Jeff Lehman's new book on the BOXSTER/CAYMAN

[914PUTSCH]

Just got my copy of Lehman's new book on the Boxster/Cayman (ISBN13-978-0-9768999-B-3, 2025), after being apprised of its release via The Stuttgart Newsletter. It is, of course, quite comprehensive and packed with valuable insights and information about the Boxster and Cayman cars. Jeff is to be commended for doing a great service to all of us in this regard, for he's provided us all with a great backstory reference on this excellent P-car series.

Were I able to consider another P-car, it would definitely be a Cayman, since I was captivated by that lovely design right from the git-go! Unfortunately, I cannot afford to hitch up to a NEW Porsche being now merely a lowly retired pensioner. I am perfectly happy with my yellow 1974 914-4, the last of about 5-6 previous 914s I've owned in past years and find it is all I need to get my driving jollies in, these days, on weekends.

I immediately started pouring though Jeff's latest book and the book's authority and usefulness notwithstanding, I found it rather strange that there is absolutely no mention of the 70s era, mid-engine 914 as the direct genealogical precursor/ancestor of the Boxster/Cayman cars! In fact the only link to the 914 at all in his book is an image appearing at the top of page 50 (where it is shown as an example of a 'restoration'). Even Porsche acknowledges that the 914 was the Boxster/Cayman direct ancestor in several of Porsche excellent historical reference books. Further, if the Boxster/Cayman is/are described as 'entry-level' choices, why was the 914 (also an 'entry-level' P-car) not graced with at least a sentence or few words to that effect?

The poor 914 (Typ 47) that I hold in such high regard once again gets short shrift by the Porsche community! However, since I have always favored underdogs, that's OK, and as I said, were I able, I'd have a Cayman in my stable, chop-chop! Still, I can't help but rue the taint that the VW/Porsche mixed lineage conferred upon the 914, since it never did receive the up-grading and series improvements attention that the Boxster and Cayman now enjoy (and that it richly deserved). Similarly, I can't help but think that had the 914 received the same attention, things would be vastly different for us 914 owners (whose cars continue to suffer an image problem, thanks to P-car owners who remain adamant that the 914 is merely a poor-man's plaything and not a "real Porsche"). The 914, in my opinion, richly deserves the sort of respect that comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to bewail and bemoan about not getting enough of.

Ah well... As Antonus Marcus Aurelius observed in roughly 180 BCE, "The chief task of life is not to be in the majority, but to keep from joining the ranks of the insane." While owning an expensive modern P-car doesn't necessarily categorise one as 'insane', the high costs implicit in acquiring one certainly seem to be!

[For the record, I am sure renown economist E.F. Schumacher would be quite pleased with the 914, with its 'human scale' concept that he championed, were he into motor sports, back in the 70s...]

[Tom]

All fair points. He's just one writer... Maybe this will make you feel better.

914.jpg (450.33 KiB) Viewed 2381 times

[914PUTSCH]

Well, Tom, it's a beautiful specimen from superficial appearances, although I've long since outgrown the 'black' phase in my sportscar preferences. I note the date is 2023, mindful of the fact that 914s have lost some of their marketability in recent months (a slump affecting many Porsche types, apparently). Inarguably nice, tasteful 'eye candy' that helps mollify one's feelings a bit.

Not to detract from Jeff's excellent book, of course. Cheers.

[Tom]

Bring a Trailer shows eleven 914s that sold for $100k or more. That said, as a huge fan of one of Porsche's other in-law turned Porsche, the 924/944, I feel your pain.

[WillyDaP]

I think many of these comments about a certain model of a Vehicle brand by authors or supposed authorities over the years often prove to be poor guesstimates. The 914 has been the red headed step child for years , but like the 924/944/ etc. they have really found a place in many Porsche owner's hearts and garages. One aspect that seems to be seldom viewed is the owner who bought a Porsche, falls deeply into lust and is so consumed by passion he/she has to have an example of many of the models. I have always loved both the 914 and 944s, etc. because they were the Porsches that were in my price range ( at times , ha ) when I was younger. I had friends who owned them and to this day I feel a warm glow in head and heart when I see a nice example of each. I find while Instructing at a PCA event that when a nice 924/944/etc. shows up there is always a group of folks who wander over an compliment the owner, regaling said with their stories of experiences with the models. That said when a nice 914 shows up the interest seems even higher and I know I am in the fray , checking over the little beast, remembering ripping through the cones at various autocrosses in Kansas - a good friend often let me drive his little yellow beast.
Though it has been many, many years since I was a Financial Planner the older Porsches are a simple supply and demand exemplification. There are not as many solid examples out there so the market is a going up continually, maybe slower a various times and I have to believe the Mid Engine Porschephiles with Caysters view the 914 as the Porsche progenitor of the mid engine Stuttgart builds.
I seldom concern myself about journalists since they often harbor biases like all of us , and in some cases their misaligned thoughts cause them to over analyze certain models. This also is due to the fact that we all like things a little differently and it is hard to displace personal passion out of a seemingly thoughtful, written scrutiny of sexy Sportscars.

All said, my biases are showing through also, and I find the 914 so pure to the initial build thoughts of Porsche's beginning that were funds available ( and space ) it is one of my top choices to fill garage space next to my Cayman.

As usual I am starting to ramble a bit, but from a new style "Mid Engine " owner to my Carpoke owners of a beautiful " Mid Engine " ancestor of prominence, I thank you and your 914 for your pioneering spirit. To me it is hard to chat mid engine Porsche without taking about both of these scintillating sportscars. Nuff said..........

[dr bob]

I'll attest to the history of disdain for certain models that weren't 356 or 911. It's hardly limited to what were considered 'entry level' Porsches at their introduction. Meanwhile, cars like the 914 and certainly the 924 and its successors played incredibly important roles in both the instant survival of Porsche as a business, and the growth of the enthusiast population for Porsche cars. For the 914, its development history and rest-of-world VW branding did it few favors. The tiny percentage of six-cylinder performance cars only seemed to improve the model perception in a narrow market space. From the time, there were almost as many naysayers and proponents, asking why you'd waste a good six-cylinder Porsche engine one of "those".

Fast-forward some, and the 914 image has certainly grown. The early perception is almost instantly resolved when someone actually drives one. In an age when the 911 was incredibly 'tail-happy', the mid-engine 914 was incredibly well balanced and easy to drive. Maybe the 911 owners decided that the skill needed to extract the last cornering performance from their cars somehow indicated they were better than the 914 owners. I've never owned a 914 personally, but worked on many for friends and customers. The later-mid year cars, at least in California, came alive with just a tiny amount of inexpensive tweaking. Enormously fun to drive at 10/10, and very very forgiving if you accidentally go beyond that, so long as you don't go too hard into the brakes. Contrast with backing into guardrails.

I believe more Porsche 'enthusiasts' need to experience not-911 cars. Each and every model offers a distinct personality and strength. Purchase price and original financial parentage are not really part of the driving and ownership experience. Drive as many as you can, for the experience. You'll quickly discover that the factory is obviously learning from each and every prior car as it refines its newest designs. Without regard for the original sales prices or the current market's perception of any particular technology donor, you go with what works.

I can safely say that Porsche has been somewhat agnostic when looking for cars to learn from. In the early 1990s, the test and compare model fleet at PCNA in Reno included examples from several other brands , several of which might not be normally considered by us as logical contributors to the development of future Porsche models. But they did.

How a private author decides to describe the genealogy of a particular model is interesting. Do the Boxster and the coupe Cayman versions come directly from the 914, a model last built about 20 years prior to the Boxster's introduction? Sure, at least in concept. By then, there were plenty of other mid-engine cars in the market. I went through several Lotus Europas in parallel with my Porsche history. A Mangusta was in the fleet for a couple years too. A 246 GTS Dino graced the garage. By far the most popular employee weekend-borrow car from PCNA's compare fleet was the Acura NSX. There's no doubt that Porsche learned from all of these and more as they developed their own mid-engine platform a couple decades after the 914 program with Volkswagen.

[914PUTSCH]

Bring a Trailer shows eleven 914s that sold for $100k or more. That said, as a huge fan of one of Porsche's other in-law turned Porsche, the 924/944, I feel your pain.

Interesting phenomenon, those 'over-the-top' 914s (over US$100K) I've seen a few of them go 'stratospheric', price-wise, on BaT, with bemusement, but the bidding thing is quirky at best and some individuals get caught up in a almost uncontrollable wave of aggressive bidding that often transcends all reason. You see the same dynamic at work on eBay, of course.

Americans have ceased, by and large, to make any real attempt to live within their means (the way the doughty Finns so admirably do, mindful of the Finnish manufacture of Boxsters), and constraints such as the folks in Old Blighty had to live within (at end of WW2) . Such constraints are largely absent in contemporary America (thanks to leasing, corporate loan companies, etc., etc.). In the end, it all depends largely on how much debt you feel you can reasonably absorb...not on how wealthy and successful you are in the business world. I've seen pimps who never graduated from kinderschool driving around in hundred+ thousand dollar Porsches and other exotica, so all such bets are surely off in today's rather skewed American society.

While I'd love to get another 914-6, the raging collector market combined with their increasing scarcity (and my relative improverishment, as a retired person of modest means) makes it extremely unlikely that I'll ever have another. Still, I have my fond memories of the beauty I formerly had to cherish and am also old enough and wise enough to know that prudence and financial restraint rule! Besides, who am I trying to impress, these days? No one except my own wifie and she could care less about Porsches of any ilk (wise little Chinese fox that she is!)!

Frankly, if I were 40 years younger, I'd definitely have a Cayman 2.7 in my stable...in screaming zonker yellow, too! Meanwhile, "Jezibel" will remain my favorite mount for (hopefully) the remaining happy trails ahead of me...

[That said, as I'd said before, aside from my 914s, my personal list of favorite (daily driveable) Porsches includes 1) 356 Coupes, 2) 924s, and 3) Cayman 987.1 2.7s. Never, ever had a hankering for a 911 of any vintage, unusually.]

[914PUTSCH]

As usual I am starting to ramble a bit, but from a new style "Mid Engine " owner to my Carpoke owners of a beautiful " Mid Engine " ancestor of prominence, I thank you and your 914 for your pioneering spirit. To me it is hard to chat mid engine Porsche without taking about both of these scintillating sportscars. Nuff said..........

Hiya, Willy. You may self-deprecate yourself by describing your eloquence as 'rambling', but your comments always strike me as eminently reasoned and articulate. "914 a red-haired stepchild?" Love it! Droll and amusing as hell (as well as so true!).

Getting our fellow human beings to agree on anything is always like herding cats: impossible, and everyone usually holds fast to their own opinions and outlooks with a tenacity that transcends that of garden-variety SuperGlue. Porsches are, after all, largely a matter of personal taste ,and nothing else really matters in the final analysis except "...does it please me or not?"

BTW, I get the distinct feeling that were we ever close enough to share a Masskrug or two at the local gasthof Stammtisch, we'd be thick as thieves...at least as 'comraderly' as Munchners at the (now-nonexistant) HOFBRAUHAUS, LoL!

[By the way, I stand corrected in my earlier statement about Jeff's newly released Cayman 2005-2008 book lacking any mention of the 914! At the bottom of his page 15, the words "914" and "914-6" appear (but without any relevant context, alas!).]

[914PUTSCH]

Fast-forward some, and the 914 image has certainly grown. The early perception is almost instantly resolved when someone actually drives one. In an age when the 911 was incredibly 'tail-happy', the mid-engine 914 was incredibly well balanced and easy to drive. Maybe the 911 owners decided that the skill needed to extract the last cornering performance from their cars somehow indicated they were better than the 914 owners. I've never owned a 914 personally, but worked on many for friends and customers. The later-mid year cars, at least in California, came alive with just a tiny amount of inexpensive tweaking. Enormously fun to drive at 10/10, and very very forgiving if you accidentally go beyond that, so long as you don't go too hard into the brakes. Contrast with backing into guardrails.

I believe more Porsche 'enthusiasts' need to experience not-911 cars. Each and every model offers a distinct personality and strength. Purchase price and original financial parentage are not really part of the driving and ownership experience. Drive as many as you can, for the experience. You'll quickly discover that the factory is obviously learning from each and every prior car as it refines its newest designs. Without regard for the original sales prices or the current market's perception of any particular technology donor, you go with what works.

I can safely say that Porsche has been somewhat agnostic when looking for cars to learn from. In the early 1990s, the test and compare model fleet at PCNA in Reno included examples from several other brands , several of which might not be normally considered by us as logical contributors to the development of future Porsche models. But they did.

How a private author decides to describe the genealogy of a particular model is interesting. Do the Boxster and the coupe Cayman versions come directly from the 914, a model last built about 20 years prior to the Boxster's introduction? Sure, at least in concept. By then, there were plenty of other mid-engine cars in the market. I went through several Lotus Europas in parallel with my Porsche history. A Mangusta was in the fleet for a couple years too. A 246 GTS Dino graced the garage. By far the most popular employee weekend-borrow car from PCNA's compare fleet was the Acura NSX. There's no doubt that Porsche learned from all of these and more as they developed their own mid-engine platform a couple decades after the 914 program with Volkswagen.

Excellent commentary, Dr. Bob, and also some very astute analysis, if I may say so. IMHO, too many people get caught up in endemic 911-mania, without ever having had a chance to drive other P-car iterations on a pad, course or track. 911s, with their tendency to swap-ends in cornering situations where the limits of adhesion were exceeded did require a substantial learning curve to master the car's handling. 914s (whether 4s or 6s) had such far better weight distribution that anyone (with a bit of prudence and care) could master cornering with modest aplomb. My Six could wax a 911's tail easily on the Laguna Seca course, assuming both had a more-or-less engine equivalency (we could take modest hot-laps on race weekends after the last race of the day had concluded, back in the day...SCCA/SFO region was refreshingly relaxed on that score, in the early-to-mid 80s).

Driving a 914-6 is usually a revelation to someone used to 70s vintage 911s. To a significantly lesser degree, the same could almost be said about less powerful 914-4s, when driven to their limits by a skilled race driver.

Porsche history is absolutely fascinating, of course, and I pity those who buy the cars but lack any other real 'deeper' interest in or understanding of the marque and/or in its historical backstory. If my 'Jezibel' ever finds its way to a new owner's stable, it will doubtless come as a small shock to learn that, along with the car itself and a plethora of spares and accessories, they've also inherited a rather voluminous reference library on all things Porsche, hee-hee! After all, there are "Porsche drivers" and there are "Porsche enthusiasts"...two entirely separate genders, IMO.

And now, must go. Wifie is making coconut/cranberry cookies and the aroma is irresistible!

[dr bob]

<<...>>

Frankly, if I were 40 years younger, I'd definitely have a Cayman 2.7 in my stable...in screaming zonker yellow, too! Meanwhile, "Jezibel" will remain my favorite mount for (hopefully) the remaining happy trails ahead of me...

[That said, as I'd said before, aside from my 914s, my personal list of favorite (daily driveable) Porsches includes 1) 356 Coupes, 2) 924s, and 3) Cayman 987.1 2.7s. Never, ever had a hankering for a 911 of any vintage, unusually.]

So the same advice as before applies. Go Drive Some! The progress and the 50 years of suspension and other technology contributions particularly, have brought us from the tail-happy early 911's, through the 'widowmaker' 930/935 versions with torque surprises mid-corner, to the current crop that are absolutely amazing to drive. Power steering, active stability management, 'smart' ABS integrated with accelerometers and drive/car sensors make for some amazing and way less driver-demanding capabilities. You can do a lot yourself, or let the computers manage things at just the poke of a button.

Like you, I'm an old guy now. I generally just motor around, never really taxing the car's capability at all any more. I've demonstrated several times that I'm not a competitive race driver, and whatever skills I had have diminished a lot with age. I do love the Porsche cars as expressions of the technologies of their times. I think of them as engineering as an art form, and I'm an art collector of that sort. The Good News is that I don't need to personally own every example, especially when surrounded by like-minded friends who, 'collectively' if you will, have gathered them together for others to appreciate.

I'm personally down to just one now, but I'm jonesing for a Cayenne TTS to cover our winter conditions. That's my client's story yer onner! I'd have to sell something for the garage space, or find other good winter storage.