Junkyard Find: 1972 Porsche 914

by Murilee Martin

October 15th, 2013 1:31 AM

While prices of Porsche 911s keep getting crazier, 914s may be found for reasonable sums. Really trashed examples, or even slightly bent ones aren’t worth restoring, and so they end up like this one: parked in a Denver self-service wrecking yard.

I found this beat-to-hell crypto-Volkswagen yesterday, and it still has plenty of parts to offer.

Volkswagen? NEIN!

The engine is still there, and perhaps someone will rescue it.

#1970s #1972 #1972Porsche914 #914 #Denver #DownOnTheJunkyard #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Porsche #Porsche914 #VolkswagenType4

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HotPotato on Oct 19, 2013

I had one of these for years, a black '73 1.7. Basically a 4-wheeled motorcycle, that thing, more alive than anything mechanical has a right to be. Handling so instantly responsive the car may as well have been directly wired to your brain. Everything manual, operated by skinny metal cables that snapped on the regular. I spent an insane amount of money on mine. Replaced the bumpers with fiberglass 916 bumpers, sanded the pebble finish off the targa top, and gave the whole car a beautiful color-sanded mirror black paint job and a Bursch exhaust (and stainless steel heat exchangers) for a lovely deep exhaust note. People constantly asked me if it was a new car, 20 years after it was born. Upgraded the engine twice. First time just big bore pistons to 1.9 liters. Second time with 2-liter crank & rods, high-compression Euro pistons, blueprinted & balanced, ported & polished, 2-liter injection components, you name it. The thing would go. To make it stop, I gave it a 19mm 911 master cylinder and stainless brake lines. Eventually I turned to the interior: modern stereo, component speakers, amps, and a pair of 5" Bazooka tubes (yes, they used to make those) tucked on the floor in front of the seats. It is possible to do too much to a car. I added stuff like swaybars and a front-mount oil cooler that added more weight than function. Eventually I sold the thing for probably 10% of what I'd spent on it. Motorcycles are fun, whatever the wheel count, but it was time for a car.

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Doc423 on Jan 30, 2023

Ten years later reading this column, 914s have skyrocketed in desire and value a car like this one in the article would not last a week, these days (2023).

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Recent Comments

SCE to AUX Love it, and the price is a bargain, actually. The clean exterior is nice.Also, this caught my attention: "105mm throttle body"... that's a lot of air flow.
Tassos I predict this will be a big hit and conquer new markets. Housewives will be lining up to grab them, and the dealers will charge $200k a unit. Why? Because they already buy SUVs and crossovers they never needed, which have much less interior space than their minivans. So they will sacrifice a bit more of that space, but at least they will not drive identical looking crossovers with their accursed neighbor's wife.I also predict the Tesla Plaid and even lesses Teslas will beat the living daylights of this idiotic vehicle, and without even breaking a sweat.
Bobbysirhan I fully expect to be reading about the last-of-the-line Challenger Demon 170 Redeye Widebody three years from now.
Dougjp Finally, luxury/strong performance in a compact size car. Unlike the Civic R, the market for this segment has predominantly automatics buyers. Yet year after year, it appears Acura can't make such a car. They did have a 10 speed with torque (Accord), which counters the thought that they can't make a torque capable automatic.Oh well, look elsewhere I guess.
Analoggrotto The real question, how many years or months after the end of production will this vehicle be completely eliminated from the street? Neon lights, yellow spoiler covers, idiotic stripes, brazzers license plate frames, obnoxious exhausts and all.