Rare 1976 Porsche 914 Sat in a Tennessee Barn for 20 Years, Gets Rescued

In 1960, the price of the Porsche 911 was rising exponentially, making it hard for the average car enthusiast to sit behind the wheel of one. The entry-level 912 was based on an old-timer and couldn't compete with the incoming Japanese track legends like the Datsun 240Z.

Porsche was dying for a new affordable sports car but didn't want to commit to complete development. Since Volkswagen was looking for a replacement for the Karmann Ghia, the German duo collaborated using a VW Type 4 engine. The car sold as a VW but with an open door for Porsche to sell a version with an engine it desired.

CT's Garage was lucky to stumble upon this find. The red 1976 Porsche 914 had been sitting with the keys in the ignition for 20 years. The previous owner had stored it raised on some blocks. There's visible wear on the doors and hood from rust and accumulating dust. The window was also left open for an unknown time, affecting the condition of the interior.

The classic was visually in good condition, but due to rust or sitting for too long, the doors could not open. The tires were completely worn out and not in any condition to hold air.

The owner, a senior, is a car enthusiast. He bought the car for his sons to work on, but they never did - probably didn't even like cars as he did, so it's been sitting there for at least 20 years. CT Garage wants to work on it, clean it up and breathe some life into the forgotten classic.

The license plate reads 1994, which is close to 30 years. They open the engine lid to check out the engine, but from the dust, CT's Garage cannot point out if it's a carburetor, but later confirm it's a fuel injection engine.

The 1976 Porsche 914 has a lot of visible rust on the interior, exterior, and undercarriage, but they are still hopeful they will fix it. He notes that it will need new floor pans.

He manages to get the door open, and there are visible signs of rust on the B-pillars and a mouse infestation. They jack up the car to get the new wheels in.

The owner of the barn has some fantastic real estate. The property is huge, with a tiny lake inside. He constructed a runway, although he had to sell all his planes to get this job done. His recent plane was a twin-engine Piper Apache.

He also has a NASCAR bus and a bunch of other classic busses on the property.

After a struggle and almost breaking the wood supporting the classic, they finally change all the tires, pull back the pickup truck into the barn. But the wheels are stuck from sitting for too long and won't budge. They get a manual wrench and roll the car onto the trailer.

The barn is fantastic, it's old, but the owner confesses he rebuilt the front and the entire loft. He once kept horses in this barn and used the top part to store hay from the farm. He gives them a tour up the roof and shows them some old-school relic pulleys he used to lift the hay up.

"Man, I really love these little cars. These little Porsches are just really neat. It's basically a Volkswagen, the guy that created Volkswagen, his last name was Porsche," he said.

The 1976 Porsche 914's never really took off. The deal went sour for several reasons, and part of it was the cost of developing the Karmann-built bodies. The 914 Porsche went into the market as Volkswagen-Porsche in Europe and the Porsche in the U.S.

After its debut in 1969, more than 115,000 units went into production and ended in 1976. The 914 came with a 95 HP 2-liter fuel-injected boxer mated to a 5-speed manual transaxle. This configuration was the best for the 4-cylinder 914 variants.

The Porsche 914 still struggles to break the $15,000 mark. A higher performance 1972 914/6 six-cylinder version sold for$70,000 in 2016 in Florida at an Auctions America event.