(First Posted August 23, 2013) As I rolled through a parking lot in San Pedro, the bright plumage of this Porsche tail section caught my eye. From a distance, the small bumpers identified it as a pre-74 model, and thus worth further attention.
Up close, the tight parking job almost dissuaded me from stopping for pictures, until I noticed a minor detail on the deck lid.
That’s right, this Porsche is a 912 (nine-twelve), the four cylinder variant of the 911.
From 1965 to 1969, Porsche also offered their new six cylinder 911 with a 1588 cc four cylinder engine option. Porsche sourced this small motor option from the retired 356. At release, the 912 weighed about 2,100 pounds and packed 90 horsepower. While this package sounds rather pedestrian compared to modern day Porsches, the 912 provided a power to weight ratio similar to a first generation Mazda Miata, and the lighter four cylinder motor provided improved handling compared to its big brother. In addition, the 912 provided a price tag closer to the departed 356’s, reducing the sticker shock associated with the new model.
This interior shot reminds us of the minimilist approach used in German sports cars of the nineteen sixties. No fancy options, not electronic aids, no dual clutch, paddle shifting automatics. Just big gauges, a steering wheel connected to a manual rack, and a shift lever.
Personally, I hate this color, but love it on this Porsche. Say what you will about olive green, the color is period correct and the car appears original. For example, while the base 912 came with steel wheels, Porsche offered these Fuchs alloy wheels on the 912 in 1968 and 1969 so it may have come from the factory this way. Although early 911s are well known for body rust, the blue California plate indicates this car has been a lifetime California resident, explaining the lack of environmental damage.
Serious Porsche spotters may disagree, but I’m calling this car a 1969. In addition to the optional Fuchs Alloys, 68 and 69 year cars used the un-covered headlights and fixed quarterglass shown in these pictures . Furthermore, close examination of my original photos show a rear view mirror mounted on the windshield glass, along with a heating grid built into the rear window. Taken together, these features mark this as a 1969 model year car.
Porsche dropped the 912 in 1970, but to complete the 912 story we should also mention the 1976 912E. A one-year model, the E variant used the 1972 cc flat four from the 914 2.0. This provided a low price model for US Porsche dealers to replace the now defunct 914, but once the (four cylinder) 924 arrived in 1977, the 912 once again dropped off the Porsche menu.
Interesting, certainly cooler than the modern Porsche SUVs and sedans. A reminder from a time when it was easier to find a basic “visceral” driving experience.
Very nice find, these have been increasing in value a lot lately, and finally people are leaving them as is instead of just using the shell and dropping a 6-cylinder in them. Beautiful condition and nice to seeing it apparently being used.
Since the Porsche 356/912 engine is so expensive to repair or replace, a lot of 912 owners pick up a high-performance variant of the Type I (Beetle) engine and stick it in there. Some have even been known to pull the original engine in good shape and simply store it…
I’ve imagined myself doing the same thing with a 356. And VW engines are now readily available in up to 2 liters or more.
2.4litres with a bigbore kit and reliable a late suitcase engine would be perfect,injected with a decent exhaust this would be a quick car and it would corner well something Porsches of this era didnt do.
In 1975 I was in the market for a fair-weather sports car. A guy in Milwaukee was selling a very nice ’69 E-Type roadster. My buddy’s boss had an equally nice ’69 912. Both the same price, both the same dark red color.
Well, I bought the Jag, and my buddy’s cousin bought the 912. I kept the E for a couple of enjoyable, surprisingly trouble-free years. Last I knew, the cousin still had the 912. I often wondered if I made the right choice.
That green paint color is normally horrible but it does fit the Porsche and the time that it was new. It reminds me of the bright colors which were used on the IROC Porsches in 1974.
Love that color, great find! Looks especially good with those plates.
Ditto. Love those vintage colors, and nice to see them coming back.
Indeed, Paul, though I’m not a fan of this green that Fiat is using. If I had to use green, it’d be the green of the subject Porsche, or the chartreuse.
However, the blue/green that Fiat is using on the 500 is a color I’d go for, as well as the baby blue (non metallic, natch) that is now available on the 500L, though not on the trekking.
This Porsche is one of a few 1969 model year vehicles to get the Blue and Gold Plates since most got the Black and Gold. That is how fast California was growing back then, they burned through the entire ABC 123 series in just 6 years, but keep in mind 1962/1963 was the last time California had a state wide plate recall.
http://www.15q.net/ca.html
Neat Porsche and I love the color, but not sure if it would work on other vehicles so nicely. Do you think it has been restored somewhat? I am surprised there is not a sunshade on the windshield or a club on the steering wheel. Speaking of steering wheels, isn’t that the same one from an early 1970s Fuselage Chrysler? So, in terms of reliability how were these Porsches say to a Mercedes Benz which I assume was dead reliable back then and something like a Bug which is not so reliable.
The W124 Mercedes Benz next to it is nice (even has a sunshade) and the rims/tires are not distasteful. The Mazda5 is quirky, but too new and common (at least in California) to be considered a classic.
That’s not a W124, it’s a W202 C-class. They bodies are so similar that it’s tricky to tell them apart. The tall taillights are the primary identifying clue…
Are only W123s and W124s the only really good Mercedes or were the 202s good as well? Thanks for the info by the way.
The ADA-suffix blue plate does date the car to late 1969 or early 1970. While I can see why the owner wouldn’t want to run a front plate, I’ve always heard that it was easy to get a ticket for no front plate in California.
Those early blue plates were made of steel and didn’t wear nearly so well as the earlier black ones; the nice condition of the one on this Porsche shows the kind of care the car has received over the years.
“I’ve always heard that it was easy to get a ticket for no front plate in California.”
That hasn’t been my experience- I’ve been driving a blue plate car without the front plate for over a year, and have yet to get pulled over. D/S
In Fort Bragg, California and some other rural areas of CA the cops do not seem to care about no front license plate. I can understand why, a number of 1963-circa 2000 license plates ( both front and rear) are getting hard to read or there are too many stickers on them.
I read somewhere that the Blue and Gold (looks more like a yellow, but anyway) paint for these plates was designed to adhere to Aluminum since that is what the CADMV was going to make the plates out of, but guess there was some steel stock to be used up. The rear plate could be restore for all I know, it is legal to do so.
I’ll answer this late. My 68 Cougar has not worn it’s front plate since 1974 and I have been stopped only once between then and today and that was in the late 70s.
“Do you think it has been restored somewhat?”
The paint is very good, but has quite a few nicks and scrapes, indicating it’s been on the car for a long time. If I were to guess, I’d say the car is original, but has recieved meticulous care and maintenance.
In other words- It does not appear to have been restored to better than new condition.
Want.
I like the idea of these, and many have said the driving dynamics are better on the 912, if not the ultimate performance. That concept is lost on most people who just want more power, but for a regular everyday car, the 912 would probably be a better choice. Problem is, the early years are still expensive. I know it is heresy, but I actually prefer the 76 912E, which is usually a lot less expensive than a similar vintage 911 and from what I have heard, not even that much slower. I kick myself often for not jumping on a 76 I saw for sale a couple years ago, the guy was asking $7800 and while it wasn’t perfect by any means, it was in very good driver condition, wasn’t rusted at all, very clean, etc. I wasn’t really in a position to buy something like that and mistakenly assumed that was the going rate for a 912. Nowadays they are easily in the teens for the same quality car.
This is indeed a nice car, and it looks like cars like these still exist enough these days that for many, it does not bring about any excitement at all, thanks to the lack of rust, and that cars of this vintage can still ply the roads in semi decent numbers as daily drivers for some at least.
I agree the color is great on this car. Nice find; Dad had a black ’69 912 for a few years. It was full of Bondo, but looked good at five feet and was a lot of fun.
The ’69 912 also shared the new longer wheelbase with the 911, for one year only, which this particular car shows along with the changes to the headlights. I had a white ’69 912 for a couple of years. Great car.
Six years later and:
The Fiat pictured above is no longer being produced.
Early 912 in good shape is now around 35K
Early 911 has dropped a bit but still commands real money for original examples
The myth of bad handling 911s continues among those who’ve never owned, let alone driven one
A 911 (or 912) is one of the very few cars that look good in any color.
Admittingly not a fan of Porsches in general though like the Porsche 912, it is unfortunate it got a raw deal IMHO compared to its bigger brother.
Based on Jürgen Lewandowski’s 912 book. It seems the original intention was not to carry over the 356’s 1.6-liter Type 616 engine, but to develop a 4-cylinder version of the flat-6 engines on both grounds of cost as well as on the basis of it sharing many parts with the larger engine and would have had the benefit of being a genuine Porsche development not rooted in the old Volkswagen designs.
However the biral cylinders and the crankcase of the 2-litre 901/911 needing to be redesigned for the 2.2-litre version to prevent the crankshaft of a 901/911-based flat-4 coming into contact with intermediate shaft, ultimately led to the 1.6-litre Type 616 being used in the 912.
Had the 901/911 flat-6 experienced a much less troublesome development path for the stillborn flat-4 to be a more viable proposition, it would have potentially meant that in place of the real-life 90 hp 2-litre Type Four powered 912E (let alone the earlier 1.6 Type 616 version), there would instead be a mid-1970s 912 featuring 120-151 hp 2-litre and a 172+ hp 2-litre Turbo Flat-Four engines (derived from the larger 180-200 hp 3-litre 911 Carrera, 227 hp 911 Carrera RS and 258 hp 911 Turbo models respectively).
Such potent 912 variants would have been well suited for the post-fuel crisis Italian and other markets which penalized cars with engines over 2-litres, combined with the 912’s already renowned low weight, improved weight distribution and better handling over the 6-cylinder 911. In fact actually prefer this over the Porsche 924.
Remember reading this article when it originally appeared. Still love that color on the 912! Hope this car has remained in that condition and is still being enjoyed….