thank you sir!

yepp - thank you


what I can tell you, that this isn't the original matching transmission
of course it's an original 1971 Sportomatic, but it's a factory replacement, very likely an early warrenty exchange (1971 or 1972 ...??)

so, to be precise, it's not a fully matching numbers car ...

yepp - I used to own the very last factory built 914-6 Sporto

it's very relaxed dirving in city and lowlands, but you can't compare it driving a 5-speed in the mountains - at least with the original engine
this is one reason why I sold it, because my prefered routes wind up high

a friend has his Sporto for almost 40 years, and he replaced the engine by a 2.4 @ about 170 HP - this thing is a cool ride even in the mountains

Hello Gustl!


could this be due to this is one of the 5 "experimental" cars??

i could likely think so since the gearbox from what i know has never been replaced.


nerdy fun facts


Best regards,

Yes, it's the same as any VW Beetle Sport-o-Matic.

You have a stick shift lever but no clutch. You shift up/down by moving the lever forward/backward but there's an electrical contact at the lever base that sends a signal to the clutch/transmission to shift.


It's fun to drive and especially amusing at stoplights because:

- You can hold the lever in position and basically "drop the clutch" when the light turns green.

- You can press the brake and gas at the same time and release the brake at green to get a headstart.

The above is especially fun in a ratty old 50HP Beetle when sitting next to a nice sports car at a light. Not that i would ever do such a thing ...

Thanks Andy. Is it like speed shifting (letting off of the gas to switch gears)?

I have looked at the car today.

You don't actually have to let off the gas but i always do, mostly out of habit.

And?

Rusty! Very rusty.

But VW called it something else. "Automatic stick"? Ah, Mr. Google says "Autostick". I think that was the badge I saw on that one Bug a few years ago.

--DD

well, the early Porsche letter says 5 experimental cars, the later one says 3 ...
no matter what's correct, the experimental cars had early numbers, your VIN as well as your tranny number are quite late - so not very likely

in addition, the tranny number hammered in on the center seam is a very clear evidence for a factory replacement transmission

the originally "1st in" trannsmissions had the number stamped in this little platform, like on my photo

here is another example for a 1971 914-6 Sportomatic replacement tranny (factory warrenty exchange in September 1973 @ a little more than 61,000 km)

Click to view attachment

Halbautomatic
http://www.kaeferclub-siegerland.de/technik/automatic.htm

Perhaps auf Deutsch, but I remember seeing a Bug with the "Autostick" badge on the back here in the US.

--DD

what I forgot to mention:
your car is a mid-season 1971 car, that was 1st street registered in March 1971
so, there would have been very little time to do all the experimental stuff

Hopefully the seller has the dealership paperwork to support the replacement transaxle. Would that return the car to essentially matching numbers?

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

No he have not.

I never drove a Sporto 6 but I did drive a few early 911 Sportos'
At least 2 early '70s Ts' and one E
They were interesting.

So what we now know about this 914/6 is that it is rusty, very rusty (photos?), its original engine/transaxle were replacements (not numbers matching), it is in boxes, and we have no real way of knowing if all parts are included to make this a complete, restorable project as is. Is that a fair summary assessment?

OOOPPPS, I missed the part about then engine not being the original one.

this is often the case, when someone changed the original engine to a similar 911 engine
the engine might have a number, but the 911 engines had their number on a completely different place - because you must can see the number, when opening the engine lid ...

see this thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=527620

Almost. I think you are forgetting the part about the obscure tranny. Something about a Sport-o-mastic or something.

I've been on this forum long enough to know that one man's "rusty parts car" is another man's "hardly anything - fix it".

Pics. Pics. And more Pics Please.

Everything is restorable just depends on if the base price is right and how much someone is prepared to sink into it. Value at the end is going to be based on condition and originally and what someone is prepared to pay for it not what you have spent

Personally I bought all my cars because I love them, the fact that (some) have risen in value is a bonus. Hopefully this car will go to someone who wants it for what it is rather than just chasing a buck

Rusty or not I would love to own this car

Me too!

An old GF had one and I had a hard time getting used to driving it, as I have a habit of resting my hand on the shift lever, which was like pushing in the clutch.

IIRC it did have an "Autostick" badge on the engine lid

Yeah was there a sensor in the knob itself on VWs or was the system just so sensitive that it couldn't have any pressure on it at all? Weird that you couldn't touch the shifter EVER unless you were shifting. Fun when you got the hang of it though.

Click to view attachment

Yep, Peter Gregg had one in his custom 911S daily driver to train himself to keep his hands off the shifter.

A sporto is like a semi auto bug tranny? really?
Those things were a 2 speed total POS and you couldn't add any HP to the engine.

The T3 box was at least a 3 speed (Borg/Warner IIRC) and you could get away with hopping up the engine a bit.

I've converted a few semi-autos to manual and tossed the auto in the scrap heap.

the Sportomatic is a 4 speed transmission

read all the details here: Sportomatic brochure

"The Sportomatic: It make driving slowly more pleasant -- because you want a sports car but you never learned how to drive a manual transmission."

But it's apparently rare*, so someone will be willing to pay silly money for it.

GA, reading this topic with interest, just waiting for someone to ask the seller to post a photograph of himself holding up a posterboard with the words "I'm a little teapot short and stout; here is my handle, here is my spout"...

*No one seems to be willing to ask "if it's so cool then WHY is it so rare...?"

Sold to Holland.

Congrats to the seller on the "Local" sale
Maybe the new owner will post up their reconstruction here ?

Tell me: to an address I mentioned? I'm curious!

Menno

Did the seller (Oliver?) get his last asking price? (I remember something nearby 400.000 SEK or 43k EUR).
Sold to Holland ...then we will get some new advertisements shortterm with an outrageous high price. I would estimate a Dutch price of 65k EUR at a minimum for that puzzle then
Or they will stick it together and ask around 100k EUR

We got such an example in spring. Buying an overpriced car and offering with a 44% premium e.g. four weeks later. Unbelievable.