The Porsche 914 Wankel sports car - a one-off from 1971 with potential
02/02/2012
Although Porsche had been in possession of an NSU Wankel license since 1965, the new engine technology was never used apart from a few studies and test bench trials. It was therefore left to private initiatives to explore the potential of the new engine in Porsche chassis.
One of these private individuals was the industrialist Dr. Ing. Alfred Gerber, who was looking for a fast, manageable, but not too loud sports car. Equipped with sufficient funds, he decided to combine the advantages of two concepts - the Porsche 914 mid-engined sports car and the NSU Ro 80 Wankel engine.
In Franco Sbarro, he found a partner who had experience in Yverdon from preparing competition vehicles and building prototypes.
The rotary engine fitted easily into the engine compartment of the 914/6 and no body modifications were necessary.
The semi-automatic gearshift from the NSU Ro 80 was also adopted. Adjustments were necessary in the area of the brakes and drive shafts, as Porsche and NSU pursued different philosophies here.
For the now water-cooled engine, a water radiator and fans (from the Renault R16) had to be installed at the front. This changed the design of the front to a small extent.
The result was an almost silent power delivery with remaining mid-engine vehicle manageability. The top speed of the one-off vehicle is said to have been around 190 km/h.
Gerber also presented the result of the conversion work to Dr. Ferry Porsche and leading Porsche technicians. They were interested and impressed by how the character of the car had changed. They were also positive about the quality of the conversion. Nonetheless, this one-off car remained, and its whereabouts are unfortunately uncertain. Perhaps the car still exists. Information is requested.
A comprehensive article on the Porsche 914 and its history can be found in the Zwischengas archive. As always, the pictures are of course also stored in high resolution in the Zwischengas archive.
