914 as kids first car? :(, nervous about this one. Options

[Brian Mifsud]

Hi All,

Hypocrite that I am, I'm nervous about my kids desire to own a 914 as his first car. I bought and drove one as a "Step Up" from my hot-rodded '69 Beetle when I was 19. I just feel though that there are a hell of a lot more people on the road driving earth-moving Suburban/lifted 4x4s etc than when I was young (early 80's) and that the likelihood of getting run over/punted in a 914 these days is much higher.

Now, this has no basis on fact, just my hunch, and probably my protective instinct so...

Do you think that a 914 with these mods might be enough to ease my fears?

- Fully caged including door bars to slow down side impact incursions

- Safety harness?

- Added bright LED Brake Light bars

- Fuel Cell to minimize the gasoline-in-the lap fun of VW's and Porsches

- automatic Fire supression system

- Use a '75 or '76 model year for the honking big 5MPH bumper added safety margin

- Better than stock tires and brakes

- Driving school - (Learn to handle the car on wet curvy roads, no ABS, etc)


Okay, clearly I'm a paranoid guy... I really would have preferred that my son drive something forgiving in a crash like a mid/late -90's Mustang

Opinions?

Thanks

Brian

[bozo914]

Consider the first car as "disposable". Learning to drive is just that, a learning process, as such, kids are going to make mistakes. Just make sure they survive to learn from those mistakes. My daughters 1st car was an older Altima, it survived 6 years, had the front bumper reattached x2, the right side rebuilt because she was going too fast for the exit ramp (45 instead of 25) and several other mishaps, but she survived and learned and now comfortably drives in DC and NYC.