the latest registration numbers are worse than i thought ...

January 2004:

914-4 1.7 = 428
914-4 1.8 = 62
914-4 2.0 = 688
914-6 = 146

Total: 1324

this is down significantly from the previous list i had ...
Andy

Are these the total known roadworthy cars?
Worldwide or Germany?


KT

german registration only, like DMV here in the US ...

doesn't mean they're roadworthy, just registered ...
Andy

I sent two over.....

Jan '04 is the latest info?

How bad is it gonna be for '07?

When I was in Germany I heard that it's illegal to drive a car with body rust.

In Japan you may not drive a car that has over 30,00 miles on the drive train or has visible evidence of an accident.

Is that true about the rust?


KT

Would not surprise me a bit if they banned rusty cars from the road

yepp ... mandatory thorough safety inspection every two years. if they find rust, you get a short window to get it fixed, if you fail to get it fixed, your car is off the road ...

not just rust, but other obvious safety hazards as well, like bad brakes, collision damage etc.

basically, all parts on your car have to be in good working order, and that includes the structural integrity of the body as well ...

IMHO, a very, very good thing ...
Andy

Is this because of the autobahn?? Directly?? I know Germany has unreal rules for private pilots, We are warned repeatedly to think twice about flying our own planes over for a visit ---

I've seen some *very* questionable cars driving on the California roads over the years.



KT

SHIT, I hear you man, you should see the crap down here - no inspection criteria at all ---

same here...

like I see some BAD cars, like cars that ARE totalled and still going

here's the most relevant statistik of registered teeners in Germany (AFAIK)

as Andy already stated, these are all registered cars

but within the last years more and more teeners get intensively restored - during this period they're not registered

so I'm pretty sure that the amounts will raise up within the next years - in additiona more and more good quality cars get re-imported from the USA


interesting point - the number of /6 is getting higher ...

Gustl

Gustl, do you happen to know why each model is split into two separate numbers after 1987?

The 2.0 numbers will rise by 1 some time this month or next

Answering my own question, the difference is the engine output:

0600/382: 1.7, 59 kw (80 hp)
0600/414: 1.7, 53 kw (70 hp)

0600/422: 2.0, 70 kw (95 hp)
0600/423: 2.0, 74 kw (100 hp)

0600/454: 1.8, 56 kw (76 hp)
0600/455: 1.8, 63 kw (88 hp)

This actually brings up an interesting possibility: These numbers might not reflect those 914s reimported from the US: The US-only engine cars do not have a type number (the part after the "0600/") assigned to them, and in the car's title they are usually marked as "0600/000000". This means the "official" numbers may be of very limited value because they will only ever show those 914s that have engines matching those that were sold in Germany (or maybe Europe as a whole)

As has been said, 914's are the new 356's. Numbers will decline, values will rise.

strick car inspection would only serve to jack up prices on teh few cars that would be left legal. it probably has a political popularity by car companies (which can influence the law makers). fortunatly in most American states, the politicians are more concerned with voter backlash if they tried to pull that over here. I just heard one of the top brass in teh Calif. state smog program retired,a dn bought a chain of "test only" smog centers. he was the guy who mandated more cars into the "test only" program. funny is it not??? of course all but 1976 914's are exempt, but that can change, recall it was a couple years ago a rolling 30 year exemption, but some politician changed that , it can happen again. there are bills pnding all teh time to remove your car from the road.
voter backlash is the only reason the smog law change was not more resrictive. the tactic used now is divide and conquer, just add a few more cars to the prgram at a time, so you don't get a huge backlash. it is creeping up on us.

the number of accidentes casued by faulty cars is probably pretty small as a percentage of wrecks. it is usually fulty drivers. I have never seen a part fall off a car on the road, other than cargo improperly lashed down. (driver error).

many 914 arre dreiven in the US with major rust, mismatched paint on panels cracked glass etc... has anyone in our group had an accident caused failure do to rust, or wrong color paint? (that one really gets me, that is more of a taste issue, not safety)

laws like this would kill off the aftermarket, becuase few folks would be able to aford to fix the cars to the strict standards required. heck 30,000 miles and a new drivetrain, that would be in about two years. funny the japanese do that, don't toyotas/hondas go a quarter million millions usually?

I see no rash of safety issues becuase of our lack of nanny state laws. cops do pull cars over with hugely smashed windows, or missing lights. (although not always, I figure they figure that maybe the headlight just died, and the owner needs to get to the store to buy a new one)
the real safety concerns are drunks, the real liabilty issues are uninsured drivers wish they should crack down on, jail them if they wreck with no insurance. however there are advocates of the poor that are aginst this 9just spoek with my representative about this issue, this was his reply)

if nanny state taste laws are started here, expect many club members cars to be taken off the road, the source of cars left to restore will dry up (they will be crushed) and the aftermarket parts bussiness will shrink. the few with nicely done cars that pass the nanny state inspection (at considerable cost) will all that is left. most folks of minimal means will be screwed out of the chance to own a 914 or other classic.
these laws suck, have almost nothing to do with safety, and as the smog laws in Calif. are desinged effectly lock owners our of duing their own repairs, sending you to some dumb assed grease monkey that knows nothing to work on your car (witness the the recent post of the lotus that was dropped off a lift)

don't waste my time with these stupid inspections, if you want safety go after unsafe drivers, and return to safer road designs (I have noted a lack of this in the recent decades in Calif., lanes on freeways suddenly end, with no merging signs, freway cloverleaf intersections removed, with traffic lights blindly hidden below steep overpasses, and lack of road surface maintence) you want reponsibilty go after unisured drivers,

you like these laws, then move to the all controlling nations. just be sure you have deep pockets for your car, cause that is what you will need.
freedom rules!!!

When I sold "Mueller's six" it went back to Germany. I don't know the exact figure, but it cost the buyer a bundle because of all the modifications required to register it. The most difficult part was the because the car had GT flares he had to do a lot of modifications that were GT specific ie front and rear sway bars, correct tires and wheels, no rear spoiler, etc. I'm going to guess it cost him near $5000 by the time all was said and done. The up side is that the car was worth a lot of money in Europe, so the money was well spent.

Sooo....... then.... are you say.......that I should keep my -4 and not put in a -6?

Right. And notice the 1.8's are the rarest, so dump that crappy 2.0

I'm planning on using my 912E as a retirement fund, I'm sure it will be worth a cool $15k someday. They only made 2000

Future demand is hard to predict. The 356 has a romantic connotation a la James Dean. The 914 will hold steady and go up a bit, but I doubt you'll see a 914-4 bring substantial amounts within our lifetimes. Just based on inflation a new $5000 914-4 in 1973 is over $22k in today's dollars.

So, even if a really nice 914-4 will sell for $15k today, in 30 years $60k could just be keeping up with inflation and not be any more valuable than it is today.