Thoughts on the 916?

[prattrc]

There was a recent post that mentioned the 916, and I was wondering what people think of that car. So what do you think?

[DDS]

I'll bite. Cosmetically, as the Trans Am was to the Firebird, the 916 is to the 914.
Nice butt, ugly nose job, groovy interior. Missing a big hood decal.
The GT is more like the evolution of the species.

[philinjax]

DDS,
I agree with your comments, 100%.
Phil

[ein 6er]

i love the look of the 916!! it is a pity that it wasn't produced, developed and refined.

i think it was in the late '80s, i stopped in at AA to get a few parts for my 74 2.0 and what do i see when i pull in the lot??? a REAL 916!!! hussey had just bought it!! the 916 was such a legend to me, and i thought i would never see one in person. needless to say, i was in awe and (at the time) i thought AA was "holy ground".

if i remember correctly hussey told me he paid $100,000.00 for it. when it was featured in excellence magazine, he said he paid $115,000.00 for it. now he has it for sale .... but have you seen the price?!? oh, but he does say that you can tell from the price that he >really< doesn't want to sell it.

that car so influenced me, that i said, if i ever get a 914/6 it would have to be silver. and i recently bought an original silver one!

doug waters

[Rouser]

The 916 was just a styling exercise; just one possible path the 914 could head in. Look at the progress of the 924 > 944 S&T > 968 and you witness another evolutionary cum revolutionary design path that was followed by Porsche.

The buying market (read: us) sometimes (but not always) dictates the path a car's appearance/performance takes, and then come your offshoots. The disappointment is that the 914 just didn't have a chance to "go farther".

[Scott S]

I liked everything except the body color rockers - so I left mine black!
Scott S

[philinjax]

doug,
Late eighties, perhaps 1989, I had a telephone discussion with George about, what else, 914 cars. He mentioned that he was coming down to Jacksonville to pick up a 914 he had bought from a local collector (head of one of the largest super market chains in the US). I told him that a business associate friend of mine has a yellow 2.0L, 74, that had less than 42,000 original miles on it and that he wanted to sell. George said he would visit my friend while he was in town. A week or so later, my friend calls to tell me that George drove up in a silver 914. George introduced himself and he and my friend had a discussion about the yellow car value and the silver car George was driving. My friend told me that George said he paid $115,000 for the silver car.
About two weeks later, I was in Atlanta on business and decided to visit AA. It was late in the afternoon and it was a soggy, nasty day. I saw a line of, maybe twenty 914s aligned under a string of light bulbs in front of the business. One of those teeners was the silver 916. Inside, I asked how long that silver car had been out in the rain. Sean, at that time, apparently number two at AA, told me that it had been in the rain for a couple of weeks since George drove it back from Jacksonville.
George flew to Jax, paid $115K for a classic, drove the thing back to Atlanta and it sat, outside in the rain for (at least) two weeks before they brought it in to freshen up, so Sean told me.
Blows my mind.
Phil

[URY914]

I went to college in Jacksonville (UNF) in the '83-'84 and use to hang out at the Brumos race shop just north of downtown (it was the location of the original dealership). They had the 916 sitting in the the corner under a car cover just wasting away. This was after Peter Gregg took his last walk on the beach and they didn't know what to do with the car. Bob Snodgrass (Pres. of Brumos) actually owned it. The license plate was "BOBSLED" It was really strange to see this Road and Track cover car and the grand daddy of all U.S. 914s just sitting there. The car was not really all that great to look at, it as not the perfect car that you may think. It was really sorta thrown together. It looked a lot better in Road and Track than in person. Kinda like when you see the that TV/movie star in person-doesn't look as good as you thought she would.

[Joe Ricard]

Just don't think it is worth it. Just goes to show what the market will support.
Gee can't wait till my 78 928 is the last one on earth. Nearly can't get rid of it today for anything shy of $4,000. Never sell it though just can't wipe the grin from my face as I stomp brand new $30,000 mustang convertables. He sure was pissed reading "PORSCHE" of my bumper cover.

[Joe Bob]

If I have to give up a first born child, a testicle and everything else I own for a 914.....gimme the one of the two they made for Mr P and his sister....the 914/8 or 918 whatever.....

[JmuRiz]

Good point mike...now the 914/8's are THE ULTIMATE expression. Could you imagine how scarry (in a good way) those would be to drive! Plus the red one looks mighty cool w/ those double headlights

Nathan

[Jim Smolka]

I don't think the folks at Porsche wanted the 916 to compete with the 911. With a more powerful motor and better handling characteristics, 916 would have been more of a focus on the race scene.

[rich]

My turn, I happen to like the styling exercise and the effort put forth by the design team at the werks. I said it before and I'll say it again. The 914 and it's steroid injected, and geneticlly enhanced 916 sister were way ahead of their time. Has anyone noticed where the styling and design of the Manufacturers and the after market has been heading? Plush but spartin interior design, Wide bodies, one piece replacement front and rear bumper covers with built-in ducts, airdams, and punched and expanded metal molded in. ("The Fast And The Furious" crowd know what I mean) I believe that if the 914 had been allowed to evolve, the 911 would have eventully been dropped from the Porsche line. The rear vs mid-engine layout would have dictated the natual evolution. I don't really care who has an original. I've never been about that. I believe that a well executed fake is just as good if not better than any restored car. But if I were to sell my soul to the devil for one 914, I'm with Mike Z. An Air cooooled 8's for me. With the styling Q's borrowed from the 911, those cars only confirm my 911 phase out theory. We need more information and photo's about those two cars. LOT'S MORE....

[Joe Bob]

One problem....Porsche did not OWN the 914 body. VW and Karmann did. When the prez of VW died and the new weenie came in, he reneged on the dead guys deal. He then bent over Porsche on the body charges......the 914 would have been a LOT cheaper if not for VW.....

THAT along with the US mandated safety changes and US EPA emission regs, killed the 914.

[J P Stein]

IMO, there were 2 good things about the 916:
A horse power injection.
A stiffer chassis due to the soildly mounted roof.

The down side:

It was/is still ugly. People that were willing to pay the estimated $13K price (in 73) would want something pleasing to the eye.

A compete restyle would have been necessary and (as Mikey said) Porsche didn't own the thing. They already owned a "silk purse". End of story.

[ein 6er]

phil,
wow, some story! in the excellence article, he said that the windshield weeped water but he didn't want to pull the windshield to fix the leak for fear of cracking it.

i was wondering how he knew it leaked!

phil, have you lived in jville for awhile? the 914/6 i bought lived in jville from the 70's up until the early 90's. you wouldn't know anything about it would you?

doug

[Bleyseng]

To add to what MikeZ said..What I have heard as the the end of the 914, was that VW/Karmann needed the production line for the new Scirroco. So they told Porsche that there would be no more bodies made so no more cars!
Why would Porsche be willing stop production of a car they were selling 20,000 units of per year. So Karmann finished up building all the cars they had body parts for. Also Porsche built the 1976 912E to fill in the gap for a lost cost Porsche and to use up parts.
Yes, of course long term Porsche was leaning to faze out the lowcost aircooled cars but the 924 wasn't ready yet.

On the 916, I think it was way too expensive for the marketplace besides the front bumper. Look at the 914/6, those cars didn't really sell very well at all. Also the 916 with that solid roof, kinda defeats the purpose of the car design, to go topless in a 2 seater!
Geoff

[philinjax]

Doug,
I have lived in Jax on and off since 68. Sold my business in 96 and have since been devoting my time to teeners, autox and my wife, not necessarily in that order.
I bought a new 74 2.0L during the Summer months, I think, at
Brumos. At that time, there was a 916 in the showroom. Batt Masterson was the top salesperson then. I asked for a price on the 916 and Batt told me that they had $17K or so in the car and they would sell for that. I was making about $16K-20K at that time and had no obligations. I actually considered buying the thing. In the end, I didn't want to make the sacrifice, I got the 2.0L four banger, a great car.
In any event, that's all I know about 916 cars in Jax, except for the occasion of George Hussey's foray I had described earlier.
Phil

[gruntie]

It should've looked like this:

[DDS]

OK, how bout this - 911 slant nose type front end, 916 rear but SC type flares and rear roof line like above hispano alleman (or whatever it is) or flying butresses like maserati Bora or Merak. That woulda killed the 911. Funny how they are stuck again WRT engine in trunk with the boxster/911. Interesting that the new carerra GT is mid engined. Gotta go, baby drooling bad.