AA has a 914-6 Automatic for sale. He claims that only 4 were made. I know he's had this for quite some time

I am curious to your opinions of the Sportamatic transmission. I have heard that it is not necesaarily a good tranny.

I fully understand that the 'fun' in driving a 914 of any flavor, as with most others 'sports cars', is manually shifting through the gears.

I am not qualified to say whether AA's price on this is reasonable/unreasonable, but IMHO, I think it's kinda pricey. But then again, if there was truly only 4 made, then it would be considered ' a different collectable'.

Will the Automatic be as quick as the Standard? In the 1/4 as well as top end?

Is the Sportomatic serviceable, or is it a nightmare?

Were there any other differences on the Automatic besides the Sporto-matic?

Would anyone out there ever consider owning an Automatic?

Again, I'm only curious for your feedback

Thanks

Allan

I haven't gone to thier site or looked at the car/price, but at first thought I would say the car is a collector car if production numbers are truly that low for that option. Drive it just enough to keep all the fluids flowing and then park it locked up tight and safe.

Being a 30+ year old auto, I doubt it shifts anywhere close to "fun". Hence the collecting, not driving part of owning it. But that is just my opinion.

Shifting gears and workin' the clutch is part of driving a sports car. It connects you with the car.

There was a race driver here in Florida in the '70/80's and ran IMSA that had a 911 with sportamatic in it. He ran Sebring/Daytona/Road Atlanta. His left leg was locked/stiff where he couldn't bend it to use a clutch. That would be the only reason I'd have one.

The car is written up in the August issue of Excellence magazine. There is plenty of debate about how many were actually produced/delivered, but 20 or 21 seems to the high end. Which is still low.

yes, it is very rare....I've never driven a sporto', but I have talked to and read about 911 owners that have 'em and love them......

I guess you need to drive it yourself and compare it to a standard 5 speed manual to see if you like it....

You still have to manually shift it, it is not an automatic transmission like a modern car that you just put in D and drive all around....

The Sportomatic had a microswitch in the shift lever that engaged the clutch when you touched it, and then you manually shifted into the gear you wanted. Not good or bad, just different. Obviously, you can't drive it with your hand resting on the gearshift lever.

I'd agree, it's something you have to try to see if you like it. The older I get, the more I like automatics with all the traffic around ChiTown!

Are the 914 sportos sixes, fours or both? It think a six would be OK, not so sure about a four.

I briefly owned a '72 911 with sportomatic and enjoyed it very much. I think 0-60 times were about the same as a 5 speed.
You can manually shift 1-4 or just leave it in D if you are in no hurry off the line. It is great around town in 3. Lot's of fun to shift up and down. As mentioned above, don't touch gear lever except in the act of shifting.

OK, my brother had a 70 something bug with this type of tranny. I think it was 3 speed but it may have been a 4 speed. The microswitch controlled a power operated dry clutch and there was a torque converter so you could sit in a gear while stopped.

So it was basically a manual transmission with the addition of the torque converter and an electrically operated clutch. moving the gearshift caused the microswitch to close and clutch to disengage so shifting could take place.

Probably had more fun just using 3rd gear when taking off from a stop. Stomp the throttle in 3rd at a stop and the car would barely move but would continually accelerate to top speed.

The biggest problem with the shifter was if it were touched while driving, the clutch would disengage. This happened alot when my girlfriend would lean my way to.., um, er, ah, well, you know.

Spoke

The best source I've seen says that 25 914-6es were delivered as Sportomatics. 4 in the 1970 model year, 21 in the 71 model year. (Or do I have those switched around?) There were also one or two prototypes, as we've seen on this very BBS a year or two ago.

From the reports I've read, the four-speed Sporto suffers in top speed and in acceleration compared to the five-speed Six, even though the "peaky Six" was considered "nearly ideal" for the torque converter equipped Sporto.

--DD

Don't drive a newer Tiptronic George! You'll love it!! I learned to drive on a manual trans car, and up until 1990 a 914 was my only car. I've had a Tip'r Boxster for about six years now and LOVE IT!!! It is like driving a video game, point and shoot.

Back on topic. I spoke with Jeff Gacek, the former owner of that car, and he told me it was a fun car to drive. It does have a torque converter, so you can do standing starts in 3rd gear, which would be kinda wierd with the low power of an original 6'er.