I was reading a gentlemans' thread on considering getting rid of his 914. It really made me realize something, and appreciate my car even more. Since I was younger, my dream was to have a Lamborghini Countach; I used to draw and color pictures of the car, and would nearly faint everytime I saw one. As I grew older, different models came out, like the Diablo, Mercialago, for example. I even got the opportunity to detail a replica countach in public, it had a fiero engine in it but who knew? I even saw a replica for sale years ago for $25,000, but I just couldn't talk myself into trying to buy a "replica" Lamboghini....I would know it is not the "real deal Holyfield" and I can't do that with a Lamborghini. Eventually, I started to realize because the car cost so much, especially when it needs a part (years ago, it was $7k for a clutch for the Countach) that unless I hit the lottery....and I don't gamble......that the possibility of me owning one of these over-prised luxury cars, is next to none, especially because now , I would want a newer model Lambo. If I really, really wanted to though, I could own one rite now. All I would have to do, would be, to sell my house, and put my family and myself out on the street, and than I could have it. -"Not gonna happen"- But I have to admit, I still get chills down my spine when I see one of these cars.

Now, let's be honest, who drives a Lamborghini, and doesn't want, expect, or enjoy the attention, you get when people see you get in or out of one of these things ? Kinda like an overgrown 914 ....right???!!!. Well,thus, the topic of this thread.

Of course, the 914 is a awesome car to drive, whether you have a conversion, or are stock. The history of the car even makes it more exciting to drive. We even keep the car in the family and pass it down from decade to decade. We even put up a fight to those other Porsche guys who like to call us names and tease us because we supposedly don't have "real" Porsches, even though we WHIP THEIR BUTTS AT THE TRACK !!!

Well, reading the gentlemans' post as to getting rid of the 914, made me reminise of the trip my wife and I just took to Santa Barbara a few weeks ago. Driving on the Pacific Coast Highway(101 freewy) next to the ocean, is truly amazing with the targa top off and is truly rewarding if you just finished your 914 project, and take the "ultimate cruise", during the summer. Along the way, on the PCH, You flip up your headlights, hang your elbow out the window, and go 55 miles per hour, in the slow lane . In return, You get people honking their horns and waving at you , thumbs up, and little kids in the back of the family van with Rover asking dad and mom "what kind of car is that ?", while they pass you up in the fast lane. You truly feel on "on top of the world"!

When my wife and I arrived in Santa Barbara, the first place we stopped off at was the pier. There are fine restaraunts , and many people of different ethnic backrounds. While I am aware that my 914 is a "little" flashy, because of the shiny rims, and it is a different car than people see on the streets everyday, I am not a person who desires the attention of people, I actually prefer to stay to myself, and am personal. Well, on this particular trip, I decided to wear one of my favorite shirts....my "Ronaldhino" Barcelona soccer shirt, brought for me as a gift from Brazil. I can't emphasize enough, the amount of stares and times my wife and I had to stop and answer peoples questions and comments on the 914(one lady said she had a 914 in France), as well as the soccer shirt, as we tried to get to the restaraunt! People even asked if they could take pictures with me and the car, and yes, the soccer shirt It was predominately the foreigners that did this, and I think between the rare sportscar, the soccer shirt, and the diamonds blingin' on my wife, they suspected I was, or use to be, a proffesional soccer player. (soccer is the most popular sport in the world, so the forigners would identify with the shirt more so than an American) Well, after those interesting encounters, we went downtown to state street, where there is an outdoor shopping mall, and experienced the same thing. I told my wife after the trip, I have no plans or desire of being a CELE-BRATY, but if you ever wanted to know what it is like being married to one, well, you just found out !! She agreed

Well, after a fun day in Santa Barbara, (I even got to spend time with Mike Z, another Porsche enthusiast) I got back into town, stopped off at the gas station, and was approached by more people with questions about the car. This day of peoples' questions, comments, and curiosity of the car, led me to one conclusion.....a clean, 914 Porsche, can get just as much attention as a Lamborghini, or any other exotic sportcar for that matter, would !!!

After realizing this, my mind changed on wanting a Lamborghini, just for looks. But what about speed ?? Well, I saw a television show, that showed a brand new Lamborghini mercialago (or however you spell it...) get dusted on the track by a .....stock.........-ready for this?-.......Subaru EVO !!!! Besides, the speed limit is 55-65, anyways !!!

So having this been said, my desires for a Lamboghini are over, but if I strike it rich somehow, I'll probably still get one!! The next time I go to Santa Barbara, I WILL NOT wear the soccer shirt (the car and the shirt combined, attract toooo much attention , and can destroy a nice private day with the wifeee ......CELE-BRATIES, I FEEL BAD FOR YOU !!) ............and since I stll like the Lamborghini, and have modified my 914 already, I will eventually get the Lambo doors on it...... good enough for me !!!! Oh yea , to all of you who are thinking of getting rid of your 914......DON'T DO IT !!!

Thanks for reading my story ..........TRON!!!

Thanks for sharing; great story.

Never been bitten by the Lambo Bug. Too boxy for me. At least the 914 has some curves to it ...
Andy

Ferrari for me. The 348's Drove a 355 once, nice car. Noticed right away they are big and heavy compared to a 914.

Unlikely I'll ever swing a piece of Itialan Trash. Next big thing in my future is kid driving and then college.

That is a cool story! Thanks for sharing it!

Dude - wait 'til next month's 914Magazine comes out with my car in it... you are gonna freak when you read my comment about childhood dreams and the Countach I made the comment for the article back in July... so I beat you to it hahahahaha

I would still have a Murcielago in a heart beat if I could afford it. The Lambo just has something that no other car has - it is over the top without seeming completely gaudy, and just all around covers all bases well in terms of design coupled with performance. The F430 for instance is a bit of an ugly car to me - the F360 was good, but Ferrari just doesn't do it, 997 is a nice looking car but nothing stellar (I really like the looks of the factory 997 GT3 RSR Evo race cars and not so much the showroom cars), etc. Other than the clearly unobtainable Bugatti Veyron, the Lambo is still the sheot IMO for covering all the bases of what makes a supercar a supercar.

You know me well enough by now to know I don't mean this in a dickish way, but putting flip doors on a car doesn't quite replace the Lambo. It is one of those things when someone asks "name a car with gull wing doors" only one car comes to mind immediately. "Name a car with flip-forward doors", only one brand comes to mind. It is what makes the car a Lambo and even tho' others are copying with aftermarket hinges and so forth... it is just that thing that when I saw a Lambo at the age of ~ 13 with the doors flipped forward, that made that car soooooo much cooler than any other car out there. The 480HP V12 helped a bit too hahaha.

I'm not saying don't do it - just saying if you really had the money I have to doubt you would really baulk at having a Lambo or second guess it. Once they get in your list of dream cars... no turning back

Tron,,,dude, seriously...a soccer player????


Maybe a LONG time ago....
before these demons found you.


Rich

Love that license plate!

Your car is beautiful, do you mind if i ask the name of the color?

If were choosing out favorite cars here, i gotta go for the aston martin DBS, James bonds car in Casino Royale. However, i absolutely love my 914 and won't trade for anything, not even a DBS!!

These cars do get attention, especially when they travel in packs. Reminds me of a couple things from the WCR2008...

As we were all boarding the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, I heard one of the workers exclaim "Man, we could get 500 of these things on here!" (Max capacity is 188 "normal" cars).

As we were driving through Issaquah, I overheard a man tell his you son "these are special cars called Porsches".

Tim, I definately am looking forward to your magazine write up. I've had people tell me "don't" do the lamo doors. There is always going to be an "original" or "first" to do it in anything, so not to do it only because the Lambo did it first, will not phase good ol' Tron !!! One of the main reasons for me to do it on this car is because I think it fits the "Euro,modern, look that I trying to accomplish. You don't 914 out there, so one with Lambo doors will definitaly add to the community curiosity ! If the car was just a Honda or chrystler 300, I wouldn't do it because you see that everyday. My 914 buddy Skinuts beat me to the punch (like you did with the countach mention ! ) with the Lambo doors, and his car looks great. The thing that messes me up is that I am going to have to cut through my fiberglass rocker panel, to do it CORRECTLY !!! But as you may have read, I am planning on a "phrase 3", for my 914. The first phrase was getting paint,interior, bodywork, and the car on the road. My second phrase was the conversion, with suspension. The Phrase three will include the Lambo doors, some t.v.s' to go along with the boomin stereo system, a possible "TRON" micro chip / subliminal "Porsche" crest -mural (thanks for helping me complete my idea chappy) on the trunk or targa top, with a Blue pearl accenting the curviture of the car. (By the way guys FYI......I am hearing a buzz about the new Tron movie, possibly coming out !!!). I have been to a few car shows this year with my car. I enjoy people enjoying looking at the car, and I want to add some extra "zing" to a car that already has them saying "wow". This is a picture of my friend Daves' saturn with lambo doors (give me a little while to transfer the picture over here), that one 1st place at the Antelope Valley car show a few months back in the "Import" catagorie. His car is going to be in the new "fast and furious" movie, coming out soon. The original "mini coop" I parked by won "best classic" in the Import division as well. Not to take anything from him, but next year I will stay where I was parked at in the first place -by all the old school cars- because the import guys were into Acuras and Hondas, I don't think they even know my 914 has a radiator in the front.

Rich, you did it to me again, you dog !!! Yes a soccer player , don't let the grey hair I've had since childhood and the PIZZA look fool ya !! I still got the tree trunk legs that can kick a ball out of home depot field (here in Carson California), run MILES at night -including last night- , and bounce the ball on my head MULTIPLE TIMES, and I aint talkin no little 10 or 15 times either, chump !!! For you, or any other of you 914 nuts....don't try to challenge me on my soccer skills, and don't make me break out my Varsity lettermans' jacket , newspaper write ups, trophies or cleates..... you, you, you....... Porsche, 914, drivin, oil on the driveway, cracked targa top, no air conditioning, roll up windowing, clogged fuel filter jerks !!! You can talk about my car all you want , but you better not talk about my soccer skills!!! And Rich, just because you put that picture there, I'm gonna go get a pizza today......that ought to show ya !!!!!!.....and Tim, you're just mad because I'm about to buy these Lamb of God opening for Metallica tickets !!!

I will admit that from overhead the countach looks really badass. Definetly the kind of style you would love as a kid. Almost like a space ship.

I may upset a few people here.

I get to hang around alot of people with really expensive cars all the time. So it has afforded me the chance to see just how great or sucky these cars really are.

Countach, unless you have really deep pockets you will never be able to keep it on the road. One guy needed a AC line replaced, something to do with the body design that made replacing it impossible. He finally found someone who could do it, flew them to LA and paid $4000 so his AC would work again. Then they really aren't that fast. I bet your 914 is faster.

I would say lamborghini as a whole wasn't a very good car until the current gallardo and murcelago. I got a chance to use a convertible gallardo down in miami for a weekend and it is a very nice car. I really did enjoy driving it. Still it's not as fast as you might think.

Ferrari just seems to not care about it's cars or it's customers. Poor quality all around. I think it was the 360 modena that I drove that was just miserable. F430 seems to be a bit better but still a ferrari paint job doesn't seem to be much better then what GM does on it's econo boxes. So after speaking to many mechanics that work on these cars they all seem to tell me to stay away from ferraris. They say the lambos are better in this respect. But they all drive corvettes which I find funny.

Near as I can tell if you want a fun car with alot of power and realiability you have 2 options. Something with a porsche drivetrain or something with a american V8 and a ZF tranmission. The GT3s Ford GTs and Corvettes just keep running. Sure there are exceptions but as a rule these guys seem to be the happiest with there toys. I still want a D Type though. Just need the dollar to turn around so I can order it from england.

I think more kids had posters of the Lamborghini Countach than any other car. When I was 12, I wrote a letter to Lamborghini of North America requesting a spec sheet on the car. I told them I was considering buying one. My letter was handwritten on loose leaf paper... They sent me a poster and spec sheet.

I still think the best part of "The Cannonball Run" movie is the opening credits with the Trans Am cop car chasing a black Countach through the desert... still enjoy watching it.

You have a very nice car.... no need for a Lamborghini!

Thank-you. The paint is actually custom. I call it copper-sunburnt-orange, because it changes colors. I once parked next to a Nissan and I couldn't tell the difference in the color, I went and got some touch up paint from them, and the color is in fact, different.

he,he, ha,ha

Dude, your a handsome Guy with a beautiful Wife but "WE NEED MORE PIC'S".

What I can see looks Good.

Thank- you very much Here are a couple of shots I took of TRONWIFEEE at Angeles Forest Crest , here in beautiful CALI-FO-NI-A !!!........PLEASE, be respectful my 914 friends........

So my points tend to get lost in my "long winded-ness"... I am cool with doing the lambo doors. I guess all that was meant to say is I hear you about diggin' your car - Hell, my car is faster on both the street and the track with much less maintenance cost than a Murcielago would be... but if I had the $$ to afford it, I would have to have it and I suspect that would still be the same for you.

As to affording a supercar, when I worked as a mechanic I met a guy at a Lambo repair shop in Laguna Hills area and was floored when he told me about the $1K annual maintenances they performed That was in the mid-90s on the then-new Diablo models. So when I say "afford" a Lambo, that doesn't just involve the purchase price - that car quickly becomes a $500K car with just a few yrs of ownership.

For the $/performance money, the new Z06 Vette is hands down the car to have and it is "affordable" by comparison (for those fortunate enough to consider an $80K car affordable)

Aaaaaah, nice car?







Their both Sweet Dude...Rock on.

Nice story and nice pics of the car....err...and the wife... I likes me a GT flaired 914!

what is a subaru evo? you mean mitsubishi evo or a subaru sti, right?


doesn't matter. great story. I love my 914, love the porsche NARP battle, and love that my car has stayed in the family since new. we do sure drive some cool cars.

we also drive enthusiasts cars. Most of us aren't some glamour boy driving his ritzy lambo. We know our cars amd how to drive em too.

Well said, Ben !!

Was there a car there in those pics? didn't notice, distracted somehow...

I dunnow,

On Friday, there was a little red Lambo convertible parked on the way to my car. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the traffic light to change before I crossed the street and had to torture my eyes with it's shiny vistage......

Sure woldn't kick it out of the garage if ya know what I mean....

Ken

Hey Tron - if you are in to Lambos you definitely have to come up to the Monterey area during Historics week in August. The Friday before the Historics races at Laguna Seca there is this huge gathering of all the "Italian Trash" you can imagine; Lambos, Ferraris, Maseratis etc. called Concorso Italiano.
Check out: http://www.concorso.com/
I still remember the pic from a helicopter of a group of red Ferraris spelling out the word "Ferrari".

Just watch this ! ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzIQO7HcVyg

Nice ! ...

A quarter million dollar toy.

Thanks johannes