… as the Rumpled Horse said to the Velveteen Rabbit,

"You cant be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

.

Or be like me and tell people I literally dont give two shits what they think.

Frankly, I have never heard anyone at all ever say that 914s are ugly. Quite the contrary. Most everyone seems to love 'em.

My wife hates the color, not thecar. She sais the brown makes it look like a pimp-car. No idea where that came from , I think of it as a compliment.

Other people that saw it since I got the 914 :
"oh...not a round one like 'normal' Porsches" (my mother)
"I have never seen one" or "you bought a Porsche ? Wow....a 911 ? No ? a 914 ? What is a 914?" (friends outside the VW hobby)
"Wow, great color !" (My neighbours wife)
"is this a Porsche ?" (family) I have no Porsche logo on the car, just the script on the enginelid that sais Porsche and is a must to proof to some people it is a Porsche :-)

When I first got my 914 21 years ago it was pretty bad. My sister said "it sure is little and it's ugly". So that is why we have called it "little ugly" ever since.

Click to view attachment

On the other hand, I do not disagree with you (apologies for the double negative).

My kids always call it a girly car.

I think it's aged well (the small bumper versions) and love the function over form of it. Two trunks, tons of space for normal sized people, handles well and goes well with the right engine

I get the "what a cute car" from women quite a bit.

"And?"

One and one only person looked @ mine and said little so I could tell,then I showed her how practical it was for a sports car,changed things a bit.
Everyone else loves it.
IMO there is one view of the car that suits ME and a don't give a stuff what others say.

This babe walked up to me asked if i wanted to sell my ugly 914 a couple of weeks ago. Ladies of this caliber do not like or drive "ugly"......

And i took my sweet time telling her no.........

All of the above...

There are prettier cars, but really the lines of the 914 are very nice. That continuous curve from the front turn signal to the taillight is well-drawn. Gets prettier every time I look at it.

If a person cannot appreciate that, then pity is what I feel.

they are ugly, so what.

Well no, but she may be from Santa Ana..

The 914 is a Bauhaus lecture on wheels. 'Form follows function"; not fads, trends, or embarrassing attempts to be over the top, glitzy, or pimpish. The result is ingenious utility with esthetic beauty.

Ansbacher

I've heard square, cute, funny looking, weird little car, love your car, and "I used to have one of those " about a thousand times, but never ugly.

That's so honest it hurts.

I've always liked the looks of this car, but it looks better to me with every passing year. I really think the car was ahead of it's time and didn't start to look "right" until years after it's introduction.
The area I have the biggest issue with visually is the front end. Although I think the early bumpers look the best, the rubber bumper top on a light colored car always looks like a mustache to me Even then, it only bothers me from a few angles.

Always really liked the look of the Narrow body cars and now after seeing some more of the flaired versions, those are starting to look "normal" and appealing too.

Still not 100% on the look of the front with the headlights deployed.

Many years ago didn't care so much for the look of them, it took a long time to really appreciate them. Now love the looks of the narrow body, add some fender flares and it adds the right amount of curves.

Dave

Not too many Italians live in Santa Ana.........