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Posted by: mech986 Mar 26 2018, 09:56 PM

Hi all,

While doing a bit of research, I came upon a few sites which quote sales figures for the mid-engine Porsches. Per Wikipedia, that bastion of facts (?) the Porsche 914 and 914/6 combined sales were 118,978 cars over 1970-1976 (7 sales years).

According to http://carsalesbase.com/european-car-sales-data/porsche/porsche-boxster/ and http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/porsche/porsche-boxster/ Total sales for the Boxster/S (only, not including the Cayman) have totaled 118,744 US sales over 1997-2017 and 129,437 Euro/Rest of World over the same period, totaling 248,181 over a 21 year lifespan.

Curiously, the US Boxster sales just reached the total 914/914-6 sales mark, and overall, total Boxster sales surpassed 914 sales during the 1997-2002(6 sales years) period when cumulative Boxsters sold was 119,156.

I'd say mid-engined Porsches have saved Porsche more than once! Just a bit of trivia for you all.

Bart

Posted by: mlindner Apr 28 2018, 05:34 PM

Hey Bart, neat info thanks for sharing.....I have both 914 and cayman. Yes, mid-engined Porsches have saved Porsche.....Best, mark

Posted by: Pat Garvey Apr 29 2018, 06:18 PM

This post should be moved - nothing to do with originality.

Posted by: mech986 Apr 29 2018, 07:20 PM

Perhaps, but it relates the production and sales history of Porsche's first production mid engine car (don't think we can count the racing 550s, etc. as production) to its spiritual successor, the Boxster and subsequent variants.

Considering a 7 year run, the 914 was a very good selling vehicle, partly relating to its affordability. If the 914/6 and 914 had had the cost advantages of Ferry Porsche's first agreement with Heinz Nordhoff instead of the subsequent VW chief, things might have been very different and even more successful. As it was, the 914 was the best selling Porsche of that era. This led to a divergence of opinion about the future of the 911 and the air cooled engine platforms, leading to the 924, 944 and eventual 968 as entry and mid level , and 928 as the luxury sedan. Water cooled vehicles were viewed as potential answers to emissions issues and more modern designs. As we all know though, the 911 was saved and expanded upon, leading to a boom in sports car sales, at least till the late 80's when the US economy went bust again.

Similarly, the Boxster essentially saved Porsche during the 90's as it was transitioning to water cooled engines and shared platform / parts plus additional production through Valmet, somewhat similar to the 914 in shared chassis and engine production with VW. Once the sales success of the Boxster was proven, the concept of shared platforms paved the way for the Cayenne and VW Toureg SUV production.