Intended as a Volkswagen to replace the ageing Karmann Ghia using the 411E saloon engine, the project showed so much promise that it never wore a VW badge. Priced keenly and marketed cleverly it went on to become Porsche’s best-selling model through the Seventies. The much rarer 914/6 with the 911T engine wasn’t so affordable, only selling 3382 units, and that’s why prices are now up to £60k and rising. The four-cylinder cars look good value and £20k still buys a nice 914, £10k a decent use-and-improve example and £5k a US project car. Best buying comes from US survivors like the 1975 2.0-litre on offer at Classic Auto Sales in Omaha. In Viper Green with 43,000 and just gentle patina, it’s good value at £14,800. Closer to home, Vega Classics in Devon has a 1973 twoowner in Irish Green with 89k and history needing some interior fettling for £11,950.
Light, sweet to drive, frugal and practical (mid-engine means you get two luggage trunks) the 914’s rising appeal is down to low running costs and its enchanting, non-conformist charisma. I can see values for unspoilt cars doing well in 2016 as budget vintage Porsche buyers look for cheaper alternatives to the over-hyped 912. Just make sure you don’t buy a rusty 914 and remember that they’re all left-hand drive (UK buyers never got the privilege), and unmolested timewarp cars are the ones everyone will want in the future. Take a plane to Los Angeles, make Craigslist your map of the world, and enjoy the search.
