How would the 914 fare today?, A no frills car by today's standards. Options

[JawjaPorsche]

I was playing around the inflation calculator and was having fun with what a 914 would cost today.

In 1970, a new $4,000 914 would be $24,015 today.

In 1976. a new $7,000 914 would be $28,657 today.

I know these are ballpark figures, I think the 70 914 was under $4K and the 76 was over $7K.

Plus our teeners back then had no air conditioning (dealer option), radio (dealer option), no power steering (not needed!), no GPS! I don't think cars are sold today without air?

For a new 914 to be sold today it would have to meet more standards today: emissions, air bags, crash tests, etc which would make the 914 cost even more plus change it appearance. Not to mention that the air cooled engine would have a hard time meeting Federal Air regulations without a loss of power. I guess that is why we have the Boxster now. At least the new 914's would not rust like ours!

I love my 914 and I am very fortunate that I was alive and financially able to purchase one new in 1973. It was a definitely simpler time.

[Pursang]

I think it is an apples to oranges comparison. As pointed out by other posters, the laws are different now and there are significantly more requirements for cars to meet these days, both in the category of safety and emissions. More's the pity. There are some of us who are forever anchored to the Disco years.

For me the 914 was an improvement over my predilection for British sports cars. It was quite an improvement in that it was/is incredibly reliable, does not leak fluids at the rate of the Exxon Valdez and is easy and inexpensive to maintain compared to new cars. It has those features that I love about the Brit sports cars; seats two and two only and you can take the top off.

Coincidentally I used to love (and flat track) British bikes. I replaced my aging Triumph with a different brand but still maintained that retro 60's-70's styling. Some of us are destined to be Luddites forever.

I've had my 914 for 26 years now. Sure, I have to crank the windows, the sound system is crude, it only has "armstrong" air conditioning ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ), the top is not "power operated," and there is no automatic key fob. I'm doing very nicely without that stuff.

Oh, one other thing to mention although slightly off topic. Remember that when it war released the 914 generated very mixed reactions. There were a lot of people who didn't like it and for many years PCA purists poo-pooed it. I think that the overall aesthetic has weathered the years well and even Porsche purists have come to accept it...welll, most of them anyway.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/pic20.picturetrail.com-15386-1372806134.1.jpg)