Hopefully this message is able to save some new naive soul who is thinking of buying a 914. Now, when I first started interacting with this board, I saw many people on here talking about "the addiction" to these, and I thought they were simply talking about how fun it is to drive and work on them. I got my car in November of 16, and it was a great deal on a really solid ride. I thought "If I paint it, and redo the interior I'll have a really nice ride". So this winter, I totally redid the interior (except for the dash, I put a dash cover on, since what difference does it make", and it really started looking nice. And this people, is where, looking back, the addition was beginning to take hold. While the addiction IS expensive, so far all the people feeding my habit have been fantastic people.

It all begins with the word "Well...." I looked at what I had done, and it REALLY looked good, except for one nagging little thing. I kept the original steering wheel, and it was sort of looking ratty. "Well. You know, a Momo Prototipo would look really nice". And it did. Then I got the car wrapped, and it looked fantastic, until I started to look a bit closer "Well, you know, those bumper tops don't look so great against that nice wrap job, and I should probably add a front Air Dam from Mark at 914 rubber while I am there too". BTW Mark, I probably WILL be ordering a new dash (all parts) as soon as I get the things I have already ordered installed.

Now that it's nice, I am starting to drive it a lot more, since I didn't want to drive it in the rains we were having. Man, these things are a kick to drive, but, this is a 1.8, "Well, you know, if I just had a BIT more of a kick in the ass in this thing, it'd really be fun". But see, it was here I started to worry about my growing habit, and thought "I'll hold off on the engine, I'll just get a new exhaust system and headers". I do a bit of research, and to cut a long story short, currently, my set up is on the engine dye at Tangerine Racing, and Chris has been VERY helpful with me. Oh, also have picked up a few other nice things there, and what I DO have so far looks fantastic.

And it's not just the big ticket items, it's the little things too. I got a perfectly good shift knob from Mark at 914, but "Well, you know, a nice wood badged shift knob would look really nice here. Also, you know, when you redid the doors, you didn't fully finish the passenger side since the bottom part was broken, might as well find one of those as well". Also, I have ugly aftermarket mirrors, so maybe buy a set up the chrome ones, yeah, that works. This doesn't mention all the other little things also, like the videos, the tools, the books, the shirts.

The one major hiccup I have had with this car was, I missed a shift from 4th to 5th, and dropped it into third. Now here Chris from Tangerine was very helpful in easing my worry "Hey, it's a 1.8, it's not like it can really rev high enough to do any damage" Sure enough, it wasn't really hurt, and my mechanic here in Sacramento, Ron at IPB, took not only good care of it, but had it running better than it had ever ran before. We have talked off an on about a new engine, and when I tell him what I am thinking, he got excited on the project. Now, just to show you how easy it is for one 914 addict to egg on another, he asked "You're going to go with Nickies on that right?" and when I said "no", he told me "You are building a big ass motor, which is going to put off a ton of heat, you don't want to kill the engine by not having the right pistons and cylinders, do you? And lose those stupid aftermarket mirrors that it came with, their ugly" (In case you are reading this Ron, ordered new stock ones this evening finally! LOL)

I now realize I am in the throes of Teener addiction, and there really isn't a cure, except for having to quit cold turkey due to a hip replacement (which is how I acquired my car in the first place from the 2nd Owner who had had it for 30+ years and took fantastic care of it mechanically). At the rate I am going, by this time next year, I will probably have replaced all the seals on the car, because "Well, you now, it would look SO cool with brand new seals everywhere, almost brand new". But then since I didn't totally do ALL the body work perfectly for the wrap "Well, you know, if you took the wrap off and took it down to bare metal for a killer paint job, it'd look GORGEOUS" And probably finish off with brand new brakes, suspension and axles. And then the car would be looking like it did when it came off the assembly line, just with more power and modern conveniences. And I would be cured once and for all of my addiction...unless...."Well, you know, what's having a kick ass 4 without having a kick ass 6 to go with it."

So, my advice, prospective 914 owner, is to close this website, and run, run FAST and FAR AWAY, and save yourself while you still can. But hey, before you do, I'm sure you were looking a what you thought was your dream car, and had found a great deal, so, in order to help save yourself, just PM me the pictures of the car, and the contact info, and I'll buy it and save you from the horrible fate that could await you if you buy it yourself.

An old Porsche codger once told me as I was pulling away from his house to enjoy the medicine, i.e. the car on the trailer. He explained it's a disease, with no cure, but plenty of medicine, more cars to feed the addiction...

Yeah, and in all seriousness, what is really fun is doing a lot of the work yourself, makes it feel even better when someone walks across the intersection that you are stopped at and gives you the thumbs up.

Do you have a parts car yet?

Nice story sounds familiar

Rob, hope to see you at the WCR.

Jerry

LOL I am going to have to get a bigger place before I get a parts car! We have a single car garage, and 5 cars between my wife and myself (56 Chevy 210, 67 Cougar, 74 914, and "regular cars"). And this car was mechanically fantastic, so most of the stuff has been cosmetic on the work.

Thanks Jerry, I am hoping to make it, but it'll have to be a drive out late Friday and back early Sunday, so up in the air on it right now. Just started a position w/ the State, and no time off for the first 6 months (and I had to weasel hard for the 1 day off I needed for a personal matter, and the 2 days to see U2). I would say it's about 25/75 right now, but 100% next year.

Two words, "slippery slope"

Love this story! I don't have a problem like you people though...

I agree, there is nothing quite like the feeling of knowing that you saved a car, not your checkbook, your bloody knuckles.

Tell me about it I'm terminal!
Had to start a business to justify my addiction. Wife told me if I brought another home she'd divorce me.

Brought home a 912E in mint shape I could not say no to. Met me at the door saying " you brought another home didn't you?????"

Told he it was her special car. Handed the key to her and said " take it for a drive, if you like it it's yours, if not I'll put it in a storage unit and sell it for 2x what I paid for it. You will never see the car again, and you will never see the money either"

She was gone for an hour, figured it broke down on her and she'd be pissed. She walks in the door and Gretta............... I'll call her Gretta because she's German and red.

Haven't pushed my luck any further yet, but I know if it's the "right" car I could probably pull it off.

parts cars don't appear until after your first stint at rehab....

I need more land, to fit more cars, oh yeah, going to look at another building today, wish me luck, it's an old fire house.

Once the disease gets hold of you ONE will not be enough.
Welcome to the madness!

You are an addict and a dealer who dips into his own stash.

Andy
75 914 2.3L - Excellence, June 2004, Parade Concours Winner, June 2014
72 914/6 3.0L Trackworthy: Project F-914 Engine is in pieces for rebuild.

As my good friend Bill Shakespeare used to say "Me thinks thou doth protest too much"

I told my wife it's not an addiction unless it's 6 or more.
3 - 71's
2 - 74's

I don't think we defined how we get to the 6 as model or model year.

If you keep six, I would agree that you may have an issue. If more than that pass through your hands, I would not consider that anything abnormal for a car guy...

Do parts cars and projects count towards that 6 number? I would vote nay on it

This isn't an enthusiast website, it's a support group.

I think it is a better addiction than drugs and whores

Im pretty lucky, as long as my wife has a clean garage space for her car and doesn't see any cars parked in our driveway, she could really care less. My cars are in my workshop or at my shop at work. That and mostly buying red cars (they all look the same to her if they are red) has made it a non issue.

New rule - If they are all red, or same color, it counts as one car.

Mark - I own two 914's - Epstein

Yeah, about the same for me. When I was doing all the interior stuff on mine, she had her Chevy in the shop having some work done. The only thing that save me and allowed me to get mine finished was, she didn't want to pick it up if it was going to rain, and we had 2 weeks of rain!

I'm back up to three again after selling out 5-6 years ago after I bought a 308 GTSi. Something about driving one that you never get over and no other car satisfies.

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Yes, but I bet drugs and whores are a hell of a lot cheaper addiction

All three can get you in divorce court.

Well then you have never had a Rorer 714 and a high end Manhatten hooker.........

Robnxious when you need a fix come see me.
I have 3 914s at the house, 1 stored at a friends and a shed full of parts.
I am local to you in Carmichael.

Oh and I been friends with Ron at IPB for about 15 years.

Cheers!
Jim