vehicles, but it’s still surprising to see such tepid interest in a car that has all the right ingredients to be an air-cooled rockstar. Which does beg the question as to how the market interprets a 914/6 that began life as a 4-cylinder.

The good news is the rest of the 914 more or less stayed the same, so if you do embark on a swap project, you don’t have to rebuild the entire car. The seller notes that the project took on a slight outlaw vibe, with an aggressive stance accented by larger Fuchs-style wheels, a lowered suspension, and details that he associates with the stillborn Porsche 916 concept – a widebody race car based on the 914 that never saw production. The all-red paint job is an interesting choice, with the targa top, bumpers, and rear spoiler all painted to match. It either looks great or makes you think they simply painted the car with little attention paid to masking, and while I know it mimics the 916, it can have the opposite effect. Perhaps some black undercoating on the rockers and lower sills would help to break things up visually.

The engine is a 2.8L flat-six with Weber carburetors, MSD ignition, and I’m sure numerous other upgrades. The seller doesn’t provide much info on the engine build or what was involved, and since it’s a dealer, the 914 is likely being sold under consignment. The engine bay looks very clean with lots of attention paid to details under hood, which is what you want to see in a one-off build like this. The question is price: when an original factory car with some minor sorting requires sells for under $50,000 and a turnkey car like this that is far from stock and not an original 914/6, how do you place a fair number on it? It looks like an absolute blast to drive and will be interesting to see where it ends up.