DSD Motorwerks is currently building this smart Porsche 914/6 GT recreation for a customer who lives in mainland Europe. Complete with period Jagermeister livery, the Porsche 914/6 replica will be a road car, built just for fun.
“We’ve already built some interesting projects for this Porsche enthusiast, who lives out in Denmark,” says DSD Motorwerks boss, Dave Dennett. “The latest classic Porsche build is based on a solid Porsche 914 bought in the USA that needed a freshen-up anyway. We’ve built a few different incarnations of the 914 race cars here, so the 914/6 GT theme was a good choice.”
The Story of the Porsche 914/6 GT
The Porsche 914 was a joint Volkswagen/Porsche prototype of the late 1960s. When VW decided to pull out of the project, Porsche went ahead anyway and put the car into production.
Though the first roadgoing 914s came with flat-four engines, the low-slung mid-engined coupe had obvious race potential. Porsche injected a flat-six engine into the road car range (hence 914/6) before developing a 914/6 GT model for racing, adding lightness with slimmer body panels, pumping up the horsepower and widening the track with bigger wheels and bulbous arch extensions.
Entering the 1970 Le Mans with the Porsche 914/6 GT was a big surprise for the factory. Porsche Racing claimed its first outright win at Le Mans, taking all three steps on the podium, but down in sixth place was the 2-litre Porsche 914/6 GT: a car built with no thoughts to a top ten finish.
Celebrations of the 914’s incredible result were overshadowed by the Porsche 917’s landmark Le Mans win, but enthusiasts have embraced to the GT theme over the years and the limited number of factory race cars are now worth serious money.
Depending on who you read, anywhere between 30 and 50 GT competition versions of the 914/6 model were produced from fully-built road cars delivered to the racing department, and parts kits delivered to trusted Porsche partners. Many of these cars are still racing today.
DSD Motorwerks Porsche 914/6 GT replica build
The DSD Motorwerks Jagermeister Porsche 914/6 GT replica build rides on Minilite wheels with sticky modern tyres. The bright orange paint is complemented by a Conda Green roof panel, which of course is removable on 914 road cars.
The lightweight trim is simple, as befits a stripped-out road racing replica. The seats were retrimmed in Perlon and we then dropped the seat mounts lower in the cabin. We’ve made a custom engine grill and side panels, but the heart of the conversion – that flat-six engine – is still under discussion.
Our preferred solution would be to build a nice pokey 2.5-litre short-stroke engine on carbs with 41mm inlet and exhaust ports (same as a Porsche 911 ST) and warmer 911S camshafts for a good balance of power to weight: circa 240 bhp. Pair that ST-style engine with some choice transmission ratios and limited slip differential and you’ve got an entertaining, mid-engined, point-to-point classic Porsche 914 road car, that predates the more common (and perhaps less inspiring) Boxster and Cayman models by almost four decades.
What do you think of this Porsche 914/6 GT recreation project? Contact DSD Motorwerks to discuss classic Porsche restoration, rebuild or historic racing preparation.