'70's Porsche 914's are often overlooked by classic sportscar enthusiasts. I'm one of them.

That changed a week ago when I bought a 1974 914 Targa on ebay. Having been a big fan of them in my teenage years (when my neighborhood lawnmowing income barely afforded my '67 Yamaha Twin Jet 100 (with electric start and auto injecto lube!) this car looked like the ultimate modern sports car to me. Still does. I flew to Chicago and signed some papers and handed over some money and boom! I'm on my way. 2 liters, 2 carbs, 5 speeds and it's...red. Wow! Right out of the driveway I'm very surprised at the confidence inspiring feel of the wheel. The linkage precision means shifting up through the 5 speed is a thrill. It's been a long time since 4 cylinders and 90 horsepower have been this exciting. Everything seems really tight and I have a trouble free enjoyable ride all the way back to Nashville. Leak free also, thank goodness. And that's saying a lot because it rained hard the whole way. Did I mention that I couldn't find the heater controls and it was about 36 degrees? I finally tried the red handled lever about half way home (and stopped and put on some long pants) and discovered that it was indeed the heat control and not some sort of evil ejection pull or parachute release like it appeared...ah, much better. Now I just can't wait for a sunny day so I can see what it's like with the Targa top off. It fits in a nice rubber braced compartment in the rear trunk. The front trunk has the gas cap access. Both are fairly generous considering how small this car really is. The accomodations inside, while spartan, were still very comfortable. Amazing actually when considering my 6 foot 4, er, 250 pound frame is not really scaled for most sports cars, hell, I'm usually crowded even in most of todays' SUV's! I really dig this little car and I'm sure it feels the same about me...we've been looking at each other since 1974. I'm 17 again! Trew