Is this possible? I can't believe it. The Cayman looks like a limo.

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I'm pretty sure it's real. Porsches got BIG.

yup that's true scale, crazy huh.

I'm not a 904 expert, but I would say that's real.

Every time I see one of the 60's race cars in person, they seem tiny.

I had an early MR2 park next to me once. I stood in disbelief about how much smaller it was than my 914. Nothing makes the perspective more real than seeing them side by side.

They are really low, don't think it's photo shopped but angle exaggerates the difference

Here is a 550 and Boxster

904 is about 60 inches wide and 42 inches tall. Compared to the chilly pepper is 79 inches wide, and 69 to 74 inches tall.

They more than likely did use one trick and that was to put the Cayenne is to crank the suspension to max ground clearance setting. Might have also change the tires and lowered the 904. Also notice the Cayenne is closer to you in the picture. Objects closer to you will always look bigger. This the reason people do this to the eiffel tower.

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Not the holding of your crouch for your photo.

Cayenne? That comparison would take this scale to a whole new level.

Perhaps there is a valid case for a sub-718 model after all...

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the Caymans are huge also, guy at works has one, and it made my old Miata look tiny.

The Cayman is 71 inches wide, and 51 inches tall.

They've become fat. Me and a Boxster....

But don't worry...it's not just Porsche :-)

The Porsches got fat long long time ago...

/Lars S

To match the population

I'd say real, just looked up dimensions:
904:
L - 161"
W - 60.6"
H - 41.9"
weight - 1433lb

Cayman R:
L - 171"
W - 71"
H - 51"
weight - 2855lb

Volume on the Cayman R is over 66% more than the 904 (if they were a box, and the shapes are similar on both)

Awesome picture!
Definitely prefer the left side

I remember seeing Gil Meyer's 904 back in the late 1970s and even then it seemed like a small car. Yes, the newer cars got bloated.

Charlie

Yep...it's real.

Go to a Porsche Parade or concours and you can see just how small the Porsches, Ferrari's etc. of the era were. They were true sports cars built for one thing...to win

Comfort (and safety) were secondary considerations at best.

Yes Len, it's correct scale.

A guy brought his 904 to our OCR Concours a couple of years back for display, & it was similarly dwarfed by the 991 next to it!

BTW - finally got some spare time to read your Pano article - great story!
.... & I was born in PGH too, but I'm a tad older than your 914!


Tom
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Not the least of which, having a segment topping price & capability wise sports car to compete with the current offerings of Miata, Alpha & the new Fiat 124 Spyder Redux!

They could sell a smaller, lighter (2000-2500#), no frills, turbo 4 914/550 Redux at the top of the same price range as the above 3 - as the married guy's weekend car & racer/AXer all day to the guys with the 2 family cars in the driveway - even if they're both Porsches, & probably a turbo 6 version too! And that's not to mention it also being the "entry Level Porsche" for single folks to use as a combo DD/fun car!

That's exactly how the 356 Speedsters got started by Hoffman in the 1950's, & is just as valid today - if not more so!

Porsche management needs to pull their collective heads out, & get busy!

JMHO!
Tom
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I was following a Porsche GT across Golden Gate Bridge last week. The thing that blows your mind is the width. The car just about fills the lane. I swear it was way wider than the Ferrari running with it. They were probably heading up to Sears Point.

I checked, they are 76" wide.

Aisles in Walmart got bigger too.

Since we are comparing ...

Actually, my 2nd car which I sold after I got my 914 in 75 (#3 car), was about that same size as your Olds 98 drop-top there in the pic - being a 69 Pontiac Ventura 4DR Hardtop (125" WB Catalina based) with 400ci 2bbl V8 & AT that sucked gas at 7-10 mpg - that being one of my main motivators to getting a fun but more fuel efficient car, after going thru the 73 Oil Crisis - 10 gals max, by even or odd every other day, with "The Boat"!


Tom
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My dad's 914-6 next to his Cayman (which give its size, I thought was actually a Panamera ) yup, cars like Americans have only gotten fatter over the years.

If you want a crazier growth, look at the evolution of Japanese cars.I went to a Toyota dealer's 40th anniversary party a few years back and they had an example of each generation of Corolla. Talk about growing!

I think it's real
And this one?

Yep! We think we have small cars. They are Yuuuuge.

I don't think anyone should complain about how much bigger "small" cars are getting.

If I had to choose which I would like to be t-boned in by a soccer mom checking her Twitter feed, I'd choose a Cayman over a 914 any day of the week. Twice on Sunday.

991 is beautiful in its own right. But looks so bloated and awkward next to a 993. I suppose mostly dictated by enhanced safety standards

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Bingo- it's all about crumple zones. Cars need larger crumple zones to meet current crash rating standards.

Yes that's real too, from a 1970/71 Porsche ad.

The 917 is about a foot shorter, but wider & longer than our 914s - what do you expect in order to fit 3x the cylinders, but the 917 is still small compared to today's production Porsches & racers alike

I was actually just gonna post the ad pic for that one, but saw that you got it in above. Here is a German version of the print ad, but there was a USA version too.

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This is another official Porsche promotional/ad pic of another orange 914 .... & - yes, they're real too, & could BOTH ride along with you in a 914 thanx to the center seat/cushion & optional seat belt, but not in a 917!

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Tom
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My 914 was parked beside a 550 (kit) at a show, the top of the windshield was only as high as the door window scrapers.

Actually folks, Porsche did a pretty good job about designing in crumple zones & crash survivability into our 914s, & I have a couple of friends, as well as there being some members on here, who are alive &/or not seriously injured thanx to that design!

They didn't have today's insurance institute tests of today, but they did do crash testing themselves back then.

And it was probably a no less "unequal accident battlefield" with much larger & heavier cars to worry about back then - as the contemporary red Olds 98 convertible in the pic above clearly shows - as compared to today's big SUVs & pick-ups in the current marketplace.

Many big full size American cars back then weighed in at over 5000 lbs. x 65+ speeds = higher momentum on impact, than with the average weight of sub-compact, compact & mid-size cars of today!

And anyone today driving on I-5 between LA & SF or any other highway/freeway around, can attest to the flow of traffic actually exceeding the 65 or 70 mph speed limits by 10-20 mph - aside from the speed demons blazing by at 20-40+ over! So the momentum is actually higher today!

This is different driver behavior of mass speeding today than back then, my having started driving in the 1960's myself, so I can tell you that the majority of driver's then followed the speedlimits then. Yes there were still "Ricky Racers" then, but today the Soccer Mom's, Teens & 20's, 30's all seem to push the envelope to whatever the flow is going today, which is typically faster - even on surface streets & back roads!

So do not sell our little 914s short in that respect, relative to a current Porsche - even with today's higher speeds!


Tom
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Several years ago I was DDing a 76 Dodge like this one. Weighed 3300 pounds with a 360v8 but was actually called a compact car when new.

The 904 is very small when you are standing next to one.
This is me sitting in 0014, and I'm not a super big guy, 5'9" in heels. The one on the left is my car, the one on the right is 0014.

Scale the weights... All Porsches up til the mid- 70's weighed no more than 2200 lbs... 914s are just at 1800-2000, and those are street cars.

The 904 was just a fiberglass shelled "unibody" race-car. Definite death trap in collision on the street. That Cayman is a Pig at 2900 lbs.

Say what you want about how big the modern Porsches are but they also make it possible to drive them daily. I use my Cayman S like I would a modern SUV (minus the hauling of big stuff) and it's great. Long trips or spending several hours in the car are not an issue. Also, the A/C is great.
I still have a couple of 914's for that raw, true sports car feeling but I wouldn't trade the convenience of my Cayman S for anything.

Actually, you're a tad low on your weights - except for lightened cars for race/AX/rally/etc.

The 70's 911's were over 2200#, as were our 914's being in the 2000-2270-ish range on the -6 range.

Note the `73 R&T test of the 914-2.0 below lists CW at 2145# ....

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Tom
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Thanks for the facts, Tom. I was a little baffled at the 1800# claim too. That's where my last one was, but it took a whole hell of a lot of work to get down there. There were zero amenities left, lots of controversial losses. Like the emissions crap, including the charcoal canister delete that some scoff at - but a pound is a pound and you have to get it everywhere you can. You cannot get to #1800 without some serious work and sacrifices.

IMHO I think they both have their place - including those between the earliest up to the latest, & coming ones!

I think folks are just noting the differences in size/wt., & not necessarily bashing the Caymans etc.

And I was saying above, that our 914s are not as unsafe as some were assuming. They also could be had with AC then & now, for those sticky South TX & hot/dry SoCal summers!


Tom
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Wouldn't it be great Rand - if Porsche would stick their new turbo flat-4 WBXs from the new 718 Boxster/Cayman - into a somewhat smaller sub-Boxster body/chassis that weighed-in in the 2000-2500# range now - even if they won't give credit to our 914s in the naming!!??

I'm sure that they could even modify the original Boxster prototype a bit to get to that size & weight goal - & then beat the pants off of the Miata/Alpha/Fiat contenders with a middie engine. even if it cost a bit more than those contenders in the sub-Boxster/Cayman segment! IIRC, that prototype started out smaller & lighter & therefore closer to a "current sub-Boxster" - as they have grown a bit.

The perfect "extra car" weekend racer, AXer, & weekend fun car!

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Maybe even another JV with VW is in line??
- on paper this time so Porsche doesn't get jacked around again as they were on the 1st on the 914 - then VW can do their own design take for a "new Ghia" too!



Tom
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No offense taken Tom. They're all great cars.

I'm trying to find a pic of the 919 compared to a new Boxster or Cayman. I'm curious as to what the size difference is there.

Try to find one comparing the 917, 918 & 919 - that would be an interesting comparison too.

The cars shows where I've seen 918s next to Boxter/Cayman - the 918 is similarly lower, but a tad wider & longer - like in the 917-914 pic.


Tom
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In person the 919 and Audi R18 are very small.

BTW, the car maker is ALFA, not Alpha. It's actually an acronym, which stands for (rough translation) "Company in Lombardy that Makes Automobiles". Just like FIAT is an acronym for "Maker of Italian Automobiles in Turin".

Sadly, I'm pretty sure the sub-Boxster will never happen. Porsche's goal is to make money, and the higher-end the cars are the more money they make. A lower-cost "mass-market" car is not going to be the profit-generator that their current lineup has.

--DD

Thanx for the ALFA/FIAT correction Dave - I actually knew that back in the gray cell recesses, but I must've hit the wrong spellcheck option for my too-fast typing!

At $40-50K of the initial years of the Boxster, it wouldn't exactly be an economy sports car, & the base Macan S was introduced in March 2015 at $49,900 IIRC, & the base V6 Cayenne was around that range when it was introduced in `04 I think (V8 Cay S came out first).

So Porsche has a long history of both having their financial butts saved by such more mundane or commonplace cars for the masses (according to the 911-only & up crowd) - as our 914/4s did for them in the early `70's, as well as starting them out in a reasonable price range.

Speaking of which - both the Macan & Cayenne are both shared VW/Audi/Porsche platforms, & are saving their fannies now, enabling them to make the more expensive & higher margin cars.

They also need to sell more cars with higher mpg to meet the upcoming CAFE standards - even with the recent downsizing of them - & a few very high priced hybrids & future EVs will nOT let them meet them. Whereas, if they sold as many sub-Boxters with more mpg than the then current CAFE level - then it's a simple matter of math - division of many high mpg cars in the fleet, to offset those with lower mpg than the standard.

Many cars with just a small mpg over the target, will be easier to offset the total fleet numbers - than will a few very hi mpg hybrid/EV cars whose "overage mpg" would have to be very high for an equal effect.

It's just that their management folks are as or more fickle than a "high-acquaintance woman" (or man), & keep dithering on the sub-Boxster. IMHO, the math of CAFE mpg & being able to sell that 3rd Porsche (or 4th, 5th, etc.) to the wealthier, as well as some as entry level NEW Porsches will eventually bring them around.

After all, they've announced, recinded & re-announced a couple of times already on it!

JMHO,
Tom
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There were 904s and 906s that were Sold for Street Use!