914 stories Options

[Ace Le Count]

Does anyone have some crazy 914 stories that they'd like to share? Maybe your son/daughter was born in one? Maybe you drag raced someone that was getting cocky because they thought their riced out civic was faster? Maybe you used a 914 as a getaway car after you robbed a bank? How has your 914 saved the day?

[Ansbacher]

This occurred just a couple of weeks after getting my first 914 back in 1984, when I knew absolutely nothing about these cars or really mechanics in general. I was coming home from night classes at the University of South Florida Bayboro Campus in St. Pete, Florida when the car died on I- 275 in the dark, with no flash light and no tools to speak of. Feeling desperate and stupid, I managed to squeeze under the car where I smelled a lot of gas. Totally blind, I could feel a fuel hose leaking near a fitting of some sort. With a knife I quickly cut the hose, removed the bad section and jammed it back on. Leak fixed and made it home, but I was drenched in gasoline. Looking back, it was a very simple repair, but at that time it was a real triumph and adventure. I'm lucky I didn't cause something to spark under there and immolate myself.

Ansbacher

[gereed75]

I was at the Naval Academy, which basically equates to a “full ride”. My dad was happy that he escaped college tuition and offered to replace my 64 Chevy van width a new car for my graduation. I had been wanting a 914 and he obliged. I wrote him a letter telling him how thankful I was for such a wonderful gift and how much the car and he ment to me.

I found the letter in a box with his personal keepsakes 26 years later after his passing.

Sons, dads, cars

[oakdalecurtis]

When I was in High School, I started dating my wife of 39 years. My car was a Ford Pinto, and even then we called it the "blow up car", knowing that if we were ever rear ended, the cars were known to become roman candles. I was mowing my neighbor's lawn one afternoon, and he approached me and asked if I was going to the school prom soon with my girlfriend. When I told him I was, he informed me that it just wasn't right to take her on this big date in a Pinto. He had just purchased a new silver 914 and he offered it to me to use to take her to the dance! I couldn't believe it, and neither could she when I pulled up in this little racy Porsche to take her out for the big night!.



My generous neighbor continued to let me use the 914 whenever I had a significant date night, and I will be forever grateful to him. After we were married, my wife and I always said that whenever we had a little extra coin someday, we would pick up a 914. We finally made it financially, and my wife and son went out and bought a nice yellow one and surprised me with it! When I told my friends that my wife bought my 914 for me, they asked where they could get one. I said "A car like this?". And they said "No, we can get the car anywhere, we want to know where to get a wife that will buy us a sports car!". Good luck, she's pretty special. I'm not so sure I would lend out my 914 today to some punk 16 year old kid like I was then! My neighbor was one of my heroes!

[oakdalecurtis]

As a newly elected Councilman in a small rural central California city, I was asked by to bring my '76 teener to drive in the annual city Christmas parade through town. I pulled into the parade line and began slowly idling down the main street route with another Councilman in the passenger seat. We hadn't gone far when a man on the sidewalk approached the side of our little yellow ride and told us we were "leaking water under the car real bad". That's an interesting comment since there is no water onboard a 914 to leak! I opened my door and leaned out to look under the car, only to see gasoline spraying down mid tunnel and rapidly pooling under the car! I quickly told my Council colleague to get out of the car fast! Then I franticly waved to onlookers to create an opening among the sidewalk crowd of people, and drove the still running 914 into a dirt field and shut it off. I left a trail of gasoline on the ground behind the car at least a foot wide as I went toward the field.
After having my 914 towed to my mechanic, as you probably already guessed, the fuel line, under pressure from tank in front to the engine in the rear, decided to split after 30 years, at that opportune moment during the parade. I had the fuel line repaired and all was fine.
I was invited to the city Christmas parade again the following year. When I pulled up in my teener to get in the parade line this time, my Council colleagues were standing nearby on the curb with lighters, flicking them repeatedly and saying they were "ready for me this year!" That's how you know who your friends are in politics!!!!

[oakdalecurtis]

Here's another "I can't believe it's true!" (but it is) 914 story. I was traveling out of Modesto on the the main drag, McHenry Boulevard, at about 11 pm on a Saturday night. My 16 year old son was also driving next to my yellow 914 in his new little black Toyota pickup. He was in the curbside lane, and I was in my topless teener in the center lane. As there was no other traffic, we were going side by side at about 60 mph, when a Modesto Police cruiser pulls up to McHenry from a side street on the right, about 200 feet ahead of us. My son braked fast enough to make the right turn next the the officer's cruiser and head away down the side street. Of course I sailed by right in front of the cop in the center lane, unable to do anything. I could see the officer's rooftop lights come on like a Christmas tree in my mirror. I could also see my son traveling away toward home on the side street, waving at me with a satisfied smile on his face. I pulled over under the illumination of the car dealerships on upper McHenry Boulevard. Then I shut off the 2 liter engine of my '76 teener, put my hands on the top the the yellow Momo steering wheel and waited patiently for my inevitable speeding ticket. The officer pulled up behind me, flashing lights ablaze, got out of his car, and slowly walked up beside my knee high 914. I waited for a moment to make eye contact with him, but I could tell out of the corner of my eye that he was eyeballing my street legal go cart with a grin. When we finally actually looked at each other, I'll never forget his EXACT and ONLY nine words: "Just looking for kids Sir, have a nice evening." THAT'S IT! He turned and walked slowly away as I tried to mumble "Thank you officer". He did not ask me for my license, papers, or any questions at all, just that nine word sentence, and then he was gone! When I got home and told my son what had happened, he was pissed, saying the cops would have given HIM a ticket. I said darn straight they would have. A few gray hairs and a cute car can go a long way to ease the path of life!

[oakdalecurtis]

The Modesto Bee newspaper used to run a weekly half page article about local custom cars. Modesto is the town that was the basis for the movie "American Graffiti", so custom cars are a big thing here. In March of 2006, a Bee reporter did one of the weekly stories about my '76 914. The story related how long ago, when I was in high school, one of my neighbors that owned a then new silver 914 would lend it to me to drive whenever I was going to take my girlfriend, and now wife, out on a big date. Once each year, the Bee would post a single page of small pictures showing all fifty cars featured from that year. Readers were then invited to vote online as many times as they wanted to for their choice for the "Car of the Year" award. Somehow my teener won the contest easily, but I didn't really know why until years later. I was looking at old forum posts on this site and discovered that my fellow 914 owners here were instrumental in the victory! Here's a link to the old forum page where members are talking about voting as many as 22 times for my car! (Thanks grasshopper!).

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=50967

When the Bee called and told me that my 914 had won, they instructed me to show up on the next Saturday to be featured at the annual Modesto Jr. College Car Show. I had never participated in a car show before. My teener is a nice clean driver, but at that time I had never considered it a "show car". When I arrived at the MJC early that next Saturday, the car show operators guided me into the "front and center" space designated for the "Car of the Year" winner. Parked on one side of my 914 was the second place car, a mint trailer queen '71 Mustang Mach 1. Parked on the other side of my 914 was the third place car, a show prepped Austin FX that was so clean that you could have dined off of the engine. I still remember, like it was yesterday, the attitude of the two owners of those second and third place cars as they paced around my first place "street legal go cart". They both had their noses out of joint as they peered down at my knee high 914, and I could hear them mumbling something to the effect of "how the heck did THAT car beat our beautiful show cars?". It wasn't hard to discern the obvious disdain in their voices, but I just told them that "the people have made their choice, too bad!" Thank you to any of my fellow members here that voted for my 914 for the Car of the Year award and for giving me an unforgettable day at that car show! Teeners Rule!

[oakdalecurtis]

I've owned my '76 teener for about twenty years. I recently installed a BlazeCut fire suppression system in the engine compartment to hopefully stop any potential engine fire.



I took the car out for a short test ride soon after completing the BlazeCut install. As I was headed back toward home, suddenly thick black smoke started pouring out from under the dash in front of my left leg! I quickly pulled over and shut the car down before a fire started. After the smoke stopped and my heart slowed down, I lowered the relay panel and here's what I found! After forty years, one of the of the relay bases somehow short circuited internally and melted the surrounding rubber.



I finally got the car home and repaired the melted relay base and all is good now. But I remember what I was thinking when I first saw all that black smoke coming from under the dash. "Great, I have a fire suppression system mounted right behind my back, and the car is going to burn up in front of me in the passenger compartment and there's nothing I can do about it!". I now carry a small fire extinguisher in my center console box, just in case!

[horizontally-opposed]

This has all the markings of an epic thread…

[914forme]

I just got my 74 914 2.0L fired up and road worth enough to drive it on nice days. First day I drove it into work, and had a service call north about 20 miles. Jumped in the car, showed 1/2 tank of gas, went up the highway, and got about the mid way point, and cough sputter, sputter, dead. Clutch in, coast for another mile or so, and finally came to a stop.

Get out of my car to watch one of drivers go right past me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif) Starting to think about what I wanted to do, start walking or hope someone would stop a 928 pulls up behind my 914, says hope in he will give me a ride, and we go up the the gas station where I get a small can, pay like $20 bucks for a gallon can, and then pay like a buck for the gas.

Hope back in the 928, and he takes me back. I say thanks offer him some cash, and say he its nice that you stopped for a fellow Porsche enthusiast. Crickets, and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) that's a Porsche?

I fill it up, 914 fires up, and I drive all the way up to the same gas station, pull in, and hit the transition and the hood pops open. come to a stop, and the people behind the counter are laughing.

Found 2 things to repair that day. Fuel level float, and the hood catch. Drove on down to my service call, and going up the last hill to the facility, and all the sudden no forward momentum. Lost 4 CV joint bolts. I found 2 of them. Put them back on, drove up to the clients, and had to wash my hands in their really nice house. So embarrassed about that. Drove it home and repaired the trifecta of repairs for the car.

[poorsche914]

My second 914 was a '73 2.0 with Mahles. Headed home one day, I slowed a bit to take the exit ramp and BAM! rear driver side bumps and drops as I see my tire go rolling by (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)
Unfortunately, the side of the road was covered in kudzu (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)
After some searching, I found the tire, remounted it and headed home. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)
Still don't know what caused the lug bolts to work loose although there were some jealous types who worked nearby (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[brcacti]

My story (bad) with my first orange 1973 2.0 in the year 1983 or 84, was in great shape. Was taking my GF home at late afternoon and was on a ramp going only about a normal speed or slightly faster for that ramp, I was very tired, did not notice loose gravel on the ramp. Hit that and my car was spinning in circles one way and then back the other OVER the center lane twice, ended up in a ditch. LUCKY did not flip, had the car towed back then only cost about $1300 to fix with some used parts, must have had liability only.

[brcacti]

As a newly elected Councilman in a small rural central California city, I was asked by to bring my '76 teener to drive in the annual city Christmas parade through town. I pulled into the parade line and began slowly idling down the main street route with another Councilman in the passenger seat. We hadn't gone far when a man on the sidewalk approached the side of our little yellow ride and told us we were "leaking water under the car real bad". That's an interesting comment since there is no water onboard a 914 to leak! I opened my door and leaned out to look under the car, only to see gasoline spraying down mid tunnel and rapidly pooling under the car! I quickly told my Council colleague to get out of the car fast! Then I franticly waved to onlookers to create an opening among the sidewalk crowd of people, and drove the still running 914 into a dirt field and shut it off. I left a trail of gasoline on the ground behind the car at least a foot wide as I went toward the field.
After having my 914 towed to my mechanic, as you probably already guessed, the fuel line, under pressure from tank in front to the engine in the rear, decided to split after 30 years, at that opportune moment during the parade. I had the fuel line repaired and all was fine.
I was invited to the city Christmas parade again the following year. When I pulled up in my teener to get in the parade line this time, my Council colleagues were standing nearby on the curb with lighters, flicking them repeatedly and saying they were "ready for me this year!" That's how you know who your friends are in politics!!!!

Hello, talked to you before, I am from Ripon but now AZ. I remember McHenry blvd, interesting storys.

[infraredcalvin]

Junior year of college, 1999, commuted from Newport Beach to Cal Poly Pomona in my 75 914. I schedule my first hpde with the car, a day before I blew out one of the j exhaust pipes. In the epic all night repair With my roommate, we stripped out a spark plug, found and replaced broken rings, changed out clutch, put it all back together only to find the j pipe had different flange alignments from year to year... I had the wrong one. At 4am we called it quits - I guess the car didn’t want to go. Car ran like crap after all that work, decided to pull engine for rebuild shortly afterwards.

I borrowed a car from my roommates mom, this was the go to car for all our friends with car trouble, 85 Buick Electra estate wagon - pristine, but with miles. Took me close to a year to rebuild the motor with school and no money, finished it up the night before my last final exam (come to think if it, I can’t remember why I was working on my car vs studying for my exam). Decided I was too tired and wanted to rest for my exam before the official 1st fire - I actually didn’t want the bad news of it not firing before I took my exam.

Next day aced my exam, all done and feeling great! On my way home the loaner car overheated and cracked the block, I limped it home, filling with water every 10 min or so, it completely died about 20 feet from my garage. After calling a wrecking yard and watching the wagon get towed away, I walked over to the 914 turned the key and it fired right up! Tuned it up, drove it to my graduation ceremony the following week!

[infraredcalvin]

Around same time in college, I was going on 3 days straight of no sleep working on a project, knew if I went to sleep I wouldn’t wake up.

Decided to clear my head by going for a drive down PCH at 3am. Somewhere near Dana Point I see the flashing lights in the mirror. I wasn’t speeding, and I wasn’t asleep so in my hazy state I assumed I was on fire.

I abruptly pulled over and quickly jumped out of the car. 2 officers with guns drawn (thankfully they weren’t pointed at me yet), yelled at me to freeze, they realized quickly that I wasn’t trying to run. I explained what had gone through my head, and my lack of sleep, they were cool, told me the only reason they pulled me over was because I had forgotten to put the new reg tags on my plates (they were attached to my reg in the glove box).

We all laughed it off, they wished me good luck in school and let me go with no ticket.

[RickS]

Was driving through farm country on a sunny day, top off, with a half tank of gas. Just like above, power cuts out and sputter, sputter and it quit. Closest farm about 1/2 mile and next to no traffic on this back road. Just about to pull out my phone and call my wife about 5 miles away to bring me a gallon of gas when an old beat up farm truck pulls up behind me. I explain to an older gentleman that my fuel gauge lied. He told me to hold on for 5 mins as he drove to his farm down the road to get me a gallon of gas.

When he returned and put in the gallon, it fired right up and thanked him. He then insisted on following me to a gas station about 3 miles away and would not take no. He followed me to the station where I offered him $4 for his gas, and he flatly refused. No way would he take any money. Told me to stop by and say hi next time I was out and drove off. Freakin nice guy.

[DRPHIL914]

My second 914 was a '73 2.0 with Mahles. Headed home one day, I slowed a bit to take the exit ramp and BAM! rear driver side bumps and drops as I see my tire go rolling by (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)
Unfortunately, the side of the road was covered in kudzu (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)
After some searching, I found the tire, remounted it and headed home. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)
Still don't know what caused the lug bolts to work loose although there were some jealous types who worked nearby (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

I wasn't in a 914, but my '69 Healey, and on an onramp, same scenario but my lug bolt actually sheered, and the wheel stayed in the wheel well but the spacers went rolling down the road lol!@ never did find all of them. BTW I hadnot had the car fro 6 months, bought from my sister's boy friend .

[StarBear]

LOVE these stories. Here's mine: In 1980 or so, driving at night along NJ 280 or Pulaski Skyway just above the State Prison with two girls, one sitting on the center console. The car sputters and dies, but I recognized the sound. Got the spare oil cap O-ring out of the glove compartment and replaced the old one. Started right up. The girls were both impressed and looked wide-eyed, asking how I knew that. Slyly and gentlemanly said, "Oh, I know things...". Eventually married one of them.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Root_Werks]

2011 I think, had a 1975 2.0 with FI. Did something to it (tune up) so my kid and I took it for a drive. Sun was out, top was off, nice day.

Couple miles from home the throttle cable broke.

Opened the engine lid, leaned over the back and operated the throttle while my kid drove us home.

I would yell "shift!" and close the throttle, then open it again while he changed gears. We didn't kill the 914 once and were amazingly smooth. His only complaint was "Dad, slow down a bit!"

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[ctc911ctc]

2011 I think, had a 1975 2.0 with FI. Did something to it (tune up) so my kid and I took it for a drive. Sun was out, top was off, nice day.

Couple miles from home the throttle cable broke.

Opened the engine lid, leaned over the back and operated the throttle while my kid drove us home.

I would yell "shift!" and close the throttle, then open it again while he changed gears. We didn't kill the 914 once and were amazingly smooth. His only complaint was "Dad, slow down a bit!"

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

Jeez - what could go wrong! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)