914 years

[kpex914]

i;m looking to buy another 914. What are the best years for the 914.(I live in California so anything later than 75 whould have smog.)

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The best years are whatever cars have the least rust. You can update/backdate just about everything if you are motivated, so the exact year isn't a really big deal.

The early cars are more spartan and lighter. The later cars are very slightly less spartan (far from luxurious!) and heavier. The 75-76 cars have the Big Heavy Bumpers, which is good from a parallel parking standpoint (or a grocery store parking lot standpoint) but not so great from a performance standpoint.

The 2.0 engines make more power, but the parts are more expensive. The rest make less (all "roughly" similar output though) and are less spendy.

My own preference is for the 73-74 2.0 cars, but it's not an imensely strong preference. If you're going to do an engine swap, the original engine is much less of a factor.

--DD

[nine_one_4]

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_Darling_FAQ/914_Darling_FAQ.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/How_to_buy_a_914.htm

[Joe Bob]

Only the 76 needs to be smogged in CA.