Vehicle Description
Chassis No. 9141430415
Engine No. 6414155
Transmission No. 7510399
While the 914 may have been aimed at mass market appeal, it was
designed with the expectation that both the racing department and
customers would hit the track - it's a Porsche after all. Only one
year after the debut of the 914, Porsche offered a racing variant
of its mid-engine sports car, dubbed the 914/6 GT. Those in the
racing world stood up and took note. While it was mainly European
clientele who purchased the GT, Porsche/Audi Competition Manager Jo
Hoppen was able to successfully receive approval to race the 914/6
in SCCA C-Production for 1970. Hoppen went one further in 1971 and
lobbied the SCCA to approve the 914/6 GT. He was told that in order
to race it in C-Production, Porsche would need to build 500 for
homologation, however by that point only a few dozen had been
built. Undeterred by that large number, Hoppen utilized the M471
'Competition Option Group' option as a way to try to satisfy the
SCCA's requirements. Hoppen's choice to try and obtain SCCA
homologation for the GT would ultimately prove to be the right move
with Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood claming the first-ever IMSA
Camel GT race at VIR in April 1971 and sharing the '71 IMSA
Driver's Championship in their Brumos entered 914/6 GT.
Detailed in Sales Bulletin Number '71/47', dated 18 March 1971,
Subject 'Competition Cars,' the modifications to factory-built M471
914/6 cars are laid bare: widened fenders (front and rear), 6x15
light alloy (Fuchs) wheels with 185/70 tires, 21mm spacers (front
and rear) with appropriately longer wheel mounting studs.
Additionally, but not listed, M471 cars received flared fiberglass
rocker panels and hand-formed, flared steel front valances to match
the new fender flare profile. At an additional $1375, just 23
M471-optioned 914/6 were ordered and produced ex-factory during the
1971 and 1972 model years. At the same time, in an effort to
satisfy SCCA rules, Porsche produced approximately 400 M471
conversion kits although it is not known how many were installed or
on which chassis numbers.
What is certain, according to a factory Telex document addressed to
Paul Gotha and Jo Hoppen dated 30 June 1971, is that 914/6 chassis
number 9141430415 was ordered with the rare M471 Competition Option
Group when new. Delivered through Hilltop Porsche/Audi of Virginia
Beach, Virginia in 1971, chassis no. 415 was just one of 15 M471
ordered worldwide that year and just one of two in optional Gemini
Blue. Previous research indicates that 415 landed with a dealer in
North Carolina and then later with George Hussey, owner of
Automobile Atlanta, by the early 1990s. Arriving in Atlanta, Hussey
embarked on a years-long restoration to return its cosmetics to
their original condition. With the unibody stripped and repainted
in the correct original shade of Gemini Blue, Hussey went parts
shopping on the shelves of Automobile Atlanta: his company
featuring one of the largest collections of New Old Stock (NOS) 914
parts in the world. During Hussey's ownership, No. 415 featured
prominently with other noteworthy 914s at his showroom, in
magazines (Excellence and European Car), and naturally on the cover
of more than a few Automobile Atlanta parts catalogs.
In 2019, Porsche celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 914, and
number 415 was invited to join the celebration just a short ride
down Interstate 75 at PCNA headquarters inside the Porsche
Experience Center Atlanta's Heritage Gallery. While on loan at the
PEC Atlanta's Heritage Gallery for the 'Golden Anniversary,' the
M471 changed hands, later selling to the consignor in 2021. Under
current ownership, the consignor conducted a thorough review of the
car, focusing on the details to return it to a condition closely
resembling how it left the factory 52 years ago. One of just 23
914/6 factory equipped with the 'Competition Option Group' option
built to homologate the 914/6 GT for SCCA racing, this M471 remains
a highly collectible and rare 914 variant and is complemented by
German language owner's manuals, service book, and keys.
