Back in September we reported that Porsche and VW were thinking about teaming up again to work on an entry-level roadster in the spirit of the 914. The talk was that it would be built on the (then yet-to-be-revealed) VW Bluesport roadster platform. Eventually, those rumors were put to rest, and Porsche said they were not considering such a move.

Now, Porsche production manager Michael Macht told Automobilwoche that Porsche is again considering such a car. As previously discussed, the car would be based on the VW Bluesport platform and use VW/Audi engines. Most likely would be the 1.4L turbo/supercharged TSI 4-cylinder that delivers 170 hp, and maybe a 125 hp diesel 4-cylinder, though I doubt the diesel is very likely.

The car’s target weight is 2200 lbs, so 170 hp should allow it to directly compete with the Lotus Elise. Pricing is rumored to be in the $40,000 to $45,000 range.

Although, another rumor going around is that the Boxster and Cayman line will be further differentiated, with the Cayman retaining a flat-6 and the Boxster moving to a 4-cylinder to be positioned as the entry-level Porsche. No official comment on that rumor though.

[source: http://www.motorauthority.com/report-vw-porsche-teaming-up-for-914-revival.html]

Motor Trend is talking about a Porsche-badged version of the previously announced VW sports car that will be revealed in Los Angeles in a couple of months. The VW sports car is supposed to be targeted at the Lotus Elise, weighing in around 2200 lbs and producing about 170 hp.

Speculation about a Porsche version is just that — speculation. But, with Porsche gaining more and more control over VW, and Porsche’s recent talk of the possibility of 4-cylinder engines, is makes some sense.

The original 914 was a joint project between VW and Porsche, meant to replace both the Porsche 912 and VW’s Karmann-Ghia. In Europe, the 4-cylinder 914 was sold as a Volkswagen while the 6-cylinder version was sold as a Porsche. However, Porsche was fearful that strategy would negatively affect their brand in North America, so they made a deal with VW so that both versions were sold as a Porsche over here.

Personally, I would LOVE a smaller, lighter Porsche to compete with the Elise. It would be cool to see the VW version use VW’s 1.4 liter turbo/supercharged TSI 4-cylinder while the Porsche version could use a flat-4, since a Porsche engineer recently said it would be “relatively easy” to remove a couple cylinders from the new A91 flat-6.

[source: Motor Authority]

The Coloradoan wrote this article about a Fort Collins man named Ross Cunniff who has converted his 1975 914 to electric power.

The 914 has 18 8-volt batteries, weighing 1200 pounds, mounted in the front and back of the car. It takes five hours to fully charge the car and has a range of about 120 miles. He says he cruises at a maximum of about 65 mph, but it will do 90.

Click here to read the article, and after you do that, make sure you also click here to visit Ross’ excellent blog, where he has blogged about the entire conversion process he went through. Well worth the read!

[source: The Coloradoan]