916 build on 4-Cyl. chassis?, huh? Options

[SirAndy]

ok, i'm no expert when it comes to 916s, but this is news to me (interesting part in bold):

A supercar version known as the Porsche 916 was planned for production in the early 1970s, but was cancelled after the production of eleven prototypes. These had either the 2.4 engine from the 911S, or the 2.7 from the Carrera: also a fixed steel roof, wider wheels and flared fenders from the GT, complete leather trimmed interior, and more integrated front and rear ends than the 914. Ventilated disc brakes were fitted to all four wheels, and also a "mid-engined" version of the then-new 915 transmission, giving a conventional shift pattern with 1 to 4 in an H and fifth out on a limb. One 916 was built to US spec, and on delivery to the USA was fitted with air conditioning by the dealer (Brumos). One fact that may make 914/6 purists wince is that at least one of the 916's proves, on close examination, to have been built using a 4-cylinder VW-engined 914 as a base. Porsche obviously had a "waste not, want not" attitude to their prototypes that was also evident with the 914/8's.

looking through the 916 VIN number list, they all had 914/6 style VINs, even the first "prototype" ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) Andy

[John]

What I read (I still have the old AA catalog and can look it up tonight), was that after GH had bought the one he has, he found a bunch of "interesting" things about the prototype that he had just spent a bunch of money on. One of the things mentioned was that the engine compartment had evidence of once having engine mounts for a 4-cyl. The article also mentioned that the use of a gas axe was evident and that it wasn't done all that neatly. (All completely understandable as it was one of 11 prototype cars). I would be willing to bet that if all were gathered together, there would be some differences between even those 11 cars.

That is what I recall. (It may be wrong, but I can look at it tonight and possibly scan the article if any are all that interested.)

I know nothing about the VIN's and when they were assigned or if they were changed.



just my $0.02