1972 914 -6?

[cory jump]

I have a 1972 914 that I bought from a guy who had owned it since 1974. He was under the impression that it was a genuine 6 cylinder car. It has a 4 cylinder VIN. This car seems to have most all if not all 6 cylinder parts on it and it appears like the motor mount, oil tank , etc...... where all in the car originally. I am just wondering if it is possible that this car with the 4 cylinder VIN could be a real 6 or is the only answer that someone used this chassis early in its life to rebody a real 6? I know that is the most likely answer but after looking this car over I just can't find where the car has been cut or modified.

any info would be appreciated. I can post pictures of key areas if anyone has any ideas.

Thanks
Cory Jump

[Matt Monson]

I have NEVER read of an instance where a car with a 47 based vin was delivered from the factory as a 6. If the guy truly thinks that's the case, a COA should reveal the truth. You've got to take it to the source.

It wasn't all that uncommon to do conversions on these cars back in the day. A couple of years back I brokered a sale to a guy down in your neck of the woods on a car like that. Like yours, it was a 1972 914-4 but it was converted in the mid 70's. Every single conversion part on the car was original 914-6, from the engine mount to the heat exchangers to the oil tank. It even had the brakes off the 6.

What happened was that early in it's life a 6 was wrecked and someone had a 4 sitting around and they moved everything over. The guy we sold the car for had only owned it for 5 years, but he bought the car from the original owner who did the conversion, so we had the story and provenance back to day 1.

[PCA7GGR]

+1 on what Matt said.

I had a 914-6GT that was based on a '70 4 banger that you'd be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't based on an original 6. It had everything that a 6 had except the 6 VIN. The conversion was done back in the late '70s by The Beach Boys - a SoCal Porsche shop and later made its way to me after being owned by Al at PartsHeaven.

[Scott Walshaw]

++.....Unless it has a VIN # with "914" as the first three it's NOT a factory six, but likely a conversion done with "real" parts. I have a '72, owned since new that was converted in a similar manner with "real" parts in the 80s (I had a friend at PCNA and a factory parts manual). What I did find out in the process was that there were actually around 300 "real" '72 914-6s and they were made with the 914-4 steering column and ignition switch rather that the 911 style and a moveable passenger seat, retracting seat belts - usually a fast way to tell a conversion from a "real' 6 (another is the drain holes in the engine bay for the rain drain tubes that appeared on the 4). I got to see one of these cars that a local PCA member purchased in France a few years ago...a little piece of fun 914 trivia. I can tell you that doing a really good conversion (ie, even the little stuff... tool kit, owners manual, hand throttle, etc.) using the original factory parts was NOT cheap so whether its "real" or a really good conversion its still the same fun...enjoy! SW

[smg911]

Scott quote: (another is the drain holes in the engine bay for the rain drain tubes that appeared on the 4)

FYI - All 914's (4's and 6's) had the holes on each side of the engine shelf that were used for the drain tubes for the 914-4. Because the 6's didn't have the rain tray or the drain hoses, the 914-6's had white plastic snap in thingies to plug the two holes.

[Racerbvd]

72 914-6s used the same steering column & key location as a 914..

[cory jump]

Thanks for all of your input.

I didn't think there was much chance of it being a real one but all of my digging around on the car hasn't produced any eveidence of tampering with. It does have the earlier 914 6 steering column and ignition switch arrangement unlike the 72 914 6s that have the 4 cylinder style column and switch.


I am going to put the car for sale on the classifieds forum today to try to raise funds for end of the year expenses. Thanks again.

Cory

[SirAndy]

Just out of curiosity, what is the VIN on the car?

I see it has the metal hook for the oil-line. Do you have a picture of the front trunk? Does it match the green original paint in the back?
If not, it could be that the rear is indeed from a original /6 and the front clip is from a /4 (Including the VIN).
I have seen this many times where two halfs where stitched together to make one car.

Andy

[cory jump]

Hi Andy. The VIN is 4722917585. I too find it strange to think that someone would go to the extent of the details like the metal hook for the oil line when doing the conversion. The same green base coat color is on the car from the front to the rear and when I sanded down the area around the vin tag in the front fenderwell it appears that green was the fist color on top of the sealer or primer . I picked around by the center motor mount and don't feel like it has ever been disturbed. There are no mounts on the underside for the 4 cylinder motor mount. Nor does it look like they were removed afterwards. The guy that I got the car from did all of the terrible paintwork himself. It was green when he purchased the car in 1974. I am going to post more pictures on the classified add today .

Thanks
Cory

[Matt Monson]

What a strange little car.
Don't 914's have a trunk vin too?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If the trunk floor is original, you can find the chassis number there. It should match the number on the Karmann plate, I believe.

--DD

[SirAndy]

Originally Posted by Dave at Pelican Parts

If the trunk floor is original, you can find the chassis number there. It should match the number on the Karmann plate, I believe.

Actually, a real /6 would not have the number stamped on the karman plate, just the paint code ...
Andy

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I had forgotten that; thanks Andy!

--DD

[cory jump]

I have this car advertised on the classifieds page. I appreciate all of your input. Let me know if anyone has any interest or make me an offer

Thanks
Cory

[Alex5]

I have a '76 914-6 GT Recreation I bought four months ago from a guy in Utah and after 4 months in two shops here in Vegas, I just cannot get this car to pass emissions in Nevada. I had teh Zeniths redone completely with new parts, jets etc and ran superb, just rich. The last guy was confident he can make it pass, after detuning it and adjusting the valves and God only knows what else, the thing still failed and now its smoking and coughing....It never did that before, and I'm assuming he made the valves too loose and rejetted the carbs too much. Apparently the car has some goodies on it like a 2.5L 911S engine with JE pistons, Nicasil cylinders, 2.0 crankshaft and the new redone Zeniths. It drove fantastic before going into Meyers on Boulder Highway! I've asked them to put all adjustments back to were they were and give me the car back. I'm dying to get thsi car back on the street...Any help would be much appreciated??

[Pete000]

Interesting vehicle,the big mystery to me is the hole in the front trunk for AC condenser. Did any of the six cars get dealer installed AC??

Is there any other evidence of ac installation in the car??

It would be fun to strip that car down to the shell and see just where it was grafted together...Looks to be hard to tell with both the six and the for appearing to be matching green orig paint.

[cory jump]

I sold this car more than a year ago.

[mepstein]

It's for sale again. Do you think it is a real six or a converted 4?