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VW-Porsche 914/4 Pickup - Fast loader

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Created on June 25, 2023

Text:

Wolfgang Blaube

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Wolfgang Blaube

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Archiv Wolfgang Blaube

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Wolfgang Blaube

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Archiv Wolfgang Blaube

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - the pickup at full speed

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Hardly surprising from the front - from this perspective, the spectacular US conversion to a flatbed Porsche is still largely reserved - ...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... to suddenly have nothing at all of the familiar mid-engined Targa with the type number 914 in this view.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - The loading area does indeed offer considerable utility - at least as long as you drive carefully over nasty bumps and speed bumps.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Remaining true to its stable smell - the elaborately shaped tailgate closes with two 914 door locks. The fact that it fits harmoniously into the aft section...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... this picture. Incidentally, the rear lights are from the Manta A, which in the United States was first called the "Opel 1900 Sport Coupé" (from October 1970) and then the "Opel 1900 Manta Sport Coupé" (from September 1972).

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Brought home dry - even in the constant sunshine of California, the button-on protective tarpaulin over the loading area was a must. Incidentally, the Porsche lettering normally adorns the hood of the US 914.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Nothing new in the West - the pickup cockpit corresponds to the extremely simple factory standard - except for the air conditioning system, which forms the floor below on the passenger side. The odometer shows 89,500 miles

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Pure gluing pleasure - the 914 series seat, here unsurprisingly in US-style beige, wears a sweat-inducing artificial leather skin.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - "Fox on the Run" - 5.5x15-inch Fuchs alloy wheels, here as a four-hole version. They were available on the standard 914 from the debut of the two-liter four-cylinder engine in autumn 1972

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Mild instead of wild - the carburetor, which is fitted instead of the capricious D-Jetronic injection, reduces the output from 80 to around 70 hp, ...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... which should be considerably reduced again when activating the air conditioning compressor (top center in the picture). On the other hand, the engine compartment is considerably clearer than in the standard version with its heavy wiring

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - length running - the extremely exotic design of the flatbed convertible doesn't look at all out of place stylistically. In the background, an NSU Ro 80 in a rare US version awaiting its rebirth

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Porsche 911 (1967) - From the best stable - the 914 pickup was created exactly where the famous 911 four-door had already been born in 1967 - namely at the legendary coachbuilder Troutman-Barnes on "Thunder Alley" near Los Angeles

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Porsche 911 (1967) - Bill Troutman (left) and his German sheet metal bending magician Emil Diedt. Even his skills are pictured - he rolled and tapped the roof skin of the four-door 911 from a single sheet of metal

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The pickup 914 and the four-door 911 were designed by Chuck Pelly, born in 1938. At the age of 19, in 1957, he designed the famous Scarab racer, later also the legendary Chaparral. The four-door Beetle followed in 1968, ...

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VW with four doors (1970) - ... which the Californian VW wholesaler John von Neumann had commissioned from Troutman-Barnes

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In 1976 Chuck Pelly founded the company "Designworks", customers were GM, Chrysler, Mazda, Volvo and later also BMW ... here in conversation with Wolfgang Blaube

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Porsche 914/6 Pickup - The second 914 pickup, which was based on an extremely rare 914/6 Sportomatic, now bears the racy livery of a widened 914/6 GT

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - In 1977, the Californian custom magazine "VW Trends" dedicated an article to the 914 pickup, which...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... received a lot of attention. This was largely due to the scantily clad ornamental lady named Renee Vaughn, who gave her profession as "Adult Entertainer" - because...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... the term "porn actress" was not yet fully established and accepted in society. Back to the sheet metal - the "aase bros" lettering can still be seen today diffusely under the red paint of the mid-engined loadmaster.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - The 914 grew nine inches in length at the end - an increase of 23 centimeters, ...

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - ... which exclusively benefit the freight capacity.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Open at the front, closed at the rear - this is how the sports truck looks most attractive when equipped in this way

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - Acted dynamics - the 914 pickup is not quite as fast in reality as it appears in this patiently exposed picture.

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Porsche 914/4 Pickup (1971) - But its stylistic appearance and not least its concept as a centrally motorized topless freighter are quite unique.

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Summary

A good 50 years ago, this Porsche 914/4 became famous in California as a pickup, built by a sheet metal artist and drawn by an expert in his field. This report looks back and shows the unusual conversion in many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Basis: serious rear damage
A coachbuilder with history
One becomes two
Mid-engine sports car becomes a small truck
More advertising than payload
After several changes of ownership ...
Valuable

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

A VW Beetle as a panel van, the three-axle Mercedes T-model, the Cadillac with a towing crane: such crude conversions have a long tradition as original advertising vehicles from car recyclers. But probably none has a history as remarkable as the Porsche 914 pickup with open loading area. "Especially as it is the product of some famous to legendary contemporaries - and was not a one-off," says Myron Vernis. The classic car collector from Akron, Ohio, should know. Because the quirky mid-engine truck is one of his favorites. The story begins in 1972 - with a simple classified ad in the Los Angeles Times. It offered an extremely rare Porsche 914/6 Sportomatic with severe rear-end damage. The telephone number with the area code 714 is well known to those familiar with the scene: It belongs to Dave and Dennis Aase (pronounced "Aasi"), who run the legendary company Aase Brothers in Anaheim - which is located in Orange County south of the Californian metropolis. "Aase Bros." is not just the store from whose ceiling hangs the Porsche 908 longtail that finished second in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. Above all, Aase Bros. is the largest Porsche scrapyard in the world.

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