Any one knows this car?, For sale in Houston. Options

[HansJan]

Hello,

Any one here that knows this car?
It’s a 1975 1.8L
My 14 yr old son is wanting it as his first car (leaves us a 1.5 years to get it ready).

[SirAndy]

Not trying to be a dick, but i don't think any teenager should have a sports car with a roll cage for their first car, even if it's "just" powered by a 1.8L T4.

You are asking for a lot of trouble ...
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[Larmo63]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

And, what do you sit on to drive it?

[Superhawk996]

Don't listen to the grouchy old men.

I think it's cool - sort of like sending him to Prom with a super hot "Escort" and a pocket full of condoms. All the other kids will be jealous, and he'll be well protected!

What could go wrong! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

In all seriousness, it's not the craziest thing I've ever seen. I've seen kids given a new Mustang or BMW as a first car and once a Honda CBR600 as a first motorcycle. As far as I know, that kid is still alive, but in all fairness the CBR was given to a girl and she had been riding dirt bikes for years!

[tygaboy]

Check that cage for head clearance. Maybe it's the pics but it looks close, especially in a no helmet situation. You can always cut it out and add long stiffeners.

[bandjoey]

Can't install the roof by looking at those pictures

[Costa05]

Can't install the roof by looking at those pictures

I was thinking the same thing. Permanent garage car and fair weather only. nahhhhh not my first choice for my kid.

[don-6]

Teen aged boy is going to crash his first car. It's a right of passage.
Get him a car with air bags and ABS.
Yeah, old man, been there done that.

[rjames]

Teen aged boy is going to crash his first car. It's a right of passage.
Get him a car with air bags and ABS.
Yeah, old man, been there done that.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

[mepstein]

I love 914’s and still have the one I drove when I was 16 but my wife worked surgical shock trauma so kids only drive modern cars with airbags including side curtain bags. She figures I’m replaceable with life insurance but our kids aren’t.

[ClayPerrine]

Teen aged boy is going to crash his first car. It's a right of passage.
Get him a car with air bags and ABS.
Yeah, old man, been there done that.

I call BS on this one.

I got my first car at 16. I didn't crash it at all. I waited until my third car, the 914 I still own. And I was hit sitting still.


I have a friend in PCA club racing that bought his daughter a Spec Boxster as her first street car. No passenger seat, no radio, 6 point harness and a roll cage. She drove it all through college. Got hit twice. Both times were not her fault, but the safety equipment saved her.

[IronHillRestorations]

Unless your teenage boy is going to wear a helmet all the time, the rollbar is more of a liability than an asset. A minor accident can crack your skull

[JOEPROPER]

I think his first car should be more substantial... Safety features like air bags, ABS and crumple zones are there for a reason and that reason is to protect our kids.
With that said, I wish I had a 914 as a young man, but maybe a little older than 16.

[Superhawk996]

Unless your teenage boy is going to wear a helmet all the time, the rollbar is more of a liability than an asset. A minor accident can crack your skull

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

In all seriousness, the guys pointing out the liability of the roll cage are correct.

[Superhawk996]

I think his first car should be more substantial... Safety features like air bags, ABS and crumple zones are there for a reason and that reason is to protect our kids.
With that said, I wish I had a 914 as a young man, but maybe a little older than 16.

914's actually have very good crumple zones. Well ahead of their time for 1969.

Air Bags are a secondary device. If you properly wear a seat belt, the driver and passenger frontal air bag is redundant device and is actually a bit of a liability. Not sure you believe that? Google Takata air bags and look into the development history of air bags.

ABS didn't substantially reduce accident rates as it was predicted to do. Stability control was then forced to be implemented via the FMVSS 126 regulatory standard in 2012. Still didn't reduce accident rates as much as was predicted but dramatically helped reduce SUV and other high CG vehicle roll over accidents. Automatic Emergency Braking is on the verge of being the next thing that gets forced implementation. Each is progression upon the prior but none will completely prevent accidents.

What will help your kids is to teach them to drive (i.e. car control skills) and most importantly - look way ahead of where they are at; see what the big picture is, see the cars well ahead of them and what they are doing. All racers know this as truth, - you go where you look.

Lack of situational awareness is what leads to many accidents.

[HansJan]

This conversation took an unexpected turn.
The plan is that the boy will share a modern Mini Cooper S for daily transport, with his sister, for as long as they go to the same high school.
During that time we can work and play with a 914. He could also use mine. But it’s already finished. And I believe that there are life-lessons to be learned from doing the work yourselves.

Back to the topic.
Anyone knows this 914?

[don-6]

I think a 914 is a great project for you and your son. Send time together teaching him how to work on a car. You both can enjoy the car on weekends.
I think a modern car with modern safety equipment and creature comforts like AC and a radio that you can actually hear, would be a better daily driver.

[Literati914]

Me and the family drove down to Houston several weeks back for a weekend (NASA, Galveston, etc)... and while there I swung by a local's house to pick up a brand new type4 oil cooler, that he was practically giving away. I'm pretty sure that's the guy's house in your pics. He seemed busy at the time and handed me the cooler through that gate - so I saw no car. The place was nice (if that means anything), from the pics it seems a lot of time and money has been spent on the car - it's had plenty of attention, which is a good thing. The floors look to have Por15 coating - which points to someone having addressed rust issues already. And you're probably not going to find a better car in that price range so close to you. On the other hand - it's a dedicated race car (no headlights, etc) - so putting it on the street will take some doing.

BTW - I had a 914 that had a 4 point roll cage and it always looked like the top bars were too high when the roof was off. They were not though - it's just the they were built up into the targa top void snuggly. So, I bet the roof on this one fits just fine.

Just bought our 16yo son his first car on Monday BTW.. an '06 325i - so I can well relate to all this.

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

I like the blue and orange gulf colors!

[thelogo]

I speak from experience

Put any teenager in a vw baja bug for at least 6 months or until it breaks down ...then move to the 914 .or any car of choice.....but let the der beetle bare the brunt of all those learning to drive mishaps ...not the 914


Every ones first car should be a volkswagen bug
Teaches you how to drive ...car can take a ton of damage and then you toss it away ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving-girl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)