Rare Rides: A Prototype 1970 Porsche 914 Murene, by Heuliez

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Today’s Rare Ride is the second vehicle in the series designed by French coachbuilder Heuliez, and was a one-off as part of a Porsche 914 styling competition.

The 914 was a joint Volkswagen-Porsche project and entered the Porsche lineup as the brand’s entry-level vehicle for the 1970 model year. There were two basic versions available, the base 914 with a 1.7-liter flat-four, or the 914/6 with a 2.0-liter flat-six. The former mill was a VW engine, so was derided among the Porsche purists of the day. The six-cylinder came from Porsche and thus was more acceptable, but the 914 was still tainted with the dueling auras of cheap and Volkswagen.

Before the 914 entered production, Porsche decided to have a contest to see who could restyle the rather plain-looking 914 into something better. An early production example was originally obtained by a company called Brissonneau et Lotz, who planned to implement a 914 body of their (employee’s) design. The 914 edit idea came from employee Jacques Cooper, a designer who was a former employee of Raymond Loewy. But B et L had some money troubles, and couldn’t afford to start the project. It didn’t progress past the design sketch stage, which Cooper penned.

The 914 build was passed on to designer Henri Heuliez, who was still new to the automotive design industry. Cooper managed the transition from Brissonneau to Heuliez, and Heuliez started work immediately. The 914 rework went from a paper sketch to a driving prototype in 10 weeks, as Heuliez was eager to prove he could complete a quality car body in short order.

Nearly all original panels of the 914 were replaced, the boxy shape tossed in favor of a wedge with upswept lines toward the rear. B-pillars were widened and included cooling gills that were formerly found on the hood above the midship engine. There were also taillamps unique to the Murene in place of the Porsche units. Perhaps most notably, the 914’s coupe form was edited into a hatchback.

The Heuliez design took the stage for the first time at the Paris Motor Show of 1970, where it was one of three wedge-shaped 914 design exercises completed that year. ItalDesign completed another under the direction of boss Giorgetto Giugiaro that was called Tapiro. A third take was designed by Eurostyle Torino. The Heuliez design received an official name that fall at the Geneva Motor Show: Murene.

After the show circuit and per agreement, the Murene was the property of Brissonneau. Porsche decided to drop the 914 restyling idea for unstated reasons. Brissonneau didn’t hold on to the Murene for long, and Heuliez bought it from them in 1971. Heuliez immediately repainted the Murene from light brown to a super Seventies two-tone orange and beige and put it in his personal garage. Heuliez owned the Murene through 2012 (near the time of Heuliez’ closure) and restored it before its sale to a third private owner.

The Murene sold to its fourth happy owner in August 2021, for $159,914.

[Images: YouTube]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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  • Mjz Mjz on Sep 15, 2021

    It looks like one of those weird fiberglass kit cars. Simply horrendous. Not up to fun, funky French design standards at all.

  • Renewingmind Renewingmind on Sep 17, 2021

    It isn’t pretty but it seems like a pretty good deal for a one of one custom rebody of a classic Porsche. And I absolutely agree on the Opel GT vibes the headlights give off.

  • Peter Buying an EV from Toyota is like buying a Bible from Donald Trump. Don’t be surprised if some very important parts are left out.
  • Sheila I have a 2016 Kia Sorento that just threw a rod out of the engine case. Filed a claim for new engine and was denied…..due to a loop hole that was included in the Class Action Engine Settlement so Hyundai and Kia would be able to deny a large percentage of cars with prematurely failed engines. It’s called the KSDS Improvement Campaign. Ever hear of such a thing? It’s not even a Recall, although they know these engines are very dangerous. As unknowing consumers load themselves and kids in them everyday. Are their any new Class Action Lawsuits that anyone knows of?
  • Alan Well, it will take 30 years to fix Nissan up after the Renault Alliance reduced Nissan to a paltry mess.I think Nissan will eventually improve.
  • Alan This will be overpriced for what it offers.I think the "Western" auto manufacturers rip off the consumer with the Thai and Chinese made vehicles.A Chinese made Model 3 in Australia is over $70k AUD(for 1995 $45k USD) which is far more expensive than a similar Chinesium EV of equal or better quality and loaded with goodies.Chinese pickups are $20k to $30k cheaper than Thai built pickups from Ford and the Japanese brands. Who's ripping who off?
  • Alan Years ago Jack Baruth held a "competition" for a piece from the B&B on the oddest pickup story (or something like that). I think 5 people were awarded the prizes.I never received mine, something about being in Australia. If TTAC is global how do you offer prizes to those overseas or are we omitted on the sly from competing?In the end I lost significant respect for Baruth.
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