1970 Heuliez 914/6 Murène Concept

The legacy of the Porsche 914 has been binary; its existence reliant on the Porsche and Volkswagen marques, its intended purpose as a flagship sports car and an entry-level model, and the design polarizing - with some skeptical while others enamored. It began as a joint collaboration between Volkswagen and Porsche, intended to be a flagship sports car for the former, and an entry-level model for the latter. Despite a complicated existence, over 118,000 were built of the targa-topped two-seat roadster. It became Porsche's top seller, with sales outpacing the Porsche 911 by a considerable margin.

914 Derivatives : Motorsports
As with most automobiles built in considerable quantities, derivates of the design were created, either for uniqueness or to serve a specific purpose. In regards to the 914, both are true. Several concepts, prototypes, and factory specials were crafted, including racing versions for Group 4 (Special Grand Touring Car) competition. Along with the M471 Competition Option Group, Porsche made the body modifications available as kits to be sold through dealerships, allowing the GT version to satisfy SCCA homologation requirements.

914 Derivatives : Concepts and Customizations
Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio created a concept car built on a 914/6 platform which they called the Porsche Tapiro. It was shown at the 1970 Turin Auto Show where it was joined by another custom-bodied 914/6R creation designed by Count Albrecht von Goertz. This example was built by Turinese carrozzeria Eurostyle and had the appearance of a shooting-brake. The Tapiro had a wedge-shaped design, gullwing doors, two centrally-hinged covers over the rear engine and storage compartments, and was powered by a longitudinally mounted air-cooled 2.4-liter flat-six engine. It was later sold to private ownership but has since been repurchased by Italdesign and is now on display in its Giugiaro Museum.

Franco Sbarro built a customized 914 utilizing a 2-rotor Wankel engine and semi-automatic transaxle from an NSU Ro80, and Pietro Frua created a version of the 914 known as the Vizcaya. The Carrera Kafer was another customized creation using the Porsche 914/6 chassis and even General Motors used the 914/6 to create a concept car. Theirs was called the GM XP-897GT (Corvette XP-897GT concept) and was used to test rotary engine technology. The wheelbase was shortened, a body was designed and built by Pininfarina, and a GM two-rotor Wankel engine was paired with a new transaxle.

Two examples were built using the 908 flat-8 racing engine. At the instigation of Ferdinand Piech (then head of the racing department), the two cars - dubbed the 914/8 - were built to test the concept of using the eight-cylinder engine in the 914. One example received the full-blown, 350 horsepower racing engine while the other car was given a carbureted and detuned 908 race engine making 300 horsepower. The less-potent car was road-registered and given to Ferry Porsche on his 60th birthday.

The Porsche 914/6 Murène by Heuliez
Before the French company Brissonneau & Lotz became a manufacturer of industrial crane parts, they were an automotive coachbuilder. Among their list of employees was Paul Bracq, who would later become head of design at BMW, and Jacques Cooper who would pen the Porsche 91/46 Murène concept.

Around the close of the 1960s, Jacques Cooper presented a design he had sketched to Brissonneau and Lotz. They approved the project and work began using a donor 914 with the six-cylinder engine. During the build process, the project slowed due to Brissonneau and Lotz's financial issues. Motivated to see the concept come to life, Cooper convinced Heuliez to assist with its completion.

The completed car was shown at the Paris Motor Show in 1970, wearing an attractive two-tone beige paint scheme. It was dubbed the Murène, which is a French word for a species of eel.

The styling of the Porsche 914/6 Murène retained a distant resemblance to the car upon which it was based but shed the angular lines in favor of a more flowing and curvaceous appearance. It had pop-up (retractable) headlights, slightly flared front fenders, a raked windscreen, a fastback rear that tapered to a point above the taillights, and uprising crease lines. A small bumper (made of a soft material) was at the front of the nose section, but none at the rear.

The rear hatchback could be opened in two directions: up or back. A hing at the top of the rear window allowed access to the storage compartment, or it could be opened backwards to get to the 1,991cc flat-six engine.

After the Paris Motor Show, the paint scheme was updated with orange paintwork to the top section.

The car's show existence was brief, and although visitors of the Paris Motor Show admired it, it did not earn a contract with Porsche.

The unregistered vehicle was put into storage and has only recently been unearthed. The Heuliez Historic Department gave the car a complete overall before being brought to auction, where it was sold into private ownership.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2023