A 914 Story
A 914 Story - Part 1
The 914 I purchased last month finally arrived here in Scottsdale. I had Intercity Lines pick it up at the seller's home in North Carolina last Saturday & it was delivered today (Thursday). https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...95a73d05e8.png It's a 1973 914 2.0. Vin # 4732905540. They say if you can't get a '70/'71 914-6, this year (1973) & model (2.0) has to rank as the next best model to have. And some think it's as good as a 914-6 due to the engine's lighter weight & similar performance! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...be028b9854.png But this car has one more characteristic that makes it very special to me & the reason I bought it. Its exterior color is the very desirable, and somewhat rare, 'Ravenna Green' - color code L65K! And most of you Rennlisters know by now that I am into rare Porsche colors! :thumbsup: *** Since I am retired & have all the time in the world, and this 914 forum is not that active & in need of more content, I am going to take my time & tell you via a circuitous route, how this day came about & why I decided to buy this particular Porsche. So bear with me, please! **** My first Porsche was a 1968 912 Soft-Rear Targa that I bought back in the summer of 1973 when the car was about 5 years old. I didn't know it at the time but that Porsche would hook me into a world that I have yet to leave! But I didn't know that then. I was 22 years old, right out of Penn & into my first adult job after graduation with GE. Until six months before I purchased my first Porsche, I didn't even have a driver's license...although I had taken Driver's Ed as a Senior in high school. I was a true 'City Slicker' & far removed from the car culture that later has played such a big role later in my life. I quickly crashed that 912, then went to Paris & did other things related to my career. When I came back to the US I got into international banking in NYC & didn't need a car in that city. It was only after I was posted in Miami by Bankers Trust in 1978 that I needed to think again about a car ...and bought a used 1970 911T coupe. The exterior was a little ratty & I naively painted it 'Imron Red' because I thought that was a cool thing to do! After all, planes were painted in Imron, what could be better? I also tossed the original Porsche seats & bought a set of colorful Recaros! https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4b0a8c3b1e.png What was I thinking? In any case, I decided to move to California in 1984 after my banking career back East. I sold the '70 911T & became interested in a 1973 914 2.0 in 'Sunflower Yellow' that I found in the classified ads of Panorama. It resided in Westchester County & I remembered it as being quite expensive at around $8K. The 914 seller needed the cash to buy a low mileage Concours' 1974 911 Carrera that I also knew well (it was a local NNJ PCA car!), but considered to too expensive at the time! :banghead: The 914 2.0 was in pristine mostly original condition (it was also only 11 years old at the time), so I bought it & then immediately took it cross-country drive to the West Coast. Part of what captivated me about the 914 was a desire to get back to an open roof car! And the Porsche ads of the day highlighted that 'sunny' style, seen here in a similar 'Sunflower Yellow' model in their advertisement: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ac8e23c3e0.png All I remember about the cross-country trip in the 914 was how hard the upgraded 'sport' suspension felt. Immediately upon arriving in Los Angeles I found a local independent Porsche shop to remove those hard springs & replaced them with the stock 914 2.0 factory set up. The mechanic that did that work for me was named Dave Bouzaglou. And the shop he had was TRE Motorsports, which is still in business although at a new location in the 'City of Angels'. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e280c7980f.png http://www.tremotorsports.com Today Dave is a fellow R Gruppe member who I frequently see at our R Treffens. But he is also my oldest Porsche friend in the West Coast dating back to that time! Perhaps he is now best known for putting together the great 'Targa California' driving event each year: https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b07f36a2f9.png http://www.targacalifornia.com And most of the time he is driving it in his heavily modified 914! https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5e034c620a.png *** Soon after my arrival in Los Angeles, Dave told me about a Porsche group that I had never heard before back East. It was called the 'Porsche Owners Club' & it had a history almost as long & distinguished as the PCA! It was founded, similar to the Porsche Club of America, in 1955. But it basically stayed local to the West Coast! This was their original badge which is today a collectors' item: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...562d492f43.png In 1985 I spent quite a bit of time at POC events at Willow Springs & Riverside International. Dave & some other POC drivers had an RV which became the 'social center' of our racing weekend. I had great times with these guys at these remote desert tracks all over Southern California! And at one particular POC event at Riverside, I got a bit over-confident & early apexed Turn 2 with my newly acquired 1973 914 2.0. That was 'not a good move', if any of you remember all the turns at that historic raceway which is no longer in existence: https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e42ae1cc57.png At first, I thought I brought it under control by getting back on the track. But I couldn't hold it. And I went to the opposite side, finally hitting the wall. It was a total loss! So less than a year into ownership of this 914, I destroyed it. I then purchased a slightly used 1984 911SC in 'Guards Red' which kept me comfortably in 'wheels' while I continued living for a time at Marina del Rey on Tahiti Way before I moved up to NorCal. Shortly after that I got into 944s...then into 356s. You can follow the progression of cars that I have owned in my 'signature' below. I honestly didn't start wanting to get back into a 914 until more recent times. But this brief ownership in the 1980's, plus what I learned from other talented 914 drivers I met along the way, made a great impact on my thinking about Porsche cars...and continues to influence me to this day! I'll come back to this theme in a future post. *** Sadly this was the second Porsche I had totaled in 12 years, not the most auspicious start to my long history of ownership in the marque. I had lost the '68 912 just a month after I purchased it - a stupid rookie mistake on a country road just outside Virginia Beach, VA. And now another accident, this time on a track. But I wasn't discouraged. I had enjoyed my brief ownership of the 914. The thing I remembered the most was its great handling...and it's ample & roomy cabin. Like the modern Porsche 718, it had two luggage compartments. And it also made me a lifetime believer in the mid-engine concept that Porsche later perfected with the Boxster/Cayman platform, especially its Spyder versions in the 987 & 981 era & the gt4. I will return to the topic of handling & what an impression the 914 made on me (and many other Porsche enthusiasts) at the time! Hard to believe now, but back in the late 1970's & early 1980's, the 914 nearly dominated autocross & driving events in PCA/POC all across the United States! The 'little' 914 left a potent memory on all of us that lived through that period in Porsche history! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d522caab59.png There is more to come. I will continue this personal '914 Story' in a future post! :bigbye: Saludos, Eduardo Scottsdale, AZ |
'A 914 Story / Part 2'
A 914 Story - Part 2
If you are reading this post on a 914 forum, the chances are you are already very knowledgeable about the important part that the 914 played in Porsche history. So I will wait to wax poetically about that in later posts. But first, let me continue with my personal history with the 914. I first became aware of the model while in my senior year (1972) at Penn in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. One of my wealthy friends there, Richard Carrión of Puerto Rico, bought a new 914. Don't remember much about it... but it was the first time I knew anyone that actually owned a 914! The next year, while working for GE in Norfolk, VA (at their Television manufacturing plant...back when GE still made these!), I got to see many brand new 914s for sale at the small showroom of the Virginia Beach Porsche dealer, Checkered Flag. There I distinctly remember seeing one day a bright green 914 that I thought look positively stunning. The color of that car was 'Zambezi Green', known in German as 'Sambesigrün'. And it made a very favorable impression that lasted over the years...and to the present! *** In 1984, when I decided to buy my first used 914, I wasn't looking for any particular color car..just the condition of the actual 914. But over the years I have become more picky about the colors I want to see in my cars, especially my Porsches. And just over one year ago I received an email from a fellow R Gruppe member that is also a car dealer in Southern California. His name is Paul Kramer & he runs 'Auto Kennel' in Costa Mesa, CA. http://autokennel.com The subject of the email was a 1974 914 he had for sale. And it struck a cord with me...since it was in that same striking 'Zambesi Green' I remembered that new 914 back in my 'youth'. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...15d41832b4.png So I called him as soon as I read his message. Unfortunately I was not the first caller interested in the 914! At the top of the list was Patrick Long, who wanted to own a nice example of that Porsche model. In fourth place was my buddy Bob Smith, a fellow R Gruppe from Scottsdale, who is also a 'green' car fanatic & sold me his 2007 997 Carrera S in 'Signal Green' (he was the original owner) back in 2011. Sadly, I was down the list in 12th place & out of the 'running'! https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e652b4c13f.png * In the end, P. Long decided to pass on it. But by that time Paul's wife had fallen in love with the cute two-seater! And they changed the wheels, did some mechanical restoration needed & never sold it. Paul still kids me on occasion, calling it 'Eduardo's car'. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...aca45c5dbe.png And I have a standing offer to buy it from them when the Kramers are finally ready to sell! But Paul admits it will be hard to get it out of the grasp of his wife's hands! https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b2260a3c6e.png *** Once we sold our home in Carmel this year & found a new place in Scottsdale, my horizons opened up for adding cars to my 'collection'. In the past, I have always been restrained by lack of storage space at any of my previous homes in California (where my wife & lived for over 31 years!). My last garage at our home in Carmel, which we owned for 16 years, was a small tandem which accommodated only two cars! https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a3af515641.png https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...035202cfe7.png Previously, when we had owned second homes in Nevada & Colorado, we had been able to store more cars...and in pretty nice style too! Nevada: 1965 C Cabriolet - 35K original miles / All original paint & interior. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...bf163ccb32.png * 2001 BMW Z8 https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a685652aaf.png * Colorado: 1970 911E Targa / 55K original miles / All original paint & interior. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...cc3a06fb0f.png https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3e22274c3a.png *** But we eventually decided a few years ago to sell our second homes & concentrate on just one home at a time. Fortunately, the home we recently bought in North Scottsdale has a three car garage. And we are buying a separate 'car condominium' in something called 'The Toy Barn', just 15 minutes away in nearby Cave Creek: http://www.toybarnstorage.com We are waiting to take delivery of the car condominium in October to start decorating it, plus my three car garage in Scottsdale, with the auto memorabilia I have collected in over 42 years in the hobby! :jumper: So with the possibility of storage for more cars, I started a serious search for a 914 earlier this summer. That will be part 3 of 'A 914 Story'! Saludos, Eduardo Scottsdale |
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c943e4f4f2.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fd8e96e91a.jpg my 1972 914 with a vellios conversion 915 transmission, 3.2 liter motor. This car was purchased new by my dad in 1972 for my mother as a gift. stock 1.7 motor was swapped out. I had won multiple of local autocross events and hill climbs |
Originally Posted by H82BL8
(Post 13592340)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c943e4f4f2.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fd8e96e91a.jpg my 1972 914 with a vellios conversion 915 transmission, 3.2 liter motor. This car was purchased new by my dad in 1972 for my mother as a gift. Is is 'Saturn Yellow', color code L13M? I take it that you still own it. When did you or your father do the conversion? Saludos, Eduardo Scottsdale |
Getting back down to north Scottsdale in about 2 weeks. In process of shipping my new Boxster Spyder down to join my '73 914 2.0.
That Toy Barn looks very interesting!! Gonna have to check it out personally! My son lives in north Scottsdale too and since he also inherited the car gene, his small 3 car garage is getting very full as well. |
Originally Posted by skl
(Post 13593664)
That Toy Barn looks very interesting!! Gonna have to check it out personally! My son lives in north Scottsdale too and since he also inherited the car gene, his small 3 car garage is getting very full as well. I'll put you in contact with him if you PM me. He is about to start building a second Toy Barn further up on Cave Creek Road, approx. at Lone Mountain Road. The current Toy Barn is almost sold out! My unit, which is 20 x 40 sq. ft., runs $115K. I am adding an A/C, double epoxy floor, painted walls & a steel mezzanine (so that I can add almost 50% more 'space' since the ceilings are extremely high). So that will add around $24K more. It will accommodate around 4 large American cars or 6 smaller Porsches. More if add you lifts. There is a common lounge area where they hold parties once a month during the 'season' - Oct to April. It has WiFi & cable for TV, etc. HOA fees & taxes are minimal. Here is what a similar unit to mine looks like. This was was sold just recently: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c5c94a5afb.png https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...781a85a400.png https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0534481728.png The Toy Barn was built around 2011 so it's a modern infrastructure. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fd27355337.png Something like this in Northern California would have cost me 3x or 4x more money! :banghead: And it's only 15 minutes away from my home in the Troon area of North Scottsdale. I just take 'Dynamite' to 'Cave Creek Road', make a right & it's the next turn on the right. I just love Arizona! :jumper: Saludos, Eduardo Scottsdale |
I know that car well that Patrick Long bought from Auto Kennel.....
the owner originally asked me to appraise the car for him and put the word out for him to our local Porsche Club. I did, and also helped answer questions from prospective buyers in a 3 state area. It did not sell and he then consigned it to Auto Kennel, where it sold quite quickly. For the sum of what I heard later, was the same amount I had appraised it at. It was a one owner car with the wife having bought it new from the local dealership shortly before they were married. Nice couple who kept it very good form...... I was sad to see it leave our area. |
Thank You
Originally Posted by Z356
(Post 13590041)
A 914 Story - Part 1
The 914 I purchased last month finally arrived here in Scottsdale. I had Intercity Lines pick it up at the seller's home in North Carolina last Saturday & it was delivered today (Thursday). https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...95a73d05e8.png It's a 1973 914 2.0. Vin # 4732905540. They say if you can't get a '70/'71 914-6, this year (1973) & model (2.0) has to rank as the next best model to have. And some think it's as good as a 914-6 due to the engine's lighter weight & similar performance! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...be028b9854.png But this car has one more characteristic that makes it very special to me & the reason I bought it. Its exterior color is the very desirable, and somewhat rare, 'Ravenna Green' - color code L65K! And most of you Rennlisters know by now that I am into rare Porsche colors! :thumbsup: *** Since I am retired & have all the time in the world, and this 914 forum is not that active & in need of more content, I am going to take my time & tell you via a circuitous route, how this day came about & why I decided to buy this particular Porsche. So bear with me, please! **** My first Porsche was a 1968 912 Soft-Rear Targa that I bought back in the summer of 1973 when the car was about 5 years old. I didn't know it at the time but that Porsche would hook me into a world that I have yet to leave! But I didn't know that then. I was 22 years old, right out of Penn & into my first adult job after graduation with GE. Until six months before I purchased my first Porsche, I didn't even have a driver's license...although I had taken Driver's Ed as a Senior in high school. I was a true 'City Slicker' & far removed from the car culture that later has played such a big role later in my life. I quickly crashed that 912, then went to Paris & did other things related to my career. When I came back to the US I got into international banking in NYC & didn't need a car in that city. It was only after I was posted in Miami by Bankers Trust in 1978 that I needed to think again about a car ...and bought a used 1970 911T coupe. The exterior was a little ratty & I naively painted it 'Imron Red' because I thought that was a cool thing to do! After all, planes were painted in Imron, what could be better? I also tossed the original Porsche seats & bought a set of colorful Recaros! https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4b0a8c3b1e.png What was I thinking? In any case, I decided to move to California in 1984 after my banking career back East. I sold the '70 911T & became interested in a 1973 914 2.0 in 'Sunflower Yellow' that I found in the classified ads of Panorama. It resided in Westchester County & I remembered it as being quite expensive at around $8K. The 914 seller needed the cash to buy a low mileage Concours' 1974 911 Carrera that I also knew well (it was a local NNJ PCA car!), but considered to too expensive at the time! :banghead: The 914 2.0 was in pristine mostly original condition (it was also only 11 years old at the time), so I bought it & then immediately took it cross-country drive to the West Coast. Part of what captivated me about the 914 was a desire to get back to an open roof car! And the Porsche ads of the day highlighted that 'sunny' style, seen here in a similar 'Sunflower Yellow' model in their advertisement: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ac8e23c3e0.png All I remember about the cross-country trip in the 914 was how hard the upgraded 'sport' suspension felt. Immediately upon arriving in Los Angeles I found a local independent Porsche shop to remove those hard springs & replaced them with the stock 914 2.0 factory set up. The mechanic that did that work for me was named Dave Bouzaglou. And the shop he had was TRE Motorsports, which is still in business although at a new location in the 'City of Angels'. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e280c7980f.png http://www.tremotorsports.com Today Dave is a fellow R Gruppe member who I frequently see at our R Treffens. But he is also my oldest Porsche friend in the West Coast dating back to that time! Perhaps he is now best known for putting together the great 'Targa California' driving event each year: https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b07f36a2f9.png http://www.targacalifornia.com And most of the time he is driving it in his heavily modified 914! https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5e034c620a.png *** Soon after my arrival in Los Angeles, Dave told me about a Porsche group that I had never heard before back East. It was called the 'Porsche Owners Club' & it had a history almost as long & distinguished as the PCA! It was founded, similar to the Porsche Club of America, in 1955. But it basically stayed local to the West Coast! This was their original badge which is today a collectors' item: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...562d492f43.png In 1985 I spent quite a bit of time at POC events at Willow Springs & Riverside International. Dave & some other POC drivers had an RV which became the 'social center' of our racing weekend. I had great times with these guys at these remote desert tracks all over Southern California! And at one particular POC event at Riverside, I got a bit over-confident & early apexed Turn 2 with my newly acquired 1973 914 2.0. That was 'not a good move', if any of you remember all the turns at that historic raceway which is no longer in existence: https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e42ae1cc57.png At first, I thought I brought it under control by getting back on the track. But I couldn't hold it. And I went to the opposite side, finally hitting the wall. It was a total loss! So less than a year into ownership of this 914, I destroyed it. I then purchased a slightly used 1984 911SC in 'Guards Red' which kept me comfortably in 'wheels' while I continued living for a time at Marina del Rey on Tahiti Way before I moved up to NorCal. Shortly after that I got into 944s...then into 356s. You can follow the progression of cars that I have owned in my 'signature' below. I honestly didn't start wanting to get back into a 914 until more recent times. But this brief ownership in the 1980's, plus what I learned from other talented 914 drivers I met along the way, made a great impact on my thinking about Porsche cars...and continues to influence me to this day! I'll come back to this theme in a future post. *** Sadly this was the second Porsche I had totaled in 12 years, not the most auspicious start to my long history of ownership in the marque. I had lost the '68 912 just a month after I purchased it - a stupid rookie mistake on a country road just outside Virginia Beach, VA. And now another accident, this time on a track. But I wasn't discouraged. I had enjoyed my brief ownership of the 914. The thing I remembered the most was its great handling...and it's ample & roomy cabin. Like the modern Porsche 718, it had two luggage compartments. And it also made me a lifetime believer in the mid-engine concept that Porsche later perfected with the Boxster/Cayman platform, especially its Spyder versions in the 987 & 981 era & the gt4. I will return to the topic of handling & what an impression the 914 made on me (and many other Porsche enthusiasts) at the time! Hard to believe now, but back in the late 1970's & early 1980's, the 914 nearly dominated autocross & driving events in PCA/POC all across the United States! The 'little' 914 left a potent memory on all of us that lived through that period in Porsche history! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d522caab59.png There is more to come. I will continue this personal '914 Story' in a future post! :bigbye: Saludos, Eduardo Scottsdale, AZ Eduardo, As always, thank you for your business. The 914 looks great and we look forward to helping you with any future moves. |
Excellent thread, sir! Enjoyed the read, and look forward to more. Thank you for sharing
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When my dad was looking for his 914 back in 73, he had a color brochure for the car. I was 11 and had learned the word "Chartreuse" and saw the Ravenna Green color in the brochure. I told dad that he had to get the 914 in Ravenna Green. He agreed. But when he went to purchase the car, there were none available in the color. So he settled for the Saturn yellow. Oh well, we tried. I still think its one of the best color's EVER!!!!
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This has been a great read...thank you!
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I have really enjoyed your posts on this thread!
I share your appreciation for the new Boxster Spyder and have one in GT Silver with the Classic Red & Black interior with the Carbon Bucket Seats. Thanks for posting......I look forward to reading more. |
Thank you all for the comments. I do
have to get back & continue with this 914 story. Soon. Saludos. Eduardo Scottsdale |
Eduardo, very nice story--and some awesome cars. I appreciate your long term commitment, and your desire to chase and own some interesting cars, even if they are not true (high dollar) collector models.
I also appreciate your mention of Riverside. When I lived in Arizona I went to several races there, and while I was a flagger for SCCA I worked at the first--and second--last ever races there. Too bad subdivisions and shopping malls now cover that ground. But reading your history is dangerous for me. I also had a series of 914's, from ratty to pristine, and then a PCA/SCCA race car. And since I also recently retired, I am feeling itchy for another. The ratty 914 2.0 (looks pretty good but very rusty): https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...edca31d48c.jpg The pristine 2.0 (had to sell it before I started making it into a track car): https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5af4eeca64.jpg The race car (which I also wrecked on track, but with lots of help from a Miata): https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...70a7e8a217.jpg |
Eduardo, I enjoyed reading your story about this 914. How close to Birch green is Ravenna green? I think it's a great color for the 914 shape, in addition to improving visibility for all those cell phone taking SUV drivers who might not see you otherwise.
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