First Car, First Love: 1970 Porsche 914

Owner & Photographer: David Devereaux

I’ve always liked things with wheels—I really don’t know why—trains, cars, bikes, I like it all. That changed about eight years ago when my mom met my now-stepdad, who introduced me to European cars.

When I met my stepdad, I thought Jaguars were just boring old man’s cars…but then I saw his 1963 Jaguar E-Type for the first time and all of that changed. That was the day I first started to take an interest in European cars—and it opened up a whole new world to me.

This 1970 Porsche 914 sort of just fell into our laps. One day, about a year and a half ago, some friends and former clients of my stepdad said they were downsizing and had several old cars for sale. The selection included an old, terminally rusty pickup truck, a second generation Ford Ranchero, and the 914. All of them had been sitting either in the barn or out in the field for more than twenty years. Astonishingly, the 914 was rust free and a rare early model.

$1500 lighter, we towed it home behind a Mercedes ML—that is definitely not something you see every day!

I didn’t choose this car, some days I feel like it chose me: for as long as I can remember I drove my parents nuts with ideas for first cars, and one day out of the blue, the perfect project fell into our laps.

It’s now mildly modified and my daily driver, so I have done a few upgrades to the engine, brakes, and suspension to make it safer for modern roads and traffic.

It is kind of difficult to put a finger on exactly what I love about my car. My stepdad says that this car looks like a rolling refrigerator, because it was originally designed by an appliance designer—but I think a refrigerator never looked so good. 914s are rare here in Sacramento, but not exactly hard to find if you want one bad enough.

Everyone looks at this car, and that is always fun. I love that it is a convertible: I am so tall that I have absolutely zero headroom with the roof on, so regardless of the temperature I drive my car with the roof off every day!

I suppose the main thing I like about this car is that I built it, I keep it running, and I drive it every day. I am proud and honored to be its caretaker. It’s our first barn find and now anything but a “perfect” concours-quality car—but that means it’s still fun.

Want to see your car on Petrolicious? Click here  for more information