Feeling Lonely
The Porsche 914 may have an issue with leakiness around its battery tray, but the main source of moisture it draws is the ocean of tears from those who loved it.
It was conceived as a lovely partnership between Porsche and Volkswagen, a car that met in the middle of the two companies’ interests: a cheap Porsche, or a fancy VW. Porsche would supply the bodies, which VW would finish, and sell, as a 1.7-liter, 85-horsepower Volkswagen 914. The Porsche 914/6 would get a 110-horsepower 2.0-liter flat-six from their carbureted 911T. It would weigh 250 pounds less than a 911 and have a superior chassis. Everyone wins. But it was only a handshake agreement, and things fell apart when new VW chair Kurt Lotz reneged. Long story short, the 914 was suddenly a bad deal for everyone. While a base VW sold for $2,800 or so, the cheapest 914s were $3,595. Add another $2,500 for the 914/6, which would leave you just $400 short of a new 911.
The 914 was embraced by neither VW nor Porsche (who gave only passing interest to its racing efforts, especially after their best racers vehemently refused to race 914s), nor Volkswagen buyers or Porsche buyers. Porsche bought magazine ads for the 914 and deliberately excluded the Porsche crest. The 914/6 was abandoned after 3,351 sales over a three-year period, while a modest 115,000 914/4s found buyers. Today, mint 914s can reach $70k, or half the value of a 911 in similar condition.
Sometimes cars are abandoned by their makers, racers, and buyers. Sometimes people feel abandoned by their parents, church, significant other, closest friend, or God. If you’ve ever felt this way, consider this text from the minor prophet Nehemiah:
“Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.” (Nehemiah 9:19)
Nehemiah, an unconventional prophet, was reminding the people of God’s unconventional love. He recited story after story of God’s love, using a word choice that evokes a lovely, tender compassion – a maternal love. It’s also used as “mercy”, or what can be considered motherly compassion, in Zechariah 1:12 and 1:16: “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt.”
This love is one that doesn’t ignore a person’s flaws, but rather embraces a flawed person. The Israelites were obviously clueless and lost, but God led them to a glorious geographical and spiritual destination. He didn’t abandon them to dust and abandonment. He didn’t, he doesn’t, and he won’t. Even after the wavering and wandering, God proudly claimed them as his people. He supported them, fed them, strengthened them, championed them, restored them, and enriched them – all things Porsche denied the lowly 914.
To be “fully known yet loved by you,” as singer Tauren Wells puts it, is rare among humans. Yet it’s business as usual for God, who knows all of his humans intimately and loves them completely.
As any 914 fan will tell you, the little mid-engined wonder was 7 inches shorter than a 911 but boasted a 7-inch longer wheelbase. There’s plenty of room for a small-block Chevy V8, or any flat-six ever built. Or a flat-eight. Ferdinand Piech actually commuted in a 914 with a 3-liter eight-cylinder from a Porsche 908 racer, making at least 310 horsepower, and another eight-cylinder 914 was given to Ferry Porsche for his 60th birthday. Either person had the sway to rescue the 914, but instead they abandoned it.
John V16 is the intersection of God and cars. Please support our work and donate a V16-powered 1940 Cadillac Series 90 Sixteen to John V16. Or share this article with a friend.
