All,

I just wanted to tell a little story that makes my recent acquisition and reaquaintance with a 914 all worth while.

I have had my car for a couple of months now and have been working out minor bugs due to the car not being used much in the last ten years. I have been using the car as a weekend driver to ferry my 8 year old boy around to his soccer and baseball games. My radius of travel has been slowing increasing as I become more confident about the reliability of the car. Yesterday my son and I were getting on the freeway (101 South in Corte Madera) and low and behold the on ramp was clear and the freeway was clear of cars! I was in second and accelerated hard through 2rd, 3rd, and then let off when I hit 4th. As I settled into cruise mode, I looked over to my boy and he had a funny look on his face. I asked him what was the matter and he said "your smiling". He had caught me being a kid again. The next day (today) my wife was taking a bunch of boys (3rd graders) on a field trip and she overheard my son telling all his friends how quickly his dad's 914/6 accelerates. He was telling them how cool the engine sounded.

I have been debating whether or not to keep this car (I obtained it in a vintage race car transaction) as I felt a little silly driving around in a car that some (especially my wife) think is juevenile. After this weekend, I don't care.

I would like to thank all of you for putting this web site together, and keeping it stocked with a tremendous amount of information and enthusiasm.

great story Evan!

you're welcome!

we all had the same moment(s), one way or the other ...
i still smile every time in get in that damm thing, even after 4 years.

Andy

Thank you Evan!

Two of my nephews that rode with me as kids ( actually used that middle cushion !) grew up and owned 914s. The oldest , now 37 , has owned 3 914s, and is restoring a 1970 9146 now . Your kid is next !

You and I are lucky. The twenty year olds around here can't feel it. Youth is wasted on the young. You're right, it's a damn good feeling.

That is a great story. We are all lucky (for the cars we drive and this forum). Please tell your wife it is juvenile, deal with it, that is what us guys do. As far as your son, keep the car for a minimum of the next 9 years so he can experience the thrill. And, most importantly, keep smiling!

-Jeff

Evan ... Welcome!
You are getting the 914 bug ... be careful ...there is no known cure! Wait till you take/ pick-up your son from school line-up... Hey , keep a look-out for me in MV, I am there a lot in my Red '73 .... I am jealous though, of your beefy 3L six !!! Good Trade

Amen!! I drove the '70 "rental" 914/4 today for the first time since August 20th when the ignition switch locked up on me and left me stranded in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The new lock cylinder won't arrive until tomorrow, but I got the rest of it put back together over the weekend. I couldn't wait until tomorrow - I started it with a screwdriver and drove it to work today. Man, did it ever feel great!

I'm still amazed that my son lets me borrow the '70 while I overhaul my '73. He's driving his '65 bug while I get the 914. It's either love or insanity - probably both. He's quite a guy.

No Evan, your wife is right and you need to mend your ways before you are corrupted! That 914/6 needs a new home in Hamilton, MA. Do the right thing and do it now - PM me with the address so I can send the transport over to pick the car up now before more damage is done! Great story - my kids feel the same way - although they think their Dad is slightly mad to take a perfectly good car apart to restore it.

Keep the car for you and your son. Some of the best times I have with my son are centered around my car. He's 14 now and most conversations with him are "Ya", "Huh" or "Nah". But get him around or in the car and all of that changes.

This year we've had a thousand mile trip to WCC down the coast of California, listening to music (his and mine) and talking about school, girls, sports, cars of course and just about everthing else. Course, we had to yell at each other. I'm not sure I could have gotten to know him as well any other way.

We're just finishing a rebuild together, on which he's done most of the wrenching. He is absolutely beeming and I don't think there could have been a better way for me to show my confidence in him. I've had a great time with him, but for him it's been a growing experience.

Incidentally, my wife gave him a ride to a school dance in it last Saturday and some girl said "What a cool car". He was still smiling the next morning at breakfast.

Dave

hehehe

No apologies necessary, nothing juvenile about the pleasure.
Funny thing is my 12 year old always begs me to go for a ride in the 914/6. He's even learning to drive a stick in the 914.
Talk about wearing a big grin. We both have sore jaws when we return from a run together. Ahh, the next generation will inherit and maintain some fine machines.

Great story! My son will be 3 in December and he loves daddys vroom vroom I bought my 914 a year ago and the day I got it home I put his car seat in it and we went for a 1 hour drive. After that, every night for like 2 months before he went to bed we had to open the door into the garage so he could say good night to the vroom vroom. I think about that everytime I get in the car.

Smiling at breakfast the morning after a school dance

I am the only one that really loves my car. Tolerated by the non-car familiy. White dots, No A/C, No stereo, No carpets, No sound deading, drips water inside when it rains. Got heat though!

My wife and I went to visit some friends last night in the 914-6. On the way out is was a little late, open parking lot..... Oh man, just too good to resist. Second gear turned the wheel just a little and stepped on the gas a little more. Walked the 914 sideways for a bit lighting up the rears. She gave me the "Don't give me a heart attack!" thing as I smiled the whole way home.

My 3 year old doesn't want to be anywhere else besides the drivers seat of the "neat red car" while dad is wrenching on it. On our 12hr drive from getting the car he kept looking back to make sure that it was still on the dolly behind us. Can't wait until he actually gets to go for a ride.

That's a great story Evan. Most of us on this web site can relate to it very well. It's been 32 years since I've "NOT owned a 914 and I still get a long-lasting smile on my face everytime I drive mine (the 6 or the 4).

It never occurred to me what a great way the time spent wrenching on these cars is to bond with my daughters until I bought the newest one, the V8. I just assumed I would sell the 1.7 since I can only drive one at a time, and when my 9 year old daughter asked what I was going to do with it, I told her that. You would have thought I told her the puppy died. She was crushed.

Needless to say, plan changed. She and her 7 year old sister talk constantly about what color they are going to paint their Porsche . I haven't had the heart to tell them it's NARP yet. They love that car, and they love helping work on it, wash it, or wax it.

Juvenile my ass. Great story Evan. Rock on my friend.

Evan,

Thanks for the refreshing reminder why most of even bother to own a 30+ year-old car - and especially the NARP 914.

Its always been my belief that the "heart of a child" is what REALLY separates the Men from the Boys. I think most of us will agree (if they admit it), that there are more things in this world that try to crush that "heart of a child" in us then there are that encourage it.

I thank God for my 914 - and I hope its not the only thing in my life that encourages the "heart of a child" in me.

I recently posted " remember when you first brought yours home " a huge response much like yours. Too add what happened next was my 13 year old daughter "booked it " for her prom! I hope I have it ready by then!

Ian Stott

Hard to get more fun per $$. And lucky me, I live at the base of the Santa Monica mountains. Mulholland is only 4 miles up the hill. Grandpa's go kart.

I was concerned about the whole maturity thing, too. After all, being on the far side of 50 means that there are certain responsibilities to preserve and images to maintain. Mer and I've enjoyed the 914 and the club activities a lot but there comes a time when these things are best left to the younger set and maybe I was a bit old for this.

And then I met Howard at the WCC and thought, "Naaaaaaah. If HE'S still into 914's then I'm OK..."

What a cool story!

I can totally relate. I had not touched a 914 since '85 when I had my Olympic blue 2.0. Then several months ago, I found this site, remembered how much I really liked driving my 914 and went looking for one. About a month later I'm driving home in my 'new' '73 2.0! I felt like a kid again and was grinning from ear to ear. Sure, it's not perfect but I bought it anyway. I just love driving it. Better left for the younger set...? No way.

I'm trying to get my 5 year old son interested in cars. So far he's not showing too much interest, but once in awhile he does. After all, I'll need a buddy to go with me to all of the shows in the comming years!

Enjoy the ride!

Evan:

Keep the Car... man Keep the car... you're not the only one who feels this way...

Periodically on classic car shows like Meguires Car crazy etc... people explore what it is that is at the core of our fascination with old cars... It's an interesting question because especially today, there are newer cars that outperform the best of the 70s era machines like 914. It is the connection with the past... it is the emotions these machines stir in some of us.

My girlfriend used to ask me why I seem to enjoy my 914s and an older VW seemingly more than a 911 I paid 20x as much for...

All I can tell you is when I was 16 in the mid 70s I loved my Z Green 914 and my 67 firebird convertible etc going to parties, cruising with my friends, the concerts I went to in it.... the road trips to and from college in SC.

Today when I get behind the wheel of my 914 it takes me back to when i was a kid in the mid 70s and man there's no amount of $$$ that can buy that kind of thrill. No sir...

One day when she was complaining about the ride in my 75 I finally said "you know....Old Cars...Old Broads...same deal.....

I have not heard a peep out of her in about a year over my old cars.

rob wellner

My fiancee's 12-year-old calls mine simply, "the fast car." She always asks if we can take the fast car -- and I usually try to oblige -- and then we both smile. Nothing quite like that six singing so close to your head and being on rails around the curves. love it.

Great story Evan!
My older sister had one that I got to drive when I was in HS, and it was so
great!
And to quote a master, Howard.........
"you are never to old to have a happy childhood"!
Tell your wife that, or better yet, let her drive it and she will get it!
Lisa