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Not mine but curiously interesting - especially at the low $11k Buy IT Now price.  I admit I like the CMC 359 but am truely not sure on this one even though I know how well the 914 handles. Miata smiley face?  V8 power.  Slick interior except for door cards and back firewall.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-...509164.c100903.m5276

1957 CMC Classic Speedster

    in Ft Walton Beach, FL

Last edited by WOLFGANG
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THIS.

OK boys, let's break your objections down into their component parts.

1. It's "ugly."

==compared to what? A regular 914? Because, fellas, it isn't. It is very nearly the shape the 914 should have been in the first place—albeit with a few additional bodily baulbles and/or geegaws, which could be subtracted or changed

2. Not a real Porsche? 

==Puleeze. Not on this board. Not-uh.

3. Chebby power'd?

==It is my understanding that this swap actually works. Am I wrong? And if it doesn't so what? Drop a Suby in there, turbo'd or a 6. Done.

4. Interior isn't good enough.

==Agreed. So what?

Assuming this thing works about as well as a typical sbc-into-914 swap, at $11k (or maybe less?), this thing is a blank canvas you could drive out to the abandoned section of interstate and gather pink slips with until you figured out what you really wanted it to run and look like. 

edsnova posted:

THIS.

OK boys, let's break your objections down into their component parts.

1. It's "ugly."

==compared to what? A regular 914? Because, fellas, it isn't. It is very nearly the shape the 914 should have been in the first place—albeit with a few additional bodily baulbles and/or geegaws, which could be subtracted or changed

2. Not a real Porsche? 

==Puleeze. Not on this board. Not-uh.

3. Chebby power'd?

==It is my understanding that this swap actually works. Am I wrong? And if it doesn't so what? Drop a Suby in there, turbo'd or a 6. Done.

4. Interior isn't good enough.

==Agreed. So what?

Assuming this thing works about as well as a typical sbc-into-914 swap, at $11k (or maybe less?), this thing is a blank canvas you could drive out to the abandoned section of interstate and gather pink slips with until you figured out what you really wanted it to run and look like. 

It's more immediate reactiuon and visceral for me. It's just not attractive and less importantly, LOOKS like a kit car to me.

I’m sure this will start some commentary, but the 959 is far down my list on what I like visually in a Porsche.  I feel like the styling of the 959 (especially the wing) could be had with an Acura NSX.

Call me “old fashioned”, but I’ve always liked the classics: 356, 911 / 912, 550, 928, 944, 914, the list goes on...

With that said, stuffing even a mildly tuned small block Chevy behind the seats of any light and nimble vehicle would be a hoot to drive!  I’ve always been a fan of the DeTomaso Pantera (even though it’s powered by a Ford) and the Ford GT for a number of reasons including sheer power and amazing styling!

In the mid-80’s I got bit by the horsepower bug and landed on the small block Chevy side of the fence.  In fact, I had literature and actual 35mm photos of a kit designed to shoehorn any SBC into a Pontiac Fiero!  That would have been quite interesting!

@TheMayoMachine

I like how you think. The 959 (while a technological marvel for it's time) was as ugly as a mud fence. IMHO, each successive iteration of the air-cooled 911 got a little uglier, even as they improved everything else about the cars. Everybody swoons over the 993, so I guess it's just me.

Regardless, I'm also a huge fan of the General's ability to build an astounding engine and sell it for about 10 cents on the dollar. I started out as a Ponco kid, but eventually saw the light regarding the cost/hp superiority of the SBC. They reigned supreme until the advent of the LS crate motor. The world has never, nor will ever see more value for every hard-earned dollar spent.

Regarding the linked car:

It's the headlights and tail-lights that are just a huge "swing-and-a-miss". The tail-lights are C6 Vette, but I can't quite place the headlights (pre-Diamler Chrysler 300?). (edit: found it-- 2000-ish Chrysler 300m) Whatever they are, they REALLY bring the car down. Actually, the car itself is a giant stroke aiming for the bleachers, which ends up as a mighty whiff. At least the dude went down swinging.

Last edited by Stan Galat
Stan Galat posted:

@TheMayoMachine

Regarding the linked car:

It's the headlights and tail-lights that are just a huge "swing-and-a-miss". The tail-lights are C6 Vette, but I can't quite place the headlights (pre-Diamler Chrysler 300?). (edit: found it-- 2000-ish Chrysler 300m) Whatever they are, they REALLY bring the car down. Actually, the car itself is a giant stroke aiming for the bleachers, which ends up as a mighty whiff. At least the dude went down swinging.

My point exactly: Any meathead with a paint brush, some cloth and some resin can change all that. And with a bit of patience make it much better.

Look at the overall shape, me boyos!

How about some 944 headlights, unstrake the flanks in favor of some proper Porschey side scoops, maybe some 904-style tail lights?

What we have in front of us is a mid-engined, V8 sports car with correct hood and fender lines and correct proportions. And Porsche suspension.

For $11k. 

Anyone who likes Porsches for their performance (rather than brand prestige) needs to consider this thing. It is a near-perfect Rorschach test to separate the prestige guys from the performance guys.

--or, at least... to separate the meatheads-with-resin from the sane men.

I may be a bit weird (now wouldn't THAT be a revelation!!) but I have never been enthused with the boxy look of the 914.  

I've driven them.  They're nice.  The more/harder you flog them the better they feel on the road but I've seldom found any owner/drivers who flogged their 914 on the street.  

I've also driven one with the Chevy V8 conversion and it felt like a barge (lots of understeer), plus the way the cooling was designed/implemented, the radiator discharged out onto the hood before the windshield so the heat went up over the windshield and swooped right down into the cockpit.  On a warm summer day it was un-driveable.  None of that was Porsche's fault, however.

But beyond all that, the design is just uninspiring for me.  A Fiat X19 was more interesting than a 914 (and probably could at least keep up, if you kept the revs up) and a 914 parked next to a Fiat 124 Spyder would never get any visitors at a cars and coffee, believe me.

That said and getting back to the red car conversion way up at the top of this thread, that red car looks like one of those customs that Tom McBurnie turned out for the TV studios years ago, like the "Miami Vice" cars.  Everyone has been picking out nits, when the overall design and implementation shows a lot of thought and craftsmanship and that should be celebrated, not condemned.  It's almost like a Camarro designer went off to the side and thought "I wonder what Pininfarina would do with this?" and sketched up the red car.  Nothing wrong with that - shows imagination, don'cha think?

There are a bunch of cool little "sports cars" out there, right now, both old and new designs.  Everything fits into the spectrum, somewhere......

Gordon:  Your comparison of the 914 and the Fiat X 19 is funny...  I had a 914 and my buddy came home from the Army and bought a brand new Fiat.  We both cruised them around for a couple of summers.  The best time we had was when we were at a beach in Canada and were racing up and down along the surf line of lake Erie!  (Sherkston Shores.)  I would kick his butt with handling. He was faster off the line but mine was better at top speed.  We did have a blast.  Unfortunately, his came to an untimely death when he wedged it, (literally) under the back of a parked pick up truck.  His car and the truck went up in a large ball of fire.  He escaped mostly unhurt! Both vehicles were totaled.  I bet there is still a big mark in that street where it happened! This was all about 1973-74.  

Todd M posted:
edsnova posted:

Anyone who likes Porsches for their performance (rather than brand prestige) needs to consider this thing. It is a near-perfect Rorschach test to separate the prestige guys from the performance guys.

--or, at least... to separate the meatheads-with-resin from the sane men.

And what if you just think it is ugly?

"Where there is no vision the people perish." And so on.

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