Porsche fans are an odd bunch. They love their 356's and their 911's but anything that deviates too far from that formula gets shunned from the limelight. That's a shame because they've made some brilliant cars like the 924, 928, 944 and this, the 914.
This collaboration between Volkswagen and Porsche wasn't received very well in its time, by both the press and the consumers. Porsche enthusiasts derided it as "not being a real Porsche" for its usage of cheap Volkswagen parts, poor build quality, and an admittedly wheezy 80 hp flat-four from the Type 4. What the enthusiasts overlooked was a great chassis, and a superior mid-engined layout, all in a car that weighed just 2000 lbs. It even had a trunk and a frunk!
To counter some of the bad reception the 914 received Porsche stuck a 2.0 flat-six from the 911T into the 914, which increased both the performance and the price. It sold worse than the 4-cylinder version, which is another shame because the 914-6 is a damn fine car as this latest video from Petrolicious shows.
This particular car was bought by Jack Griffin in 1976 and has an upgraded 2.5 flat-six making 200 hp. The 914-6 was Griffin's first Porsche who has since owned a bevy of Porsches, including a 911RSR and 20 356s but this is the one he's kept the longest.
It's certainly not the prettiest car Porsche ever made, but I have a difficult time finding anything wrong with a car that has a mid-mounted flat six and only weighs around 2,000 lbs. Sounds like a recipe for fun to me, and clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that as the values of the 6 cylinder 914 have been climbing. Maybe there is some love for the Porschewagen (Volsksche?) yet.