916 development question, for the historians with German roots Options

[larryM]

just got Gooding's 914 book (Enthusiast's Guide, 2016), which has some interesting historical stuff on the 916 & GT cars;

it prompts this question:
(which probably requires the knowledge of you few 914 folks with Germany roots or current contacts to those who worked at Zuffenhausen in the '69-71 time period)

When did the factory begin development of the 916 variant?

i.e., start on the design of the different body components & chassis improvements, and decide on the powertrain, etc??

and when were the first prototyped "new" components begun & finished for trial fit on the the prototype chassis?

(and where were they made? (?-Werks-1? - or ?)

Who was responsible for the decision to do the 11 finished cars for the Paris show (October 1971)?
(edit update: looking at http://916.dingianni.org/Info/, we see that 4 916s were finished & gone to new owners prior to that Paris Show date, so Gooding's statement is a bit misleading)

and who decided to kill 'em?

inquiring minds want to know

TIA

[gms]

It was Ferdinand Piëch early in 1971, he is one of the most underrated members of the family.
One popular misconception is that they were reject 914/4 bodies, this is NOT true the Karmann numbers indicate that they were late 1971 914/6 chassis.
The Prototype (Brutus) was just restored at AA with help from Steve Gaglione.

[Tom_T]

It was Ferdinand Piëch early in 1971, he is one of the most underrated members of the family.
One popular misconception is that they were reject 914/4 bodies, this is NOT true the Karmann numbers indicate that they were late 1971 914/6 chassis.
The Prototype (Brutus) was just restored at AA with help from Steve Gaglione.

Hey Glen,

Didn't they recently show "Brutus" at Amelia earlier this year or 2016?

I thought I read somewhere that it won some award at Amelia. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

IIRC they were intended to be priced higher than the $12-14K noted above - at $16000 in 1973 dollars, which was maybe around $250,000 today with inflation - which would be a hard sell for a top dog Boxster/Cayman even today.

The 916s did have all leather interior & quite a few other upgrades over a fully optioned 914-6 - beyond just the engine & chassis improvements, but as noted above - it competed with their top dawg 911S, & may have even out-sold them if given the chance - assuming they could squelch the NARP tag!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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