While we know the Porsche 914: with its modest 1.7-litre 4-cylinder engine with a power of 80 hp designed jointly with Volkswagen and produced by the coachbuilder Karmann in Osnabrück since 1969, and considered by some as the "Poor Man's Porsche", then the appearance of the Porsche 914-6: with a 2.0-litre flat-six with 110 hp responsible for restoring the nobility of this model which unfortunately did not achieve its objective with only 11 units produced this time at Porsche, we were far from imagining that Porsche had planned from the start in 1969 the production of the 914-8 prototype with an 8-cylinder engine.
Porsche 914
Porsche 914-6
Only two of these 914-8 prototype supercars were built, making it one of the rarest Porsches ever built. The first model was built for Ferdinand Piech himself, who used the full-blown Flat-8 racing engine producing 350 horsepower. The second was built for Ferry Porsche as a 60th birthday present. Ferry’s 914-8 had a detuned engine producing a more manageable 300 horsepower.
Porsche 914-8 - Ferdinand Piëch
Powered by a 350-horsepower Flat-8 racing engine, the 2,100-pound 914-8 was a fearsome machine. Today, 350 horsepower is impressive in a Ford Focus, but in 1969, it was sensational. The 914-8 took racetrack performance to the street.
Porsche 914-8
Building crazy machines like the 914-8 allowed Porsche to showcase its racing capabilities. Taking a highly successful racing engine and using it to power a lightweight car is still crucial to Porsche history today. Sadly, the 914-8 never made it into production, leaving only these two examples in the Porsche Museum.
Porsche 914-8
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