(first posted 3/12/2018) Not all the car makers succumbed to mid-70s “malaise”. Porsche resisted with all possible measures, and managed to keep improving the performance of their legendary 911 series, or at least keep from falling behind. For 1974, their solution was the same they had done twice already: increase engine displacement, now to 2.7 liters. Unfortunately, this generation of engines would go down in history as perhaps the most fragile one of the series, as the additional displacement and heat turned out to be too much for the magnesium block. But at the time, these were very compelling sports cars.
To me, the speedometer errors are the most disturbing part of this read. Not only is the indicated speed way off, the odometer is clocking 5 percent more miles than what is actually being driven. Were they using the wrong speedometer cable gear?
I remembering reading long ago that this was common with German cars. Apparently the German government had dire penalties for carmakers if the speedometers read low, so they all made them read a few percent high.
Ford does this too.
If you’re wondering why every F-150 you encounter on the highway is going 3 miles per hour slower than the speed limit, you can blame their speedometer calibration. My ex and father both had 90s era F-150s and I had noticed that we seemed to be taking longer on trips than we should have. I measured the time it took to pass both interstate mile markers and used those radar equipped ‘your speed’ warning devices. 65 indicated was 62 on both her truck and my fathers. I’ve since noticed this about virtually every F-150 I encounter. Confirmation bias? Maybe, but it keeps getting confirmed.
That’s a terrific way to decrease your warranty claims if you’re Porche (and Ford), isn’t it? Run your odometer 5% faster so 36,000 miles would actually be 34,200 miles and then deny claims unless you buy an extended warranty…and you still get screwed on those extended warranty miles.
That’s a nice scam, isn’t it?
Interesting comment about build quality or lack of it in some area. First time I ve heard that one about a Porsche !. HRW and power windows at extra cost ,thought that was unique to all “every thing is at extra cost” US cars of the period.
Porsche has a long and annoying history of expensive options, unfortunately. You’re right about the build quality complaints; that’s not something I’d heard before either. I’ve always thought that Porsches were insanely pricey but solidly put together in compensation.
Really impressed with the photos and article layout. Very modern for ’74. Too bad the spreads weren’t in full colour. Credit to R&T for maintaining such a consistently clean look and feel for so long. They never resorted to the cheezy photo shoots, and advertorial writing of Motor Trend.
In the editorial “eyes” of R&T magazine, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz could do no wrong during this time period.
Surprisingly, the article starts on page 176. R&T weren’t giving the 911 premium placement in this issue, by any means.
But wasn’t this article out of the 1975 R&T annual that has been featured here of late? Road tests were placed in alphabetical order.
Makes sense. Still a buried location to have your brand highlighted.
Cost no object, the S Class and the 911 were the best luxury sedan and premium sports car in the US.
Must resist urge to gurgitate all my opinions on this misunderstood model. Oh what the hay…
These were rightly disparaged as fragile cars due to an odd choice of valve guide material that was too soft. They all needed at least exhaust guides at 50-60K mile mark. This continued up into the 80s before being rectified by the factory!
The 2.7 mag case if kept cool and backdated to 74 style two in one out exhaust without thermal reactors would last as long as any later Al case plus 22 lbs lighter to boot. My receipts since new base 74 has 87K miles and the case has never been split, exh guides got replaced was the only major work. The PO did add an oil cooler which is extra protection for sure.
Thing is, the Porsche guru Bruce Anderson heaped so much scorn on these that by 2010 they were worth about the same as a used Honda, $11-12K. Then he died and people began to realize that hey, this was cheap entry into the 911 game. Then they saw that these only weighed slightly more that the 73 models but with wider power band and better economy. The Euro guys have never disrespected the 2.7 so they weighed in as well. All of the sudden they are rare in stock form because many were hacked and tracked, and now worthy of respect and big money in Porscheville.
The End.
Interestingly enough, a ’74 Corvette (last year of the 454 and no catalyst) turned a 0-60 in 6.6 sec and a 1/4 mile of 14.9 sec. The Carrera turned 7.5 and 15.1 respectively, and presumably would have blown past the ‘Vette shortly thereafter. The Corvette could’ve run with the Carrera up to around 130ish, at which time the engine temp gauge would’ve pegged itself. Not that the Porsche didn’t have cooling issues of its own.
In retrospect, that $5500 Corvette was a helluva performance value- although in the dark days of 1974, it was hard to give a big block anything away.
Because of the redline change (6500, not 7000 -7200) didn’t include a gearing change one was now forced to make the shift to 3rd in the 911 right before 60mph. Porsche was using their own synchro design not the common Borg-Warner. While robust they cannot be rushed.
The 911 was/is a track based car with some street car concessions made (more each passing year). No old Vettes attend track days where I’m at.
Yep. Zora was aware of the cooling issue- the fan shroud, necessary to keep things cool in low speed driving, also restricted airflow when speeds went into the triple digits. As I’m sure you’re aware, the Corvette was a street car first, but with an enthusiast owner group, so the compromises made went exactly the other direction as Porsche.
If we lived in perfect, I’d love to have an early 70’s version of both cars in the garage.
My lawn mowing buddy picked up a 72 Vette when it was maybe 15 years old. A lot of fun cruising. Regular base 350ci, I seemed to recall it turned about 3500 rpm at 70mph. Ontario orange. Those were hot summer nights…
My 77 Porsha 911 2.7 L with Bosch K-jetronic injection was my all time favorite 911, athough it was far less capable then my 83? Carrera with the G50 gearbox.
Both were bought used at very humble prices compared with today.
But the 2.7 was so chique, a narrow body bronze metallic with a brown interior, even the dash was brown it was not particulary fast, nor a very good driver I had it for two years and sold it for € 1000 less then I had paid for it, it needed 4 new tyres but the worrying part was that there were traces of oil leaking from the engine halfs, my Porsche guy told me a rebuilt would cost me € 14000 as the 2.7 is the dark horse in Porsche engines.
Nice cars but totally unrealistic prices today for a car which has really become of age.
I’m surprised to hear there were reliability issues with the engines in these models. I know of a one-owner 74 911 Targa who never had major engine problems since day one. She had put many highway miles on her Targa and drove the car regularly around the city when she was a school board official.
Two years ago the car came out of storage and was put back on the road with no major engine work. The greatest expense was replacing the corroded fuel tank and some fuel system components including the pump. The body and interior were well cared for and look like new today. I snapped this pic of it in the garage while appraising her husband’s Cobra replica.
Nice green targa.
The reliability might have also been due to different driving habits between countries or even people. The 2.7 won’t oil well if lugged or allowed to cold idle at low rpm. Get in, drive off and autobahn it after temp needle comes off the peg is how many were treated and they seemed to do well. Remember the same 2.7 was in the Carrera RS from 73 and you won’t see many of those with unoriginal engines.
A word on leaks….. yes they will leak after some amount of time. But not an active drip. More a seeping when heat cycled. Mag engine can expand in width by an 1/8 inch from cold to hot. Also helpful is surfacing components like valve covers, chain housings and cam towers flat again after many years of service. It’s wise to wait until major service to keep a piece of cardboard under the things.
Porsches selling in the $10-$15K price range when new? Those were the days! (well before my time). These early 911s always looked so gorgeously pure compared to how big they have become over the last 4 decades. Two things I found interesting in this review; the comments on the poor build quality and the use of the line, “There is no substitute” in the narrative, which I remember Porsche using in its advertising some years ago (I think it was around the time the Boxster came out).
To be fair ALL makes have certain weaknesses that can usually be addressed, especially in the internet age. But you gotta love what you have or you’ll become frustrated and move on….
Porsches were always high top speed cars. I remember racing a regular 911 with my Sportster back in the ’80’s. we took off from an on ramp. I left it behind until 100 mph. when it blew past me and there was no way for me to keep up. I developed some real respect for those cars.
Porsches were always a pretty expensive car. Lucky for them, their buyers were also in a demographic that was seeing a lot of economic gains. At one point a lot of younger guys at my office were buying used 911s. They had come off of a Corvette binge before that. I recall the same thing almost twenty years later when young guys were buying 5.0 Fox body Mustangs, and then transitioned to IROC and Z28 Camaros.
In both cases the cars were sold once the guys got married and were trying to buy their first houses. It’s always fun while it lasted!
Quality issues don’t surprise me, all German cars had issues with that back in the ’70s, regardless of the price tag.