Frankenstein: 1972 Porsche 914 V8
This next feature comes as a seller submission from Bill who told us that it is time to sell his “beloved Frankenstein.” He also describes it as a “1972 Porsche 914 with a small block Chevy wedged behind the seats…embarrassingly wide Carol Shelby Anaconda wheels, polarizing hand-laid fiberglass flares, Singer-esq interior.” The exterior is a bit rough, but the interior is better executed than expected and the wheels (Carrol Shelby Anaconda) have a nice vintage racer Minilite look to them. Find this 1972 Porsche 914 V8 offered for $7,200 buy-it-now or make-offer in Los Angeles, CA via eBay.
From the seller:
Item specifics
Condition: Used Year: 1972
VIN (Vehicle Identification Number): 4722918911 Mileage: 65706
Make: Porsche For Sale By: Private Seller
Number of Cylinders: 8 Vehicle Title: Clean
Body Type: Convertible Model:
914
Transmission: Manual
This is my 1972 Porsche 914. VIN # 4722918911. It’s powered by a Chevrolet 350 Small Block V8 that was pulled from a 1977 Corvette with about 76k miles. Up top is a brand new Holly carburetor and HEI distributor. A pressure-washed tank, new fuel lines, and a Holly electric pump provide fuel. Cooling is via a 3 core aluminum radiator, twin Spal fans, and electronic thermostat. I built a custom cable shifter attached to a very nice side shift 901. VDO gauges, Tach-Adapt, 22mm front sway bar, nice interior.
Embarrassingly wide Carrol Shelby Anaconda wheels, polarizing hand-laid fiberglass flares, Singer-esq interior.
Personal inspection and test drives before the close of the auction are encouraged and welcome.
138 additional photos are available at the following link here.
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For $7200 I’d say this is a screaming deal for someone who doesn’t mind doing some work themselves. I tried and failed to talk my mom into a 914 with some similar flares back in my high school days.
That is a pretty nice interior.
Now I want a set of embarrassingly wide Carrol Shelby Anaconda wheels for my ’66 Dart. They look just right for the ’60s interior without being the usual suspects like Cragars or Torque-Thrusts, or even Minilites or their more common clones.
Isn’t it amazing how every chevy small block out there is pulled from a corvette?
I like the speed activated rear spoiler over every bump…..!
Bet that’s a fun auto-x car!
Well as long as you don’t break first gear. Actually probably just leave it in second and you would be fine.
Those tires really look like transmission breakers. I always liked the idea of the tires being the fuse that protects the expensive bits.
I’m going to look at this car tomorrow. Funny that I found it not through DT as a regular reader – not sure how that happened.
What should I check for? Where to start? Use would be weekends and vintage rallies. Obviously a test drive to see how it feels is a start. This just looks like a ton of fun with the bonus of putting a turd in the Porsche geek punchbowl.
Looks like fun
Take a flashlight, a long metal rod or screwdriver and a mirror to poke around in the bottom of the area in the far front corner of the engine compartment on the passenger side otherwise known as the hell hole.
Check the rear suspension pickup points, cv joints. Rocker panels are missing, but they are just cosmetic. The jacking points and longitudinals under the rockers basically hold the car together. It’s hard to tell the difference between reinforcement to handle big power and big rubber and reinforcement to make up for rust but if both sides match that’s a sign that it was a performance modification not an ad hoc patch job.
This looks like a great deal. It’s about half the cost of engine repairs on my 914/6.
Oh, and don’t break first gear.
Ment to say that the fiberglass fenders and rockers are totally understandable in a track build , it’s what’s underneath that counts.
Also there will be a lot of metal removed in the front trunk to accommodate air getting out because of the radiator. Ask yourself if what’s left will hold the car together and keep the wheels aligned. I’ve seen some dubious builds.
The fact that this looks like it has been used hard is a encouraging sign that the basic build was good enough to drive hard. The “I put this together and haven’t gotten around to using it†builds scare me.
Post a drive report!
Thanks Hugh! Very much appreciated.
All makes sense but the hell hole inspection. Looking for
rust or ?
The seller says he found it in New Mexico and has put 5k of miles on it. That shows it runs enough to do that and has a working odometer.
Any other advice? I think I will drive it first before inspecting it. If I don’t like the drive the rest is pointless. Wonder what I’d do for heat? The rally I was on 2 weeks ago hit snow at the highest elevation.
Will definitely provide a drive report!
Hell hole is the most likely place to rust, and is conveniently part of the rear passenger side suspension console. Also conveniently the battery is directly above it and the fuel line ( at least in the six ) right there too. If all the seemingly useless hoses and funnels in that area are not working, rain and battery acid end up in the hellhole. The Six not having room for all that plumbing sends the battery acid there by default.
I suspect that there will be plenty of heat from the radiator in the summer. maybe some in the winter. A junkyard that has cars from the 60s and 70s when heaters were “optional” will net you a nice self-contained heater. Pickups had great ones.
If you buy this, it needs a paint job. To match that lovely interior may I suggest this as inspiration?
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/hippie-porsche-917-021
Thanks Hugh. LOVE that paint job you sent, but since this is essentially a bondo sculpture, I’m thinking leave it mostly as-is. I love the period stickers and peeling paint on the spoiler, mismatched yellow hood and variety of paint colors poking through on the boot lid. Maybe unearth more of that with a grinder and get psychedelic.
Just re-watched the video. Coolant lines are a concern. Do those not suffer punctures? I did look at some goole images and a lot of people did them this way, seems most of the renegade hybrids are done this way. I run some rough roads and not sure they will pass muster. Hmmm.
I’d check to make sure it has an original numbers matching dipstick…oh…yeah…just make sure you don’t wrap it around a telephone pole during the test drive and report back here after you’ve purchased it. And don’t forget to wear your Porsche Turbo Puma shoes.
I had a friend that sold super bikes back in the late eighties. Multiple stories of new customers wrecking the bikes on the way out of the parking lot. I think this is a candidate for wrecking on the test drive.
OK, so went and checked out the car today and providing a drive report as requested. Really cool car, cool owner, cool story about how he got it and what he did with it. Interior is great. Unfortunately, there are just too many issues with it right now given I lack a workshop, so i did not buy it.
A V8 in this car in theory really works great. Taking off in second using a V8 is pretty easy and results in less shifting around town, plus since its a dogleg, you are left with a 4 speed in an H pattern, which is fantastic. I was also worried it would be a torque heavy engine that wouldn’t reward revving, but it sounded fabulous and I think I’d enjoy driving it around canyons and such. Would love to have a V8 sports car at some point.
Unfortunately, the cable shifter was really difficult to use and I’m extremely tolerant of this and have a delicate shift hand coming from transaxle Alfas. Near impossible to find 2nd gear to take off (might get used to it though). On top of that, the clutch slipped a ton, it started to overheat at a light and the car shut off right before returning to the driveway. Might have run out of gas, might have been somethign else, not sure. Was just glad to land back at home base without breaking it.
I wish it had worked out. If I had a shop I’d make a reduced price offer and go through it, but it is so far from being ready to take on rallies that I just can’t bite it off at the moment. I’d gladly split the cost with someone who has a shop to work on it, but can’t do it solo. Oh well.
Aww I was hoping you would buy it, it looks like so much fun.
I’ve seen various home made first and reverse lockouts using a hinge that keeps the lever from going that far to the left. Then it’s just shove the lever to the one of the four corners of the reduced pattern.
The shifter on the 914 is its biggest flaw. I would have thought a cable setup might be better.
I can imagine that the clutch probably slipped like crazy
The original owner of my car crewed on the imsa gtu 914/6 that Walt Mass drove and when he blew up the engine, obsolete race parts were the cheapest way to rebuild and my car ended up with a short stroke 2.5. (Think 2.8 cylinders with a 2.0 crank)
Makes repairs an exercise in unobtainium however.
My clutch slipped if I put my foot in it. 200-250 horsepower is probably about as much as the 914 clutch can handle , but that keeps the transmission from breaking. I imagine that a Chevy 350 even with the mildest of cam and tiny carb would fry the clutch, but clutches are cheaper than transmissions.
Yea, me too. Unfortunately it would immediately need a clutch, transmission and shifter work. then brakes, sort out the overheating…. it was a lot. I’ll keep in touch with the owner in case, but I’d need to spend 5k on it right out of the gate.