Porsche has long been like a parent who has a favorite child who can do no wrong—”Have you heard 911 got four scholarships? And is class president and valedictorian? Why can’t you be more like 911?”—and a younger child always playing second fiddle. “Don’t worry, Cayman, someday you’ll be valedictorian too.” Oh wait, Porsche is killing off your combustion engine. Maybe therapy will help.
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So it was with the proto-Cayman, the four-cylinder 914. But wait! There was a time when Porsche begrudgingly gave its junior sports-car offspring some support. Such was the case with the 914-6, which got a six-cylinder engine mounted amidships, and a prime example of that car is for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos).
The 914-6 was equipped with an air-cooled 2.0-liter flat-six engine that was a hand-me-down from the 911T. Porsche’s least powerful six-cylinder at the time, it was good for 110 horsepower. It wasn’t blazingly fast, but at under 2100 pounds, the 914-6 was actually about 150 pounds lighter than the 911T. Suddenly, the younger sibling was grown up and ready to hand out some payback. It was the 914’s Cayman GT4 moment.
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This example is finished in black on black, a treatment that hides some of the 914’s more ungainly angles. The 14-inch Fuchs wheels and silver “Porsche” script look fantastic, and there’s not much that can beat a removable targa top for letting that twin-carbureted flat-six howl swirl into your ears.
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The odometer has rolled over, but this car looks to have lived a charmed life. Black is said to be the original factory color, making it even more rare for its model year, and the original owner took delivery at the factory in Germany, touring around the country before shipping the car home to California. That’s how you do Porsche ownership right.
A 914-6 is not for everyone, not with a gearshift linkage that requires a little finesse and an engine that begs for revs. But be patient with the shifter and give that flat-six the beans, and it’s a transcendent driving experience.
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Whether you are that overlooked sibling or just a fan of a the underdog choice, a 914-6 is a wonderful machine and a true Porsche. Here’s your chance to bid on a rare mid-engine machine that’s one of the best cars to come out of Stuttgart.
