https://youtu.be/kW8Ap8ywfnk?si=a4_Lwo4FwPwHqcuU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW8Ap8ywfnk
Full Version: Old but gold
Thanks Stef
Thanks for posting this. They really put it through a tough test, no holds barred. Wider rims and tires and your close to race car handling!
Not Top Gear, but very thorough as expected.
Close captioning by Sir Andy! 
cool 
thx for posting
j.
thx for postingj.
That was awesome, thanks for posting!
Watching the guy man handle the top was hard. No wonder why almost every targa top has chipped corners and edges!
Watching the guy man handle the top was hard. No wonder why almost every targa top has chipped corners and edges!
Cool video...thanks for posting.
Got to love the water test...
Agree Root_Werks...kind of ruff with the roof...did you notice he installed the roof with the front latches to the rear of the car....interesting
Got to love the water test...
Agree Root_Werks...kind of ruff with the roof...did you notice he installed the roof with the front latches to the rear of the car....interesting
QUOTE(technicalninja @ Jun 4 2024, 11:06 AM) 
Close captioning by Sir Andy!
nice stuff.
i saw that clip a few years back.
the wheelman is a classic german for 1969 - certainly gives it a bit of stick on its skinny little tyres and gets the tail out a few times very nicely..
i saw that clip a few years back.
the wheelman is a classic german for 1969 - certainly gives it a bit of stick on its skinny little tyres and gets the tail out a few times very nicely..
ps - given its the IAA show in frankfurt where that is filmed its probably a car off the stand when the 914 was launched. there is another clip on youtube with the same guy at the show also taking it out for a run. i'm wondering where he takes the car in this clip.it could be the VW test track facility but it also looks vaguely like the mercedes test track in a couple of the scenes.
i tripped over a big batch of photos of the launch and posted them up in originality section. the car probably has a fully carpeted front trunk. and no karmann plate in the front door jamb. they seemed to be all pre-production cars specially prepared for the launch. very early in the production run for sure.
i tripped over a big batch of photos of the launch and posted them up in originality section. the car probably has a fully carpeted front trunk. and no karmann plate in the front door jamb. they seemed to be all pre-production cars specially prepared for the launch. very early in the production run for sure.
QUOTE(SirAndy @ Jun 4 2024, 02:53 PM)
QUOTE(technicalninja @ Jun 4 2024, 11:06 AM)
Close captioning by Sir Andy!
That was very helpful. Thank you
Not only does he manhandle the roof, but at 04:30 he places it in the trunk BACKWARDS!! They must have edited the clip, as he then is able to secure it with the rear rubber retainers as normal.
Osnabruck914
Osnabruck914
QUOTE(Geezer914 @ Jun 4 2024, 09:31 AM)
Thanks for posting this. They really put it through a tough test, no holds barred. Wider rims and tires and your close to race car handling!
In April 1973 Car and Driver published a comparison of sports cars then eligible for SCCA Showroom Stock racing. They generally liked the 914 (only the 1.7 was eligible). But they only got 3rd place lap times at Ontario Motor Speedway's road course. And they blamed that on the standard 4.5" wheel width (again, no upgrades allowed). Wider wheels might have helped the 914 take the pole.
BTW, that article first sparked my interest in the 914. But I couldn't resist wanting to own the winner of the comparison, and thus my first ever car was a Fiat 124 Spider. I got that as a mild wreck from an insurance salvage yard. That also was the start of my auto repair and restoration hobby, otherwise known as a lifetime addiction.
What a great video! Quite comprehensive. Where do people dig up these clips from 1969 to digitize them?!
@sirandy The subtitles are greatly appreciated!
I was hoping they'd get around to including the 914-6 as well.
@sirandy The subtitles are greatly appreciated!
I was hoping they'd get around to including the 914-6 as well.
agree - did they ever do a test on an early 914-6 ?
I looked a while ago and couldn't see anything
cheers
Dennis
I looked a while ago and couldn't see anything
cheers
Dennis
i checked my hunch that much of this is filmed at the mercedes test track.
the one with the vertical banked turn!!!!!! 
pity they did not film the 914 being taken around that crazy curve.
although there looks to be one bit where they are lower down on it but not on the vert bit. probably mercedes did not give permission for anyone but mercedes test drivers on mercedes business to use that section of track?
you can recognize all the parts being used in the program.
including the getting blown sideways machine.
don't think either VW or porsche had anything quite able to rival this facility back then.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
only very slightly off topic.
this film is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq-NOhmn3UE
not a 914 but is mid engined and is from stuttgart.
on the test track and on the vertical curve.
the footage inside the cars on the curve is fantastic.
my business partner's father worked for mercedes right around this time in the late 60s through to early 70s. he was employed as a test driver. you got sacked if you did not enter this curve at precisely the calculated speed and failed to hold the speed constant.
the one with the vertical banked turn!!!!!!
pity they did not film the 914 being taken around that crazy curve.
although there looks to be one bit where they are lower down on it but not on the vert bit. probably mercedes did not give permission for anyone but mercedes test drivers on mercedes business to use that section of track?
you can recognize all the parts being used in the program.
including the getting blown sideways machine.
don't think either VW or porsche had anything quite able to rival this facility back then.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
only very slightly off topic.
this film is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq-NOhmn3UE
not a 914 but is mid engined and is from stuttgart.
on the test track and on the vertical curve.
the footage inside the cars on the curve is fantastic.
my business partner's father worked for mercedes right around this time in the late 60s through to early 70s. he was employed as a test driver. you got sacked if you did not enter this curve at precisely the calculated speed and failed to hold the speed constant.
Wow ! Cool video … what an exiting era must have been …
Thanks for sharing
i checked my hunch that much of this is filmed at the mercedes test track.
the one with the vertical banked turn!!!!!!
pity they did not film the 914 being taken around that crazy curve.
although there looks to be one bit where they are lower down on it but not on the vert bit. probably mercedes did not give permission for anyone but mercedes test drivers on mercedes business to use that section of track?
you can recognize all the parts being used in the program.
including the getting blown sideways machine.
don't think either VW or porsche had anything quite able to rival this facility back then.
only very slightly off topic.
this film is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq-NOhmn3UE
not a 914 but is mid engined and is from stuttgart.
on the test track and on the vertical curve.
the footage inside the cars on the curve is fantastic.
my business partner's father worked for mercedes right around this time in the late 60s through to early 70s. he was employed as a test driver. you got sacked if you did not enter this curve at precisely the calculated speed and failed to hold the speed constant.
Thanks for sharing
QUOTE(wonkipop @ Jun 9 2024, 02:23 AM)
i checked my hunch that much of this is filmed at the mercedes test track.
the one with the vertical banked turn!!!!!!
pity they did not film the 914 being taken around that crazy curve.
although there looks to be one bit where they are lower down on it but not on the vert bit. probably mercedes did not give permission for anyone but mercedes test drivers on mercedes business to use that section of track?
you can recognize all the parts being used in the program.
including the getting blown sideways machine.
don't think either VW or porsche had anything quite able to rival this facility back then.
only very slightly off topic.
this film is interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq-NOhmn3UE
not a 914 but is mid engined and is from stuttgart.
on the test track and on the vertical curve.
the footage inside the cars on the curve is fantastic.
my business partner's father worked for mercedes right around this time in the late 60s through to early 70s. he was employed as a test driver. you got sacked if you did not enter this curve at precisely the calculated speed and failed to hold the speed constant.
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