Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapphireho
Porsche did toy with the idea of building the 916. It was basically a box flared 914. I think they built like 3 prototypes. The idea was canned because:
1. They needed successful sales in the US. The US market really doesn't want true sports cars, but luxury cars that go fast. It needed a/c to sell in the US. To add a/c ment moving the fire wall so no one over about 5' 6" could fit.
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Supplemental material:
Porsche and VW had a handshake agreement on a rather favorable manufacturing cost for the 914, however the president of VW Heinz Nordhoff kicked the bucket and his replacement did not honor the verbal contract causing the cost to skyrocket (maybe VW was going to eat engineering or tooling cost or something? idk).
If the 914 had made it to market under original pricing at significantly less than a 911 (instead of only a few hundred bucks less than a 911T) it may have been a success. If it had been a success a 914-6/916 full production run would have likely followed and the chassis may have evolved to replace the 911 as Porsche's primary vehicle, a true mid-engined sports car, leaving the 911 to be the grand tourer car it was meant to be (that is if the 928 didn't fulfill that role and obsolete the 911 entirely).
But the failure of the 914 meant we had to wait 20 years for Porsche to attempt a mid-engined sports car again. But oh how life could have been different, an evolution of the intention of the 914 could be a V8 Mustang priced, mid-engined, flat four powered corner carver. But alas, Porsche was banished to the luxury market. Instead we got Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan doing their best to slay the Germans on a budget, so life didn't turn out too bad.
