Good Value out of the Box (Its Own)

The 2-liter is really the car to have, as it transforms the 914 from an also-ran into a car capable of out-running a TR6

by Rob Sass

By the late 1960s, it was apparent the 912 was no longer the answer to Porsche’s need for a lower-cost, higher-volume model. High production costs and currency issues had forced the 912 far above 356 price levels and at not enough of a discount versus the 911.

A model developed jointly with Volkswagen seemed to provide the answer, as VW was looking to replace the Karmann Ghia with a basic sports car that would utilize the powerplant of the wretched VW 411. Ferry Porsche and Heinz Nordhoff, the titan who built VW into a postwar success story, cut a sweetheart deal whereby Karmann would supply bodies to Porsche at a discount for the Porsche-badged 914/6 and would also supply bodies to VW for the identical four-cylinder VW-powered 914/4.

The Yogi Berra-ism “An oral agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on,” could almost have been coined in reference to the 914. When Nordhoff died of heart failure in 1968, none of the details of the deal with...