Which one would you have produced?
07/07/2015
When the VW-Porsche 914 came onto the market in 1969, not everyone immediately liked its design. Consequently, a number of designers set about creating an alternative. Count Goertz, who had designed the BMW 507 and the Datsun 240 Z, Giorgetto Giugiaro, who had already created milestones such as the Maserati Ghibli or later the VW Golf at a young age, Pietro Frua, who had already created various monuments with cars such as the Maserati Mistral or the Glas GT, and Jacques Cooper, employed by Heuliez, implemented their own ideas of what the compact mid-engined sports car should look like and in all cases, series production was probably envisaged. However, none of the four designs made it that far.
The VW-Porsche 914/6 Taprio ( picture above) by Giugiaro/ItalDesign from 1970 was shown at several car exhibitions and then sold to a private owner.
The Hispano-Allemano from 1971 by Pietro Frua was commissioned by the Spanish importer and also remained a one-off.
The 1970 design by Count Albrecht Goertz for Eurostyle was probably the most unusual of the four with its estate-like rear and also remained a prototype.
The Murene by Heuliez attracted a lot of attention, but even this design could not be duplicated.
They all had folding headlights and two seats. They were all fast and had significantly different bodywork to the factory version.
Hand on heart, if you had had the means at the time, which of the four designs would you have preferred to produce in series?
