Hayward owner's 1973 Porsche 914 `fun to drive' for decades
The Porsche 914 (or the Volkswagen-Porsche 914) is a midengine sports car designed and manufactured from 1969 through 1976.
Ferdinand Porsche was the designer of the VW Bug in 1938, and Porsche has always had a close relationship with Volkswagen. The 914 model used a flat-four or flat-six engine and was only available as a two-seat roadster with a targa top. In the late 1960s, both VW and Porsche were looking for some fresh models. Porsche wanted to replace its 912 model, and Volkswagen was planning to replace the Karmann Ghia model.
Ferdinand Piech was put in charge of the 914 project at Porsche. There were a couple of other German companies that got involved, one being Gugelot Design GmbH. Some think the modified Gugelot proposal was ultimately selected as a way of pleasing VW and Porsche, as its design did not appear similar to either company's existing products. However, that is not a universally held belief. Porsche claims the 914 proposal was an in-house design primarily by automotive body engineer Heinrich Klie.
The original plan was to sell the flat-four engine model as a VW and sell the flat-six engine model as a Porsche. Wisely, Porsche management decided that sharing the same body with VW would be risky in the U.S. market. An agreement was reached through which Porsche would sell the flatfour and flat-six models in America.
Then the unexpected happened. Volkswagen's chairman died in April 1968, and his successor, Kurt Lotz, thought VW had all the rights to the new vehicle and would not share it with Porsche unless Porsche shared the tooling expenses. The verbal agreement between the two companies fell apart.
Obviously, the 914 was built, and even though the proposed cost went up considerably, it still became Porsche's best seller during its model run, selling more than 118,000 vehicles worldwide. It was even Motor Trend magazine's 1970 import car of the year.
This issue's featured vehicle is a 1973 Porsche 914 with a 2-liter, flat-four engine and five-speed manual transmission. Hayward resident Lee Schreiver bought in 1988 from a fellow employee at his work who was about to retire.
Schreiver had seen this Porsche 914 several years earlier and told the original owner that he wanted the right of first refusal if the owner wanted to sell the car.
“He agreed, and at his retirement time offered to sell it for $5,000,” Schreiver said. “I thought that was a little high, but I knew it was in immaculate shape even though it had 166,000 miles on it. He handed me a folder with all the records of everything that was ever done to the car.”
Sold, Schreiver bought the car at the asking price. In about 1993, the Porsche started smoking.
“I couldn't drive it much on the freeway, as it would attract too much attention,” he said. “I took it to my mechanic, who told me the car needed an overhaul.”
The overhaul was about $10,000, about double what he paid for the car.
“Between him and I, we chose some of the best materials for the engine.”
If you own a small midengine 914 Porsche, plan on traveling light.
“It's mostly all seating,” Schreiver said. “There's a little luggage space in the front and a little luggage space in the back.”
That's not a problem for this owner, who mostly drives it locally.
“It's been fun to drive,” he said. “I take it to some meet-and-greet shows and have people asking, `Is this really a Porsche?' The '73 2-liter was the best car they made because the year after that they had to start putting smog equipment on it.”
Schreiver is partial to the original color.
“The Delphi green is best in the sun because it almost looks golden,” he says.
The car has a beautiful interior and dash, just as one would expect in a Porsche. The mechanically inclined owner has no plans to sell this car and feels comfortable with the current market value of about $30,000. He could change his mind, though — lately, his wife has been looking at real estate ads.