2026: State of the 914 Porsche Address
My friends, its my privilege to bring to you the annual State of the 914 Address for the Year 2026. Many things have changed for the 914 over the years, and at the same time many things are the same.
83,000 914s were imported to the USA in the early 1970s, whatever happened to them all? The 914 Global Registry lists only 87 cars known to exist today, and there is no way to know how many of these cars are roadworthy or how many are simply VIN tags on chassis levitators. Those 87 cars are all that remain, most are too valuable to drive. As with any rare artifact, most remaining 914s live in hermetically sealed environmentally-controlled containers for observation and research purposes only because we can not share the same air environment for fear of advancing their deterioration.
As a young boy in the mountains of West Virginia, I grew up with 914s. I would get home from school and meet my 914 friends throughout the world on what was then called the internet. We only had crude text messages and color photos back then and communication was slow, it took several minutes to receive only 15 or 20 responses to posted questions on the internet forums, if you can believe that. Today, VirtualPresence technology makes it possible to meet as clone-persons in groups wherever and in whoever’s’ garage we want – our cloned Presences can now meet together like we did on the internet in the old days, but its much mo-betta these days.
We can be physically billing time at our desk jobs and at the same time, meeting in a far-away land to drool over the only known surviving example of a working D-Jet fuel injection system, what could be more fun? This D-Jet system is so antiquated compared to todays MIP (magnetic induction propulsion) systems. The D-Jet is on a 1974 Olympic Blue 914 2.0L, said to have once been owned by a man we only know now by the symbol “DD”.
While the former Southern California region may have been the reigning 914-capital in the beginning (we lost a lot of 914s in the tectonic plate adjustment event a few years ago), my home vector of Georgiabama has become 914 ground zero today. The shift started back in the 1970s where archived records indicate that a local physician acquired some land and started a 914 repository. He collected forlorn 914s and took them apart.
The 914 doctor did great and numerous things to keep the 914 interest alive for many years, much to his credit…he found sources for new replacement parts, or had them made, and created the infamous prototype car that we now call the Opel-Por-Rarri. Research indicates it was an ingenious prototype to sell ‘upgrade’ ideas for the 914 way before its time, and mant 914 modifications can be traced to this avant-garde 914. Most modified 914s tend to look like this car in some respect, and demand for an original paint Opel-Por-Rarri is strong these days as you can imagine.
This news has not even been officially announced, so you are hearing it here first. Recently, the formerly separate Global Volkswagen Owners Group (GVOG) and Porsche Vintage Cars of the Americas (PVCA) joined together in a partnership that has the promise to work well, we call it VOPO. Budget-sensitive Volkswagen owners needed an image enhancement to their tattooed-cranium, forked-tongue, ‘BurningHuman’ image, and Porsche Owners needed a larger membership base to reduce their skyrocketing dues structure and attract a more affordability-conscious membership. Its all under control now and it was just a handshake deal between the powerbrokers, lets hope the they wrote the agreement down.
Before I located my 914 Grasshopper LE (that’s how I got my nickname) in an abandoned peanut factory outside of Augustaham in 2018, there were many naysayers in the authenticity of the car. For decades a few people held-out hope that the fabled Grasshopper LE was real, but most thought it was a myth. Some said they had memories of seeing them, but there was no proof, not even a fuzzy photograph. They were convinced otherwise the day my COA was issued from PCWH (Porsche Cars Western Hemisphere) indicating paint code U3V9.
Long live the 914. Have fun chasing the virtual twisties until next year,
Dr. Barrimore ‘Grasshopper’ Phuller
President, VOPO OA
VOlkswagen - POrsche Orphans Association
I thought I had too much time on my hands. Great stuff!