Ok, I've looked at a pile of 914 pictures since I contracted this disease. Pictures from restorations, racing, shows.
Is it just me or are these cars involved in an unusual amount of front end collisions?
When I bought mine, it had been involve in one and I discovered that the front calipers where frozen. I assume this was the cause and maybe some bad driving.

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You'd probably find that most collisions are front end related.

what would you expect with this wonderful braking system flame suit activate!!!

We should make this the wrecked 914 thread...

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OK
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Take a good look at the "crumple zones". Makes the 914 very survivable in a front on crash.

the orange car has a cage,i don't thionjk the out come would have been the same with out it.

ankles meet forehead..how u doin?

Wow I havent seen the orange car pictures.. Who's car is that?

Roll cages are dangerous for the street. They are good if the car rolls over. Not so great in a collision. Every time some metal on the car bends in a crash, it absorbs energy. The only thing a roll cage absorbs is maybe your mellon.

Been there done that!!

Yup, been there and done that also.

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What speed of a crash does it take to totally flatten the front end like some of those pictures?

I wonder how many of those cars were rusted in the longs before they were wrecked.

John

I was doing 30 + after braking when I t boned a station wagon that pulled across in front of me. I was young, no seat belt, walked away from it. Although I bit the steering wheel and put my bottom teeth through my lip. That spare tire will absorb alot impact! Bought the car back from insurance and pulled the rebuilt motor out.
It was a rust bucket.

Let my girlfriend drive my 914 a couple miles to the store. She was looking for a cassette tape (this was in the '80s) and rear-ended the car in front of her

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a few more
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Except nowadays doesn't a 914 just slide right under most SUVs (which seem to be about all that's on the road)?

S

Sorry, got a database error message and blindly reloaded the page. Looks like it failed after posting the reply.

Crank that down on Rick's Cellette and he will fix it right up for you in no time!

After seeing this thread, i dont think i want to take my car out of the garage ever again....

Patrick Motorsports Built Car, this car was absolutley beautiful.

wow, that brings back really bad memories. I did the same exact damage to my '71 914 in 1979. Plowed it into the back of a 1973 Mercury Marquis Brougham which decided to stop at a yellow light that I was going to go through. Guess who lost that battle...

Funny thing was that at the time it cost a whopping $1,300.00 to fix. Then again, I think I paid $3,000 for the entire car or so...

that's my friend's car ... from Bavaria
IIRC the accident was back in June 2002

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This car is on the mend

Lots of repair photos here: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...104128&st=0

I was going about 40 and the drunk driver was going about 45 or 50! I ended up in the livingroom of a house!

I broke my neck, nose, jaw and lower back! I only remember the flash of his head lights and waking up in the hospital!

My friend had over 250 stiches but didn't break anything!

The full sized spare tire saved our lives!!

Good to know the leading cause of 914 death is still "RUST"

That was Rick's car - 2-OH! formerly from Santa Clarita

Never the car, always the driver.

The Cap'n

Too bad that won't always help Chappy, as I unfortunately know all too well!

After doing a $6500 rolling resto & drivetrain overhaul in 80-83, a ditzy sorority gal whacked my 73 2L from behind & pushed it 2' forward into the concrete whall/column while parked in a parking structure at UCAL while I was in my MBA grad school classes all day there. I even parked it off to the side of the aisle at the lower end to avoid somebody losing control coming down the ramp, & closer to the columns on the L side to protect against door dings - but this ditz said she "...forgot to turn left & go up the ramp..." - her words!

The pix below show that the front end damage isn't so bad as these above, but in combination with the rear end damage it was a $6400 bill back in May 85.

At least she left a note & then I got to fight with her Daddy's insurance company for a month & half with them trying to low ball me. I collected eventually, got the 85 BMW 325e that I still have as my DD with the check, & the 914 sat in my garage for 26+ years waiting for me to get time & money at the same time to do a repair/resto, now that both kids are grown & gone it's in slow progress.

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... and then she's grown rust rot over the years sitting too!

A couple more of Shoe's LE....taken on 4/12/11 at auction...the auctioneer called it a wad of metal...it's auction number was.....13!!!! The only injury in the head on colision was a broked collar bone from the seat belt....

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Mine then and now.

Oh Ya, this is me before, middle, after
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PO mounted a Honda accord. Nuked the hood, ft bulkhead and light boxes
Objects may be larger than they appear!

Another one bites the dust
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I was going to drive mine to a client meeting today, but now it's staying in the garage until I can get these pics out of my head!

Dion

I was going to drive mine to a client meeting today, but now it's staying in the garage until I can get these pics out of my head!

Dion

From my experience driving my ex-914 to work (rarely) and my Mr.2.

People don't see you.

OR

They do see you and decide you're the one they are going to cut in front of to get into the lane you are in.....and then, of course, hit the brakes.

There is an art to driving a small car in traffic..... a larger car /truck also, but the small car makes it more perilous. You have 2 choices:
1) Let them run into you.....but don't rear end em'.
2) Yield. You can add the single finger salute (which is now against the law in many states) but be prepared to back it up. I reserve that for the cut-in-brakers.
I'm getting old and am gonna get my ass kicked one of these days.....but it wouldn't be the first time.

So, yes, 914s & 914 drivers are susceptible to front end damage.

That's a reason I'm not keen on doing front oil-coolers on mine....I guess if I did I'd have to beef up the front-end to compensate for the removed 'inner bumper' that is the spare.

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I think the heading read "I submarined a Tahoe today"

Man after viewing that thread and seeing those pictures it has me wondering if I should add some kind of bracing into the build when I do it just in case some asshat hits it.

I guess I am not that worried about trunk space, it is not like it is going to be my DD so the front and rear trunks do not necessarily need to handle suit cases. I just wonder about putting in an extremely low-profile (as invisible as possible) roll bar with side door bracing? I don't know, maybe low-profile and roll bar don't belong in the same sentence?

I don't think that would help as much as you might expect. First, if you stiffen the front structure, more of the energy of a crash will be transferred to the cabin instead of being absorbed by the front end. Second, I suspect the biggest problem with a 914 in a front-end crash is that it's so low it would tend to slide under most cars, especially with the large numbers of SUVs out there today (probably different than 20-30 years ago).

Skip

i might weld my jack stands to my car for good

dont think i could cope with the loss

Just need to install some air bags that open on the outside of the car.

That way you can protect your paint in a collision.

Hmm, thats not such a bad idea.

John

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That top one would have left some nasty belt burns, eh?

Mine Happened just today. I'm still trying not to think about it... fool ran a red light.

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the day I bought it in 2003

I assume you were wearing your seatbelt. That is tragic. But someone was looking out for you, were you hurt???

Yeah, I was wearing my seatbelt, and no one was hurt but for a few sore muscles. The passenger compartment was actually pretty much untouched. Time to start looking for rollers!

Yeah, I was wearing my seatbelt, and no one was hurt but for a few sore muscles. The passenger compartment was actually pretty much untouched. Time to start looking for rollers!