The Stuttgart brand celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 914

The Porsche 914 celebrates its 50th anniversary, and the Stuttgart brand will pay tribute to it at the Porsche Museum on June 2nd.

The Stuttgart brand celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 914, and although it is a model that has gone somewhat unnoticed, it deserves a special mention. Its history begins in the mid-1960s, when Porsche was looking for a new entry-level sports car for the brand to sit below the legendary Porsche 911.

However, at that time, Porsche did not believe it was capable of developing the vehicle on its own and enlisted the help of Volkswagen, which was also looking for a sports car capable of replacing the legendary Karmann Ghia. Both manufacturers formed a partnership and developed the first mid-engined sports car in Germany.

The Porsche 914, a sports car born from the union of Porsche and Volkswagen

The version developed by Volkswagen used a four-cylinder, 1.7-litre engine that was capable of producing 80 CV. Despite being lightweight, its performance was not as impressive. It accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 13 seconds and reached a top speed of 177 km/h.

For its part, Porsche opted to fit a six-cylinder, 2.0-litre flat engine from the Porsche 911 T, with overhead camshafts and triple carburettors. It offered 110 CV and, thanks to the additional boost, the German sports car could go from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.7 seconds.

Although the six-cylinder variant offered better performance, it was not very popular, and only 3,338 units were produced, while the version developed by Volkswagen sold 115,631 units between 1969 and 1975.

A very special tribute worthy of a 50th anniversary

To pay tribute to the legendary Porsche 914 on its 50th anniversary, the Porsche Museum will organise a special event on June 2nd called “50 years of the Porsche 914 – Typically Porsche“.

The event will feature the attendance of more than 120 owners of the Porsche 914 and a debate led by experts: Roland Kussmaul, former development and racing engineer; Hans Clausecker, former chassis developer and racing driver; Günter Steckkönig, engineer and racing driver; and Jürgen Lewandowski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IhE8JoQVuU

Anthony Hatter, Director of Quality Style Design at Porsche, together with former Porsche development engineer Jürgen Kapfer and racing car product developer Hermann-Josef Steinmetz, will explore the question of the roots and, above all, the future of the mid-engine concept at Porsche, and will investigate why the mid-engine layout, design, technology and lifestyle are typically Porsche today.

The first Porsche 914s built and one of the two Porsche prototypes with an eight-cylinder racing engine will also be on display. Another exhibit will be the 914/6 GT, which was made available to the ONS in 1972 as the world’s first safety car, equipped with new safety systems and a modern fire-extinguishing system.

A privately owned restoration project featuring a 350 CV V8 engine from a Porsche 928 GTS and a Porsche 916 will also appear. The Volkswagen Porsche also inspired the renowned car designer Albrecht Graf von Goertz and the French technician Heuliez to design their own versions of the Porsche 914, which will also be on exhibition. The special show will run at the Porsche Museum until July 7th.