Ok, when i bought this car i thought i could get it running and slap a coat of paint on it and call it a day, now its gotten in my blood and somehow i grew to love this bastard car. Whats your story?

Well, ~ 9 years ago, when I was 14, got my 914. Dad drove it home with no clutch among other issues. Fixed it up to run good, drove it for half a semester durring high school, Decided to do a v8 swap during summer after not being able to get the fuel injection to my liking (that was my excuse), Didnt drive it much, but got all the bugs worked out changed a bunch of stuff and hit WCC05. Then did a lot more work to the car and stopped driving it after it overheated on a 116 deg day. I did more work to it and drove it around town from then on occasionally. Longer story short, the tags on it are from 06. It has been running this whole time, taking it for short runs around the block. I dont dare take it out of town for fear it will overheat.

Why do I do it? I love projects, This car is a big project, I have $$$$$ invested, and have about 3k miles on the car in total.

This summer will be the start of a new phase in the project, A new powerplant. (something that I dont have to worry about overheating or breaking the trani/CV)

I have lost all rational reasoning as to why I choose to remain afflicted with 914 love. It is purely selfish at this point, although I do care and feed my family and do the best job at work that I can do (honestly, so I can contiunue to have funds to feed the insanity).

These quirky little cars were and are the "odd" child in the family and I like that. Most people never had great expectations for these cars and forty years later, to see them still around, on the road and at the track (and many times excelling), well, for me it's kinda like the teeners are sayin' "thought you could rid of us huh? ... now take that!".

I love it out on the track when (no offense, I like 911s) the 911 guys see a 914 getting bigger and bigger in the mirrors and then pass. I like to hear at car shows, the whispers of those not in the 914 fold say things like, "Oh, that was Volkwagen's idea of what a Porsche should be". I like being able to work on the car, not so techie that only the dealer can do the work. I like it when people say, "what's that?" But most of all I like it when I open the door, duck my head down and drop my 6' 2" frame into the seat. I sit for a moment then start the engine .... for at that moment I'm on the grid at Le Mans in 1970, waiting for the green ... and race the stepchild to a 6th overall finish ... yea .... take that !

I do not know how to explain it but they get in your blood. I have had every kind of Porsche (356,911,924T,944) except the 928. There is just something that says these cars are about OPEN driving. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be with the wind blowing and the heat on during that fall or spring morning run to nowhere.

Why?

I've been exposed to them since my dad brought his home back in 1974.

I've been working on them since the late 1970's.

I have a garage full of parts.

I have one street car (3.2).

I have a unit body to turn into a track monster.

I have to maintain our (my dad's and my) track car (also a 3.2).

Dad has another unit body.

My brother and his 2 sons each have one of their own.

Many years ago (probably 20) when I repainted my street car, a friend came over to pick up his 1973 911S track car. We started talking as he was impressed by the time I spent painting my 914. At that time, I told him that I could never make money at painting cars because I was too slow, and said that I wouldn't be doing any more 914's as they would never be worth what I had into them.

Here I am about to start another (maybe my last). It will be a 3.3 turbo track only semi-tube frame 914. I'm leaning toward Alice Chalmers Orange. I should be able to get paint to match in spray bombs at any respectable farm store, and to me, it's close enough.

Of course, most of the mechanical components tend to be 80's vintage 911 parts, I still consider them to be 914's. I do like the interchangeability between Porsche model parts (911 / 944 / 914).


I still think it's insanity, but i'm insane so what do I know.

It's the little underdog car that CAN STILL kick the shit out of a lot of cars when built right by a csob!

I actually think I enjoy working and re-engineering stuff more than driving it. Driving my toys sometimes gets real expensive. I also like lots of projects waiting as I can scrounge more neat stuff for each of them and readjust the scope of the vision before I actually start the project. The 914 is really just the lightest mid-engine car I thought I would want to hotrod and there is so much info and parts available for it. I personally think a aluminum lsx like whats in the fwd montecarlo in my 88 fiero gt is maybe a better hotrod though.

interesting thing, fun thing to do with fellow 914er friends. make the brain work out the probelms so a little brain exercise is nice. all in all it is fun thta makes me do it. it is FUN.

Because it's there.

It was either this or alcoholism... seriously addiction runs in my family. So I have the addictive jene. I focus on these little cars and now I'm addicted.

With a little but of work and money, you can transform the 914 into a contender. The 914 is possibly the best handling car ever and a perfect platform for engine conversions. I just came back from a PCA drive through the twisties. It was me and 3 Turbo 993's in the front of the pack at 100+mph. Driving the car is more fun than should be legal.

I think someone posted this link before, but its worth spreading the fun. ANY car nut will relate to it, and it could help explain the addiction to your non-car-nut friends.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/174633/love-the-beast

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

I wake up on a Saturday morning and the gf asks "what's your plans today?" I answer "going to clean the tin from the engine". I'm smiling because I know I'm going to immerse myself in greasy 914 parts and make some progress on bringing another teener back to life.

Life is sweeter with a teener

42

The Cap'n

I do it because it forces me to slow down and think about something that has nothing to do with work or family for a few ours. it is an escape from reality for a little while, and everyone needs that from time to time.

zach

I simply do it because I love driving this car.

....For me it is enjoyment
(got my hobby's backward)

Well, I'd like to take the opportunity to brag my new GT lid. Got it from the builder unpainted b/c I was going to have it powder coated. Too bad I didn't get a before pic which showed the various pieces in different colors from different cars. I got it powder coated b/c I've noticed these things rust from our salty sweaty hands where we push them closed. Also, I have a aux oil cooler where the battery used to be that is pushing hot air through it. Hopefully more durable. New Gold letters.

Click to view attachment

I will answer your question with a question Why not?"

Read The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Universe... or Galaxie (don't remember which).

because i wouldn't be caught dead in a ass-drager!!!

100+mph legal? Where?


Who knows really....sometimes the car is fun...sometimes it is a royal PITA.

Aside from the fact that it puts a stupid shit eating grin on my face every time I drive one? The people. Most everyone associated with these little cars is simply an honor to know and a blast to spend time with!

I guess you didn't read the 6th volume of the trilogy ...................

It's the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

The Cap'n

for me it is the low flat back rear, longitudinal mid engine, awesome GT flares and a fantastic race history!!!

I grew up with the car. It has been in my life since before I was a mere growing batch of cells inside my mothers stomach. And through all those years, I have never stopped lusting over the car. The car is really amazing. My dad put it best, "when that car is running like it should, there isn't anything better". It can be a PITA since it's nearing 40 years old, but when the weather is nice, the values are properly adjusted, and you get a good stretch of road, you can't help but smile and forget everything else that's going on.

But why do I work on cars though in general? It's because it's what makes it mine. Tinkering with cars makes them more than a machine: it gives them personality. It makes a car more than a tool to go from a to b. Sure, that's the main goal, but a true car person knows that a car does so much more than that.

Holy jeapers Batman... I can't remember how many volumes in a trilogy?

because it's such a great feeling taking this car out for a jaunt after a week or two on jack stands! That old vw-porsche smell, stiff suspension, webers just behind you, the whole roadster thing - these cars just feel fuchin good on the soul.

I love all these answers. I posed the question due to a friend of my girlfriend and me asking her the other day after looking at some of my progress pics if there was any car left and if i was crazy. She asked why am i working so hard on this thing. I said it isn't a thing its a car, if someone didn't do this it would end up getting smashed or become one with the earth. To me there history, if we don't save what we can we won't learn about the past and it will not get passed down to our children. I love all cars to some degree, well except for the toyota prius. Perhaps its just in some people's blood. They are all some kind of gateway to freedom weather we drive them or just escape under them when they are on jack stands. I think at some point the iron oxide and old oil gets in the blood and messes up the mind.

For me it is kind of like golf. No matter how bad I play. It only takes the one really good shot to get me back. No matter how many problems I have with my 914. They all seem to go away when I get to drive it . Nothing quite gives me that smile a 914 does

Thats my VW notch to me. My first car, raced it, crashed it, and now getting rebuilt. Thanks for the vid link. Oh by the way, my 914 that I have today is the same car I first fell in love with in 1974. I was 6 yrs old.

OK so I have been

Smile on my face while cruising curved roads without roof. Thinking absolutely nothing else