I discussed the styling of the Porsche (Volkswagen-Porsche in Europe) 914 here. For a change of pace, I offer an example of what it was like to own one.
My one and only sports car was a new 1971 Porsche 914 that I drove from June 1971 to November 1974 while I was living in the Albany, New York area. It's pictured above near the New York State capitol building in July or August of 1971.
The good part was that it was a genuine sports car that had more civilized features than a ragtop MG, etc. The gal who did my computer programming for the State planning agency was a purist who thought that a true sports car driver had to SUFFER. You know the drill ... rag top, floppy side curtains ... so it was with initial reluctance that she bought a new Datsun 240Z coupe.
The 914 was fun to drive. I liked the low driving position (but would hate it now). A very slight steering wheel movement resulted in a noticeable turn. Not tiring to drive on the several long trips I made in it. The 4 cylinder version had the same gas tank the 914/6 required, so theoretical highway range approached 600 miles.
Not so fun at first was the very stiff gear shifter. Over time it either loosened or my right arm got stronger.
My car got punished. Someone whose Chevrolet lacked a front bumper rear-ended me at slow speed, folding the rear trunk lid -- repair was not thorough -- it leaked or wept slightly. On the New York Thruway heading east from Buffalo once, the windshield took a rock. The replacement's sealing was so-so and the surrounding chrome strip was loose in one corner ... had to screw it down.
A couple of years in, I was in the process of starting the car. Stepped on the clutch peddle and its cable snapped! That's when I discovered that the angled floorboard behind it under the mat was made of plywood (I'm not kidding!).
There was an electrical item with cardboard covered tubes that failed somehow in the middle of Illinois and later gave some trouble. If the motor died, a fix was giving one a them a whack.
The fuel pump was located in front of the left rear wheel well. After a winter or two of road salt, its electrical lead corroded through and the car behaved like a vacuum cleaner when its cord gets pulled. Same thing happened a year or so later.
The weight bias toward the rear could be dangerous in winter. On a Delaware County country road with borderline snow/slush, the rear end broke away and I couldn't break its rhythm. Eventually the rear and front traded places. There was incoming traffic, but fortunately the car slid to the right into a snow bank.
By the fall of 1974 the sleeve over the exhaust system that provided heat had rusted through in places due to all that winter road salt. So my defogger could defog only about two inches worth at the bottom of the windshield.
This last was what prompted me to trade it in for a 1974 VW Dasher with front wheel drive for safer and easier snow driving. I had it Ziebart rust-proofed and was all set for another Albany winter. A month or so after that, I was hired to work at the Washington State Budget Office's population unit and went home to Puget Sound county.
Had the timing been slightly different I might have kept the 914 and put some money into restoring it because western Washington is pretty easy on cars unless one lives right by the ocean with its salt spray that can damage the paint.
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