1974 Porsche 914-6 GT – Jay Leno’s Garage

42 Comments

1. When he says let's see what it does, and he jumps on it, it makes good noise but it doesn't look like it accelerated fast….

2. I have a unique car…it's a 1977 AMC Gremlin with the Audi 2.0 Litre engine in it, which was a Porsche 914 4-cylinder engine with the fuel injection replaced with a carburetor and matted up with a Mercury Bobcat transmission. The Gremlins had that option in 1977 and 1978 as a solution to the Gas Crunch back then. In 1979 and 1980, AMC replaced that engine with the Pontiac Vega 4 cylinder. If you want to do a review of it, Mr. Leno, please let me know! 😀

3. In 1979, I wanted to buy either a 914 or a TR7. The Triumph came up first. 2 weeks later, the Porsche came up for about the same money. I still regret not waiting.

4. My uncle had a '72 and used to let me sit on his lap and steer. A car nut kid dream (I was only 8). His was an orangish red with black trim/interrior. I was a lucky kid as far as uncles went, as another uncle had at the same time a '69 XKE he'd take me out in and get up to 110 (my mom would have freaked)..no seat belts, of course). Same time yet another uncle had a big black Lincoln Mark III. My grandfather had bought a Continental Mark II new (black), which had an a/c that took up the entire trunk, but it was only a car of lore by the time I came around. Fun times…and why I have been a car junkie since. (there were other cars.)

5. Absolutely fugly car!

6. In 1973 I had a '72 914, it was a 4 cyl in Yukon Yellow. I loved it, it had a spartan but practical well built interior, it handled like a go cart, it was a lot of fun to drive. It was very light weight though, driving in the rain or snow it could be skittish. You also had to pay attention when shifting, it wasn't difficult to go from 1st to reverse! One day at a stop light I heard a popping noise from the rear and a guy in a van next to me was shouting, "you have a flat tire!". I wondered why he was so animated when pointing to the car. When I exited to look at the tire I realized the guy was shouting "you're on fire!". Knowing the gas tank was in front of the driver's seat, I quickly stepped away from the car. A policeman was on the corner using a call box, he notified the fire dept and ran into a gas station to get a fire extinguisher but it was empty! With the magnesium engine, the car was engulfed withing minutes. While watching the car burn a guy came up to me to let me know there was a recent newspaper article about the 914 stating that the car had a faulty injection system which was capable of leaking on the hot engine block. Evidently it wasn't all production years but 2-3 which had the problem. Anyway, I think it was Porsche, not thew insurance company that paid me for the value of the car. After that I bought a red '67 912 but that's another story. I did love driving that 914 though and I even loved the sound of the engine.

7. I have always wanted one of these after driving my buddy’s just a normal 914 but still fun

8. I'd like to hear Jay's take on the Porsche 928

9. I always thought the 914 was cool looking with the exception of the windshield looking so big and tall, did kind of make it look a little awkward looking imo… out of proportion is what I'm trying to say. As for the power, well, it doesn't look like you have much space to really put anything in there, so thats a bit of a negative also. (I know, I know, its light so you don't need a lot of hp, but still seems like it would be a bit underpowered.)

10. Always liked the 914. One of my high school teachers had one. There was a 914 with a Mazda rotary engine in it that ran in SoCal autox in the late 70s. FTOD king back then.