The Porsche 914 or VW-Porsche 914 is a mid-engined sports car designed, manufactured and marketed collaboratively by Volkswagen and Porsche for model years 1969-1976. Available as a targa-topped two-seat roadster, across a single generation, the 914 was powered by either a flat-4 or flat-six engine.
History
Pre-development
By the late 1960s, both Volkswagen and Porsche were in need of new models; Porsche was looking for a replacement for their entry-level 912, and Volkswagen wanted a new range-topping sports coupé to replace the Volkswagen Type 34 Karmann Ghia coupé. At the time the majority of Volkswagen's development work was handled by Porsche as part of an agreement that dated back to Porsche's founding. Volkswagen needed to contract out one last project to Porsche to fulfill the contract, and decided to make the 914 that project. Ferdinand Piëch, who was in charge of research and development at Porsche, was put in charge of the 914 project.
In 1966 and 1967, German company Gugelot Design GmbH began showing a proposed design for a sports coupe built with technology developed in partnership with Bayer to several major car builders, including Volkswagen and Porsche. Some sources have suggested that the Gugelot proposal, suitably adapted, was the origin of the design of the 914. The rationale is that an outside design would be able to please both Volkswagen and Porsche without appearing too similar to either of the partners' existing products. Later sources have rejected this idea. While acknowledging that Porsche was aware of the Gugelot design, they assert that the 914 design was done in-house at Porsche, and is primarily the work of body engineer Heinrich Klie.
Joint venture
Originally intending to sell the vehicle with a flat four-cylinder engine as a Volkswagen and with a flat six-cylinder engine as a Porsche, Porsche decided during development that having Volkswagen and Porsche models sharing the same body would be risky for business in the American market, and convinced Volkswagen to allow them to sell both versions as Porsches in North America.On March 1, 1968, the first 914 prototype was presented. However, development became complicated after the death of Volkswagen's chairman, Heinrich Nordhoff, on April 12, 1968. His successor, Kurt Lotz, was not connected with the Porsche dynasty and the verbal agreement between Volkswagen and Porsche fell apart.
In Lotz's opinion, Volkswagen had all rights to the model, and no incentive to share it with Porsche if they would not share in tooling expenses. With this decision, the price and marketing concept for the 914 had failed before series production had begun. As a result, the price of the chassis went up considerably, and the 914/6 ended up costing only a bit less than the 911T, Porsche's next lowest priced car.
The 914 was Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1970.
Slow sales and rising costs prompted Porsche to discontinue the 914/6 variant in 1972 after producing 3,351 of them.
Production of the 914 ended in 1976. The 2.0 L flat-4 engine continued to be used in the 912E, introduced that year as an entry-level model until the front-engined four-cylinder 924 was introduced the following model year.
Features
Volkswagen versions originally featured the fuel-injected 1.7 L VW Type 4 flat-four engine producing 80 bhp.
Porsche's 914/6 variant featured the 2.0 L air-cooled Type 901/3 flat-six engine from the 1967–1969 911T model. This was the least powerful flat-six in Porsche's lineup. This engine had revised pistons that reduced the compression ratio to 8.6:1. The cylinder barrels were entirely made of iron, in contrast to the iron and aluminum "Biral" barrels in the engines in the 911S and 911L. New camshafts had less lift, and relaxed timing characteristics. The venturis in the Weber 40IDT3C carburetors were 27 mm, smaller than the other 911 engines, and the exhaust pipe diameter was also reduced in size. Power output was 110 bhp. When the 911T got a 2.2 L engine in 1970, the engine in the 914/6 remained at 2.0 L.
All engines were placed amidships in front of a version of the 1969 911's "901" gearbox configured for a mid-engined sports car. Karmann manufactured the rolling chassis at their plant, completing Volkswagen production in-house or delivering versions to Porsche for their final assembly.
The 914/6 models came with lower gear ratios and larger brakes to compensate for the greater weight and higher power output of the six-cylinder model. They also featured five-lug wheels and an ignition on the left side of the steering wheel. Suspension and handling were otherwise mostly the same. A Volkswagen-Porsche joint venture, Volkswagen of America, handled export to the U.S., where both versions were badged and sold as Porsches. The four-cylinder cars were sold as Volkswagen-Porsches at European Volkswagen dealerships.
Technical summaries
Technical specifications of the standard versions
The Porsche 914 was produced from 1969 to 1976 in the following models:
914 road car timeline
Chassis numbers
Concept cars, prototypes, and factory specials
Porsche 914/6 GT, 914/6 R
On 1 March 1970 the 914/6 was homologated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for Group 4, Special Grand Touring cars. That same month two cars were sent to the Targa Florio for testing, not as competitors. These were the first two 914/6 GT cars built. Externally the cars were distinguished by squared fender flares that were the full 2 in depth permitted by FIA rules. The chassis was reinforced with three welded plates on each side. For rally applications a stone guard protected the power-train and a stone shield did the same for the front of the car.
The GT cars received stronger lower front A-arms, and anti-roll bars were fitted front and rear. Ground clearance was reduced to 4 in. Brakes front and rear were upgraded to the same components used on the racing 911S model.
Fiberglass panels for the front and rear bumpers, front and rear deck lids, and left and right rocker panels replaced the original steel parts. The rear air intake grille was doubled in size. An inlet in the front bumper admitted air to a new supplementary oil cooler in the nose. The car's nose compartment was nearly filled by a 100 L fuel tank. The car weighed 1980 lb ready to race. The engine remained at 2.0 litres displacement with Weber Carburetor induction, but was extensively upgraded otherwise. New cylinder heads with larger valves topped aluminum cylinder barrels with chrome-plated bores. A dual-ignition system fired two spark plugs per cylinder. High compression pistons and forged steel piston rods were borrowed from the 911S.
Motorsport
A 914/6 GT driven by Frenchmen Claude Ballot-Léna and Guy Chasseuil won the GTS class and finished sixth overall at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Brian Redman used a 914/6 to scout the course in practice runs for the 1970 Targa Florio.
F1 safety car
The Porsche 914 is renowned for having been Formula One's first safety car following its deployment at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix to help manage the race, which had seen various incidents due to treacherous weather conditions.
Further reading
External links
References
- Porsche 914 - Ultimate Model Guide Stuttcars, retrieved 2025-09-23^
- Randy Leffingwell. Porsche 911 & 914: A Restorer's Guide to Authenticity Motorbooks, 2005^
- Dennis Adler. Porsche: The Classic Era Motorbooks, 15 September 2016^