The Forgotten Porsche

If you ask people what their favorite classic Porsche is, they'll often respond by mentioning the beautiful 356 or the iconic 911. It's sad that few people recall the decidedly different Porsche 914 2-seater.

The car was jointly manufactured by Porsche and Volkswagen. This upset a few die-hard Porsche enthusiasts, but it gave VW the opportunity to get into the sports car market, while offering Porsche a chance to market a less expensive entry model than they could build on their own. In Europe, a 4-cylinder version was assembled and sold by Volkswagen, while a more powerful 6-cylinder was offered by Porsche. All North American variants were sold as Porsches, which was probably an unfortunate marketing mistake.

Despite its rather odd looks, this light mid-engine vehicle is fun to drive and the 6-cylinder powerplant was lifted directly from the 911 line, offering quite a kick. The driving position is extremely low - it feels like you are skimming the road, and the engine firewall is immediately behind you. More than 115,000 were sold between 1969 and 1975, although the model was replaced a couple of years later by the extremely successful and completely different front-engined 924.

These days, the 914 has a reputation as the ultimate poor man's Porsche, but be warned that its looks are polarizing: people either love it or hate it.

Porsche 914: Starter Car for First-Time Collectors (vintagecars.about.com)