I'm washing & polishing & waxing my car today and as I entered the garage was thinking that my current 914 smells just like all of my other ones. I never owned a 911 so I don't know if all Porsches of the 70's have it. It's a mix of oil and gas and burnt exhaust and who-knows-what but it's distinctive and reminiscent of my lost youth (which is partly why I bought the thing in the first place!).

Guess I just love that "old car smell."

Paul

....couldn't agree more....

I've got that smell too....

Just one more thing about the car that gives me many smiles per gallon!!

Tim

I LOVE THAT SMELL! I thought I was the only one. Especially in the colder months when the windows are all rolled up, and maybe I haven't driven it for a while. That smell brings back really good memories from the early 90s when my 914 was my daily driver, and even further back when my Grandma & Grandpa used to drive Volkswagen when I was a very young kid. I LOVE that smell!

VW's have the same smell.

They do have a unique smell. I am taking mine down to bare metal and putting it back together. I am curious what it will smell like when it is done.

Sort of related story...

My eight year old daughter (who is totally NOT into cars) will walk into our garage, sniff the air and say something like "nothing like the smell of a garage" and mean it in a good way! It is so funny.

I love the smell of my old VW. I am usually pretty articulate, but I can't put the fragrance into words... nothing like it. I've only owned my 914 for about a month. The first time I got in it, I remember thinking: "Yep, it's got that 'old German car smell." It put a big smile on my face!

Okay, not to get too strange, but... I can remember my 1978 Mercedes 300D having that "old Mercedes smell". If any of you have been in an older Mercedes, you'll know what I mean. My 1992 300CE has a unique smell about it as well, but not like the older Benz.

I guess I just like the "old car smell" better than the "new car smell".

Anyway, I'm just pleased to learn that teeners have a fragrance of their own!

Old car smell is way better than that new car crap

Plus, it doesn't fade

I love the smell of Tar in the morning. Smells like...Victory. It puts a smile on my face.
Tar mixed with unburned hydrocarbons and the smell that you can only get while driving that close to the ground.
My wife can tell from the moment I walk in the door if I have been driving my 914. Before before we were married, she wanted to know what year my Ghia was.

Can't believe I missed this pun:

Smells Like Teen Spirit!!!

biz

I guess the combination of dried old German adhesive and vinyl; with a hint of mustyness and aircooled engine smell, say this is a real sportscar.

ah, the wonderful smell of air cooled german goodness.

I did take the Tar out of my old car. It had a neutral smell for about a year. Then the unburnt gas/oil started to permeate the carpet again. Oh well...

I had to laugh when I read this one..."Plus, it doesn't fad."
There's nothing like the scent of an unrestored teener that has sat with it's windows up and top on in 100 degree heat for an afternoon. It's just like a loaf of freshly baked bread...you can't get enough

My British cars have a unique smell too.

Kinda like a leather...rubber... exhaust and wood smell. Very strange but I love it.

Mine smells greasy. Even now, sometimes I get out of my car and find grease smudges on my hands, arm, legs, you get the idea...

My car was a bare chassis that had everything re-installed. Smells the same.

Jen

Yep, 911's smell the same... at least up until they became "Non Porsches" in about 1999! I suspect its something the Germans put into their vinyl to make us all addicted, and generate repeat customers!!!

And then there is the "ThuPingggg" of the door closing! (if it is correctly adjusted!!!) I have actually closed the door twice, just to appreciate that sound! (Okay, the sickness is pretty far advanced!!!)

Exactly what I was going to say! Had a Spit for 23 yrs and a GT6 for 10 (At the same time...talk about punishment!). They had that unique 'eau de auto' smell as well.

Cheers, Richard

Its the scent of finely aged wool carpeting and mildew.....

How many other cars sport wool carpeting other than early VW's?

Ken

Boy, you nailed the sound, but only when you close the door slowly. Otherwise, it's a thunk.

Old 911's have a unique character of thier own, in all respects - active term is respect. They'll bite you if you're not aware! And, they DO smell just like 914's, with maybe just a hint more hydrocarbons. They should sell that fragrance over the counter.

i thought the british car smell was the smell of burned wiring insulation?

Haaaa! My car has two distinctive smells. The exterior has that vintage 914 fragerance with a burning cloud of oil. The intrior has that distincitve "Odor of Oh Shit!" from myself and all who wondered what the hell they were doing in this car with a crazy driver.

Marcel Proust wrote his seven volume opus Remembrance of things Past about a flood of memories that a madeleine brought back of a misspent youth filled with debauchery and excess.

When I bought my 914 last year I climbed in and the smell brought back an avalanche of memories from my old 69 Bug I drove in college.

Country roads, small town girls with poofy hair and sweet smiles, Keg parties, AC/DC on the cassette deck, drinking and driving was legal, DUI was a misdemeanor, Ronald Reagan, AIDs was unknown, Cheech and Chong were together, weekend camping with the guys, Pink Floyd's the Wall.

I realized the 914 was my link to all things cool from my past.

For some people it is putting on the old Letterman jacket from high school that gives them that feeling, for me it was that smell of german basketweave upholstery and crappy carpet.

I have 2 911's and the smell is the same the 914 is going to be a cheby so maybe it will be different

I agree. It is a very unique smell and I love it.

I think that's the problem with new cars today. The look, feel, sense of them has none of the personality at all that most old cars do. I look at my 914 and I see a person, a soul or a personality in it. I see new cars and I just see a machine.

One of the things that I love about this car is the smell. It is about the same as the VW t3 i drove for years. I really missed that smell. Seems to be an air cooled thing, maybe baked on oil!