Porsche 914-6 GT

Porsche 914-6 GT
Overview
Manufacturer	Porsche
Production	1970 – 1972
Assembly	Karmann
Body and chassis
Class	Sports car
Body style	Targa Coupe
Layout	Mid engined
Related	Porsche 917
Powertrain
Engine	2.0 L flat-6
Chronology
Predecessor	Porsche 912
Successor	Porsche 924

The Porsche 914-6 GT was a race car built by Porsche, it's considered the cousin of the Porsche 917.

History

The Porsche 914/6 was introduced in September 1969 as a collaborative effort between Porsche and Volkswagen to produce a sporty car. The car they came up with was a mid-engined vehicle with seating for two and featured a targa top. The car sits very low and the suspension was a combination of a 911-type torsion bar front suspension with a rear coil spring suspension. The headlights hide in the hood and pop-up when needed. The targa top can be stored in the trunk. The 1.7-litre air-cooled flat four produced a heady 80bhp, the 914/6 GT, received the carburettor-fed two-litre flat six from the 911T with 210hp and proved considerably faster – naturally – at 123mph and 0-60mph in 8.3sec.

A five-speed manual gearbox was standard equipment on all models. The 914/6 was short lived with only 3360 examples produced between 1970 and 1972. All featured the 2.0 litre flat-six engine. It was raced using different engine configurations. This included the 'T' specification, which was basically a stock 911 engine. Another popular configuration was to use a converted Carrera 6 engine.

In 1970 Porsche entered a 914/6 GT in the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The car was been driven by the duo Claude Ballot-Léna and Guy Chasseuil and it finished 6th overall (preceded by cars like the V12 Ferrari 512S), and unsurprisingly won its class doing better of the Porsche 911S. The model has also competed in some of the most important race competition of his era like Targa Florio with Brian Redman, Monte Carlo Rally and Daytona International Speedway.