Beetle drivers where used to it :) Oh, come to think of it, the 914 4cyl engine was not a beetle engine, it was from the Type 3.

000

It was certainly a safer place to accommodate the fuel tank than in the extreme rear of the car, as in the deathtrap Ford Pinto.

@@jamesreynolds2867 That's a "sort of" myth. The US network that did the original "deathtrap pinto fuel tanks" faked parts of the report, and more recent research suggests the Pinto was no worse than its competition, and actually better after a bit of a redesign!

@@VolkerHett no it was not the type 3 suitcase engine it was the Porsche designed Type 4 engine started out in 1968 as a 1.7L, the 914 got the 1.8L version. The engine was a dog. The first 2 versions had mechanical lifters which required checking every 3,000 miles. The 1.7 had a habit of dropping exhaust valves. Not until the 2.0L engine did it get hydraulic lifters. But even with that it had the rotten D Jetronic Bosch fuel injection system.

Aren't you forgetting the (slow but fun) mid engine Fiat X-1/9? I always wondered where the other 8/9ths of it were. lol. They, I believe, were the design inspiration for the Toyota MR2. Mid engine cars are such a pain to work on.

@@manstersr I owned both a 914 and an X1/9. You can't beat German engineering, but ultimately the Fiat was the better engineered of the two. The Porsche was brutally uncomfortable and the large targa area made the interior a wind-tunnel vs. the Fiat's complete calm sans roof. The Porsche had the better engine, but had numerous fatal design flaws, a list of which would take a book.

@@TheBsavage You have a point, the wind issue was probably due to the difference in the windshield angle. I have an E30 BMW convertible and the wind buffeting is terrible vs. an 04 645. I read once that Porsche stuck with a steep windshield for racing, it is supposed to cause less distortion or glare or something. I don't agree with that but that's what they said.

@@manstersr Windshield angle. Interesting. I figured it was the bigger gap between windshield top edge and roll bar behind your head in the 914. The windshields seemed pretty similar in slope, but you could be onto something there. I never stuck either in a wind-tunnel (other than my daily commute), but the Porsche was SIGNIFICANTLY windier in the cabin. EVERY day was a bad hair day with the top removed, and I ALWAYS removed the top (unless it was raining) when I drove either car. And conversations with girls? Forget it. Sure, you can have one. If you're stopped. I only realized later that conversations with girls weren't the best end goal and that other activities were more fulfilling.

@@manstersr more similar to the fiat ,the mr2. the 90´s model is for sure a great car

And it would rust and end up like a colander within 3 minutes……🤓

Was the top speed even above the speed limit though?

​@@derin111 .that is true of many cars of that era

Lmfao obviously you don't have any experience with an actual sport car like a Lotus or Alpha Romeo

@@marcomuiretta362 .they were a bit faster at that time of course. but also a lot more expensive.

lmao, even the golf gti was more sporty

@@TopG800 lmfao of your lowlife comment

I'm sorry for this but the 914 was always super dangerous perhaps the most dangerous thing VW Audi group ever created and always spun out around my hometown trying to just keep up with Triumphs and more

Those engines are easily made more powerful.

@@johnsmith1474 same with the Supra. Slow when stock

@@johnsmith1474 Or, just go with the flow and whack a 911 engine in there!

@@danielrose881 Now you are talking! GEX offers 2.2 l 4 bangers as well. One of those with dual carbs will make quite a bit more power than a stock KG engine.

Yes, but that body work is sublime.

Many 914s around here including mine have moved to battery to the trunk it stops the Hell Hole , it helps to balance it better and you can put the largest battery that you need there

@@oceanhome2023 similar to the 911s.

If you are going that far to restore a 914, I hope you are turning it into a 916/914-6.

Sorry but I hated adjusting the valves so I have a small block Chevy engine in it! It has of course hydraulic lifters . It is what Porscheophiles call a NARP (Not A Real Porsche) it hauls ass and is “Stove Bolt” simple ! I love it , all of the VW parts don’t give me any trouble it’s the Porsche parts that break ! There are many many conversions out there this one is easier and makes the most sense !

I never thought they got it right with the style of the bumpers but now I see that in America they changed these for M.G. style more prominent black bumpers. I agree with our friend who does these reviews, that wad the better idea!

Thank you!

Well said. The vidios have a production quality way above any documentaries on the history channel or any terrestrial programmes. How you manage to get such high quality editing on your own is amazing. Hope your channel becomes huge and financially rewarding for you

@@EFFEZE It's a $60 version of Cyberlink PowerDirector 15. Works great. Try it out for yourself!

Wow, Taro! You were really SOMETHING! At FOUR years old, you already got the CAR bug! I had to wait till I was a ripe NINE years old!

@@nygelmiller5293 my mum tells me bus was the first word I said. She was so annoyed :)

I caught the car bug at two years old, when I looked out the window and saw a '32 Ford Roadster in our driveway. It belonged to the man installing our kitchen cabinets, my parents told me later in life. But for a couple of years after seeing it, I looked for it in the driveway everyday, thinking, that it might be there. Of course, it never was. I have that memory from such an early age, because it was re-enforced every time, that I looked out the window for that car.

The X1/9 was always more attractive to me than a 914 when I was a kid, still hasn't changed decades later.

@@sparky6086 WOW! Getting the car bug at TWO, eh? The stories just get better and better!

Whatever nazi

I seem to be getting a whiff of steaming horse manure around this comment....

@@EFFEZE nah, it’s the truth. My family were from Vienna, moving to Stuttgart in the early 20th century. My great grandfather was Otto Köhler, who was involved in the management the Silver Arrows racing team in the 30s, before being a Mercedes director in the 50s and dying in an accident on the factory grounds in Stuttgart. He was great friends with the Porsches, hence Ferry being my mum’s godfather.

@@nwga.5327 what the hell is wrong with you? By that logic ur in the kkk

Some of the coolest but also most unreliable cars ever built.

Friend had one in the 80s, nothing but problems, much like the other cars you mentioned, but when it ran we felt pretty dang cool

@@scootergeorge9576 Lucas Electric. Lotus would have been a lot better off dumping them in favor of ANY other supplied for those parts.

Unfortunately yes. I think it's really timeless

My dad used to own one of these in the 70s

You used to see these everywhere in California but because there was so much trouble with the fuel injection everyone started putting Weber carbs on them and they worked SO much better. Then came California’s Smog laws so if you had anything newer than 1973 you had to put the original Fuel Injection back on , yes the one you threw away, good luck with that . Combine that with the “Hell Hole” and the desire to use them on the track because of their superior handling and that is why they are so rare !

@@oceanhome2023 The California smog laws actually apply to cars from 1976 onwards... 1975 and earlier you can modify a vehicle's engine without any interference from the state.

I know exactly what you mean.

Happy to hear I am not the only one who enjoyed CAR for the sheer pleasure of their writing.

CAR was such an incredible magazine! I still have a library of their issues from the mid-80s through the 90s. Superior writing, superior photography, all of the cars I wanted to read about and lusted over as a kid!

I had a 65 Beetle and the 1200 40 horse engine was almost dead. My friend found a 1600 B engine with single port heads to replace it. We didn't go nuts, but it got a bus camshaft, dual port heads, dual Kadrons, extractor exhaust (of course) and big bore 1644 cylinders. It wasn't a high revver, but my farmer father drove it, and thought it would pull stumps. It got a little light on the front end at 90 mph.

Always easier to find a new wife than a really nice car. 🤣

I think the Type III's (Squareback, Fastback & Notchback) were some of the most practical cars VW ever made. The suitcase engine allowed a lower engine compartment than a beetle. My fist car was a Squareback. Never got to drive it legally. Older brother who gave it to me took it back after I got it running again then ran it out of oil. Oh well, I learned a lot by working on it.

I had a similar problem with my 914 where the accelerator would go to the floor and the throttle would lock wide open. Rather dangerous to say the least. In my car it was caused by a broken throttle return spring in the engine compartment. A new spring fixed the problem but as an added safety feature, I added a second spring. Porsche could have done a better job...So sad regarding your classmate. Another source of frustration was the parts situation. Though largely Volkswagen based, when it came time to purchase parts, everything suddenly became Made By Porsche -- $$$$! I ended up selling the car due to a constant problem with vapor locking. I really do not understand the attraction to these 'automotive gems'. Particularly the prices these things now command. But it is/was an entry level poor man's Porsche.

power can always be cut, otherwise it would not be legal on roads !!!! Driver mistake is driver mistake.......

My uncle had a 914, then stepped up to the 911. He always said that the 914 could easily run away from the 911 in the turns, it just didn't have the ponies to keep up on the straight away.

@@coache1nine Yeah, I worked on and drove a lot of 914s back then and don't remember them having the sway that this one in the video seems to have. Maybe it's just the perspective that makes it look that way but I remember they cornered pretty flat.

Yeah the VW's (at the time) also used the Spare for the Wiper Cleaner too. 914's handled almost as good as the Lotus Europa, I drove both many times (Dad's friends had them), the 914 was much more comfortable and they had way better Paint colors too.

@@coache1nine Every 914 has the "bones" to accept a 911 engine. Most agree the 2.2 or 2.4 liter engine from the early 70s 911 is great powerplant without overpowering the car.

@@jimohara4796 okay, change the engine, while you're at it, change the gearbox, it had it's faults as well. You might as well change the suspension because the added power will need a suspension. You have just changed the entire design of the car. The 914 was built the way it was for a purpose. The car had it's faults, as all cars do, but changing this and that is for us, the hobbyists, not for production vehicles, not matter how much we think we know more than the engineers do.

Mom drives 100 mph on ice, gets speed wobbles, keeps it pegged, lol.

I call BS. First of all, a 911 is superior to a 914 in almost every way. Second, a 914 with 79 hp barely did 100 mph.

@@giggiddy 914 2 liter with 100 hp. 911S with 160 hp. The early 911 were not handling that well. I stand by my description.

@@giggiddy it shows you don´t no much about cars ,even a 1.1 does 100miles/h everyday of the week or the lancia 1.3L from the same year with 89 h.p.and even older cars and 79 h.p(what is the relation ?what do you mean ?even a 45 h.p car does easy the 100miles an hour) barelly.....what??? sorry but....it´s all,you forget he told beaten 911 and older ones are not a match for the vw porshe this in the 80´s ,a porshe not well kept it´s not fast you´re lucky if it runs ,regards

@@janthoelke9634 totally right ,you´re acurate

My uncle, who owned the same cars, still says the same thing

We affectionately called it the "Tuna Boat" motor.

I don't officially know for sure but I think you are correct Craig, it would have been a flat 8...unless they had a time machine and jammed a LS engine in it like they are doing with 914s now. Could you imagine a collaboration between Chevy and Porsche, a virtually maintenance free (listen up Porsche) V8 with four to five times the hp in a 914? Those would have been the days. lol. I wish my 944T had an LS engine in it. I would do that conversion but don't want to destroy the value of it being original, even with all the shortcomings of the stock engine.

@@manstersr ... years ago a friend shoehorned a Corvair flat 6 cylinder into one of these. At 140 hp with more torque it was a hop in the ass to drive compared to the stock 80 hp engine. Had to install a reverse rotation cam shaft to do the swap.

@@manstersr - perhaps a 928 motor would work, easier said than done I know.. m.kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nLh0hKWKnr6rlps.html

@@shuttlemanjack - called them worse than that when I thought I had the cam gear lash right only to have an annoying rattling sound once warned up.

It looks like a prototype of a Lamborghini

When it comes to styling, the Italians are the *boss!* That's not to say others can't complete however....

I remember test driving a used 914 in 1974. With being 6' tall I felt like I was driving a go-cart! I like the body style of the car. But I didn't care for the inside of the car. I ended getting a 1972 MGB! It had more leg room and liked the wire wheels.

I had more leg room in my 914 than in an older Buick I'd owned. I actually had to move the seat forward a notch. I'm 6'6'' I really enjoyed that car and drove it coast to coast.

Yes Tom. I remember Sally Struthers’s 914 also. I believe she purchased the 914 at Max Dial Porsche/Audi in Inglewood. I worked at this dealership in 1977. Good memories!

James Pumphrey approves.

Markus Fuchs, there was a 916 model which was a 914 with a 6 cylinder engine. Very few were imported into America though.

@@sergeantmasson3669 The 916 was a cancelled prototype. The only one of them imported to America is in a museum in Atlanta. The 914-6 was the production 6 cylinder 914 model.

@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 There is one in North Conway NH. A former co-worker bought it new in 1972 at the VW/Porsche dealer in Manchester CT. I've personally seen/driven the car several times.

It's a shit car

@@bumfluffmcregor3730 abslutely, you can say a lot of things, but beautiful it is not

6k?! Is that a joke

@@blue35tuesday do you remember the market then? 2009-2011, when the Delorean was less than $5k and people couldn't sell them, I remember that I went to see a nide detomaso Pantera for $30k....

@@Bentsi2002 i never remember a period of Ds going for that little...the average price for a running one was 15-20k

You are correct about the baulk rings. I'd forgotten that fact.

Thanks, I didn't know that end part of your story. Isn't Tatra in India?

@@dlittlester That's Tata.

@@hansb.8 Tatra is a very different manufacturer than tata. Hasn’t the ladder company only been around for the last 20-ish years anyway?

@@theeoddments960 I checked , thanks. Tata is India, Tatra is Czech.

there were no "Van" in these days, teir were Delivery Trucks or "Boxcars"....

@@FRITZI999 In the U.S. they were called vans or busses and some converted (Westphalia) to "campers". Where were you talking about? Just curious.

@@manstersr Vans or Buses are nfor People, Right? THIS Engine is from a Delivery "Van".... whatever... just Terminology. ;-) These Words wehre nt even created when thes Vehicles were built, just like Crossover / SUV / and so on.... just saying. Ask an Old Fart like I am.

@@FRITZI999 I just thought you had never heard those U.S. names because you live or lived in another country. Delivery Truck or Boxcar sounds like a name you'd hear in the U.K. or Australia. My friend and co-mechanic's father drove one and we called him Van Man.

@@manstersr i lived about 5 years in the US a few Years ago... AND also spent some time in the UK 20 Years ago. I trying to explain it in relation to the time Period where certain Terminologies were nit even created. Might be a regional thing that you and others don´t know them, cause you spent your entire Life on one Place? In Australia noe one says Van, they are called People Mover Down Under when they carry Passengers.

Thank you 🤗

Glad you enjoyed it Mihály

The reason I do not like the car is because they put a Porsche name on what is effectively a Volkswagen. This car should have been marketed as a replacement for the Karmen Ghia. The rare 914-6 almost qualifies for Porsche status.

Yes, I've always thought they were cool, and looked really good. Don't car about the Porsche/VW debate. They car is just cool.

@@AxLWake - Cool looking but not worthy of the name Porsche with the sole exception being the 914-6. Back in the seventies I owed a VW Beetle that was faster than the typical 914. A '68 Euro bug with 1600, dual port heads 2 Solex 40P11 (Porsche 912 parts) carbs, crane cam, and competition header (no heater boxes.)

@@scootergeorge9576 Like I said, I really don't care about the name and the badge on the car. That being said, early Porsches had 4 cylinders engines and were not that fast either... (356, 912).

Love the white, green, orange, or black color ones

The Plattform from the Typ 14 wasn't the same from the Typ 1 Käfer. It shared it with the VW 181, which was signifilly wider.

Probably, eventually!

Would end up evolving into Boxster maybe

@@klj2382 boxster was a re-make of the car james dean died (don´t remenber the number maybe a 355 )and when it came out was my favorite car to drive, it´s perfect

I'm sure I will, but a lot of this is based on viewer interest. If a video bombs then it's going to be hard to me to recoup the time I've invested in making a video. So far this one seems to be doing well, so maybe so!

I call them 'Granfather to the Boxster/Cayman'.

The gas tank was over both the driver and the passenger's lap. They all had VW gas caps...the ones that threaded on. Seen on a 53, 63,70,73SuperBeetle. 10 imp gallon tank.(45L) up until they ended production of the air cooled engine in ' 75. I got 35MPG using ImpGal. in 1973SB 1600 carbureted engine..stock everything.

No as a 944 owner I’d say a 924 is an Audi with a VW van engine and a Porsche badge and a 944 is an Audi with a Mitsubishi engine.and a Porsche badge ;)

Market saturation.

Works every time since 1969!

all were sold as 914 VW porshe with 2.0L VW engine,only later they released it with porshe 914/6

I get a lot of spam about sponsorships, despite me asking sponsors not to contact me on my Channel page. Not keen to do sponsorships. If I could make this pay without adverts I would.

@@BigCar2 Hope it works out well. Keep the content coming please - it's a great channel!

Most of them are in the States. Your best bet is to get one from there. Hurry though, prices are skyrocketing!

I did originally, but someone else suggested I change it!

@@BigCar2 I'm a huge VW/Porsche fan, and also flat engines in general (currently building a Subaru Impreza WRX from an Impreza RS), and I get why it's titled this way, but in my eyes the 914 will always be more of a Porsche than a VW. I've had two Beetles, the second of which was a fully built street-legal race car (1776cc bore, Greddy turbo, weighted short throw shifter with a rev limiter between gears, Recaro bucket seats, rear suspension overhaul, front suspension from a Porsche, mostly stripped interior, etc.) and it's currently sitting under a cover due to some body damage it took, I plan on doing a 356 replica kit on it's chassis, most likely. However, even with all of the Porsche parts in that Beetle, my bone-stock 914 just feels more like a Porsche to me, and mine's a 2.0 so it's not even the Porsche engine. I think I want to say it feels much more refined than a Beetle or Ghia. In a lot of ways I prefer the 914 to the (classic) 901 chassis, that perfect weight balance is so, so good. At some point I want to put a 930 motor in one, as it is, they out corner the 911 already, imagine a 930 powerplant behind it, it would have every edge over the 911 (i've also considered the forbidden Subaru EJ swap as I have the stock motor from my Impreza still). Anyway the title is probably better off this way, even though it's not as accurate, because a lot of people (in my country, anyway) still think they're an obscure Volkswagen of some kind and have no idea about the Porsche connection (we got them badged as both, mine's badged as a Porsche, but one of the parts donor cars I had was badged as a VW). As for the fuel tank thing, the most dangerous thing about it, in my experience, is if you have something like a 911 or a Beetle, once the tank is below half, the rear end of the car wants to kick out constantly, if you're going to drive one of them (especially the Beetle) in any sort of spirited driving, you absolutely NEED that tank to be as full as possible, because like you said, the engine hanging behind the rear axle makes cornering extremely dicey if it's not balanced out. My Beetle was making almost 150HP, so I could afford the tradeoff to make a very heavy front bumper from scratch along with weighing the front down from inside the front cover. The risk I see the most often isn't a fire in a crash, it's the rear end of the car kicking out.

i had a NSU, had a singles player(vinil7")with a back window opener on the back it was a nice car as my other first cars i bought it in a junkyard,maybe cost me what today is 7€

the type 4 1.7/1.8 and 2.0L engine was in the vw type2 transporters and type4 cars. it was a VW engine. The 914 just got different spec heads and cam.

Wrong

John… wrong

@@notyodaddy1499 prove it

I agree with you. I am 29 14-4 is now. And I've owned them for 30 years. The two liter was a Porsche engine. Now if you got an automatic and a type three I think it was then they would use this 2 L. Now the smaller engines I think they're Volkswagens but I would not swear to it. It's amazing what people are paying for these cars nowadays. Even as builders.

Welcome!