THE 914 CAN AM CARS - INTRODUCTION

Every great car has a story to tell. A great car is distinguished from an ordinary car because it has history, intrigue…and soul…the rare combination of elements that make it add up to more than the sum of its individual parts. The Porsche 914 Limited Edition, VW-Porsche 914 GT and 914 SL are not well known, but they are great cars and what follows is their story. I had never actually seen one of these special cars in person until 2002, in spite of having seen several hundred 914s over the several years before that at local Porsche Concours events and RoadGlue 914 meets. I had seen occasional photos of the cars here and there, but even here in the 914 Paradise of Northern California, surviving examples of the 914 Can Am cars are extremely rare.

In 1974 Porsche created three uniquely-equipped limited production 914 vehicles, collectively referred to on this website as the 914 Can Am cars. The 914 Limited Edition was produced for the USA market and limited to 1000 vehicles. The 914 Limited Edition was promoted to be a commemorative car recognizing Porsche's racing successes in the Can Am racing series in previous years. For Europe the 914 GT, also known as the 914 Jubiläumsmodell, was created to celebrate the production milestone of 100,000 914 vehicles. We have evidence of at least 58 examples of the 914 Jubiläumsmodell produced. The 914 SL or Sports Limited, was the Japan-market version of the 914 Can Am with only twenty 914 SL cars total manufactured and delivered to Japan.

This website attempts to present all known information that I have been able to accumulate about the 1974 Porsche 914 Limited Edition, VW-Porsche 914 Jubiläumsmodell and 914 Sports Limited cars. There is an intrigue about these cars and there is more yet to discover. Many knowledgeable 914 enthusiasts worldwide have contributed their knowledge, as well as research from periodicals and publications, books, photos and of course the internet. Here is pretty much the complete list of References if you want to research the major sources of my information. A sincere thank you goes to a few generous 914 enthusiasts in Germany and other parts of Europe (they speak English well!) who contacted the Karmann factory and Porsche Classics Center directly with questions, and to other 914 enthusiasts here in the USA for invaluable information. You will discover that there are conflicts in information from varied and credible sources and important voids in the information available. This website seeks to resolve those conflicts, eliminate the voids and clarify the facts from rumors.

Most photos on this website can also be activated by clicking the underlined photo titles below each photo.

As you review this site, if you can contribute additional information, or other verifiable information contradicting what is presented here, please let me know and I will include it. I have made every attempt to be fully objective and unbiased, and have diligently tried to confirm every morsel of information with more than one source. This website is a work in progress and is intended to be an expandable resource for 914 Can Am car information as it becomes available.

From Porsche Marketing Letter – Nov 1996

Symbolically, this website was officially launched on February 23, 2003, the 29^th anniversary of the completion date of my first 914 Limited Edition Bumblebee car (VIN 15176). Thanks for stopping by and check back once in awhile for updates, which will be posted as new information becomes available.

1974 914 2.0L Limited Edition

My first Bumblebee

This car made me ask questions…