Porsche 916
History & Registry

02Timeline

1. 1969

   The 914 arrives

   The VW-Porsche 914 is shown at the Frankfurt IAA as Germany's first production mid-engined sports car, a joint project agreed between Ferry Porsche and Volkswagen's Heinrich Nordhoff. In the USA both the four-cylinder 914 and the six-cylinder 914/6 are sold as Porsches.^[1]

2. 1970

   Racing pedigree

   A 914/6 GT run by Sonauto wins the GT class at Le Mans and finishes sixth overall, and 914/6s take a triple victory at the Marathon de la Route.^[1][4] The flared 914/6 GT is the visual template for the 916.^[4][5]

3. 8-cyl

   A super-914 is planned

   Two eight-cylinder 914 S cars built for Ferdinand Piëch and Ferry Porsche show the potential of the mid-engined chassis and give the impetus for the 916.^[1][2] Porsche aims the 916 at the Ferrari Dino.^[4]

4. 1971

   Eleven cars built

   Porsche builds eleven 916s with 911 S and Carrera RS-derived six-cylinder engines of 190 and 210 PS.^[1][2] Bodies come from Karmann and are modified by Baur with a welded steel roof, reinforcements and steel flares.^[4][6] The first car, chassis 914 1 43 0195, becomes Ferdinand Piëch's company car and testbed, nicknamed “Brutus”.^[5][6]

5. Oct 1971

   Cancelled

   The 916 is cancelled roughly two weeks before its planned debut at the Paris Salon: it is simply too expensive to build and sell.^[2][4][5]

6. 1972

   The last cars

   The remaining pre-production cars are completed into early 1972; chassis 0020 is finished on 2 February 1972.^[6] Five cars are sold to Porsche management and friends^[4], and cars also go to US dealers.^[6]

7. 2017–20

   Rediscovered

   Brutus re-appears at Amelia Island in 2017 after a three-year restoration and sells at Retromobile in 2019 for €953,600 (the Brutus story).^[5] Chassis 0011, first owned by Louise Piëch, sells for $957,000 in 2020.^[4] The Porsche Museum includes a 916 in its 2019 “50 years of the 914” special show.^[1]

04The 11 Original Porsche 916s

The first of the eleven was Brutus, chassis 914 1 43 0195: Ferdinand Piëch's black company car and test mule, and the only 916 with a racing engine.

Read the Brutus story → More Brutus photo links are on our Brutus page.

The 11 Original Porsche 916s. The dates next to each original owner are the delivery or completion dates from our original research, corrected where a cited source differs. Locations are the latest we could find and may be out of date. Superscript numbers link to the sources in section 09. Ownership after a sale is often private, so this table names current owners only where a published source does.

VIN	Photo	Color	Engine Number	Original Owner	Current Location	Notes
914 1 43 0195		Black	–	Ferdinand Piëch 2/10/71	USA (SC)	1st Prototype car, called "Brutus" Read the Brutus story → Photo: Shelby Asistio, CC BY-SA 2.0
914 2 33 0011		Light Yellow (Hellgelb)[4]	632 5001	Louise (Luise) Piëch[4][8] 7/23/71[4]	USA (last reported 2020)[4]	Factory “Privatwagen” for Louise Piëch, chestnut leather with Paisley corduroy; delivered 23 July 1971 (this table previously said 9/23/71).[4] Later owners: Erna Götten (1973), Otis Chandler (1979), the Matsuda Collection in Japan, Kerry Morse (California) and Dr. Thomas Gruber (Vienna, 2008).[4] Restored by Dr. Georg Konradsheim, 2009–11; sold at RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2020 for $957,000. The buyer has not been reported.[4] featured in "VW & Porsche" Apr 1981[8] Photos: RM Sotheby’s ↗
914 2 33 0012		Silver Metallic	632 5002	Peter Gregg 8/24/71	USA (GA)	former owner William Hall current owner George Hussey, Automobile Atlanta, Marietta, GA (since Apr 1990) featured in "Road & Track" Feb 1972 featured in "Excellence" Jun 1994 Close-ups: A factory 916 up close ↓
914 2 33 0013		Viper Green, now Black[8][16]	632 5023	Private / Germany[8][16] 10/21/71	Germany (last reported)[11][16]	Repainted black early in its life; one forum lists it the other way round (black, later green metallic).[10][13][16] Bought third-hand by Wolf Schulz-Tattenpach, who took it to his repair shop in the USA (reportedly San Francisco) in 1975, where it got US DOT approval; he later returned to Germany with the car.[16] Shown at Lohmar in 1999; may have had an engine change.[13] featured in "VW & Porsche" Aug 1987[8]
914 2 33 0014		Brown Metallic[8][16]	632 5022	Wolfgang Porsche[8][9][16] 10/22/71	Germany[8][11]	Left the factory brown metallic; it was not repainted from black, as is sometimes claimed.[16] Still with its second owner as of 2010.[8][16]
914 2 33 0015	No photo	VW Silver Metallic[8][10]	632 5021	Gerd Porsche[8][9] 9/22/71	Unknown	Fate disputed. One reader says the car was probably scrapped after several accidents.[12] An early club page says one 916 was destroyed in its first year and not rebuilt, but it does not give the chassis.[13] George Hussey says the damaged car was repaired, and RM Sotheby’s says all 916s are believed to survive.[14][4] We found no later sightings, sales or photos; the Stazak registry’s last record is 1971.[11] Engine 632 5021 is also listed for 0017, so one of the two entries is likely wrong.
914 2 33 0016		Red (Bahia Red)[8][10]	632 5024	H. Hopfe 1/13/72	Germany (last reported 1999)[11]	We have not confirmed the first owner. Other lists give a private owner in Germany, possibly in Ludwigshafen.[8][9] featured in "Porsche Club Magazine" 1-1990[8]
914 2 33 0017		Blue Metallic[8][17] (Gemini Metallic[10])	632 5021	Dr. Michael Piëch[8][9][17][18]	Germany[15]	Sold by Dr. Michael Piëch to Pericles Embiricos and registered in Switzerland on 5 June 1972. It later returned to Germany and was bought by a German collector in 1997.[17] Offered by Coys at Techno-Classica Essen on 10 April 2010.[17] Later fully restored and sold by Pyritz Classics, Frankfurt; the original psychedelic interior has been kept.[18] Shown at Retro Classics Stuttgart in 2014. In 2016 it was owned by a member of the German 914-6 Club.[15] The Stazak registry lists London, UK, in 2003.[11] Engine 632 5021 duplicates 0015’s. Photos: Coys / Classic Driver ↗
914 2 33 0018		Park Blue / dark blue, now Gemini Blue Metallic[8][15]	632 5027	Private / Germany[8][9] 1/31/72	Austria (last reported 2007)[15]	This table previously named Bill Story as first owner. We have not confirmed that: other lists give a private owner in Germany, and Excellence credits photos of chassis 0020 to the “Bill Story Collection”.[6][8][9] Repainted Gemini metallic early on; cork interior.[8][15] former owner Jerry Leonard[16] Lived in California for many years on plate “916 S” and was shown at Monterey in 1998.[11][15] Offered on eBay in April 2000, claimed at about 19,000 miles.[13] Later advertised in Hemmings and reportedly sold to Austria; seen in Austria in 2007.[15]
914 2 33 0019		Light Ivory (Hellelfenbein)[8][9][12]	632 5025	Private / Germany[8]; reportedly von Neumann[12] 1/20/72	England[8][15] (Devon, 1998[11])	One reader says the car was delivered to Herr von Neumann. Excellence says one 916 went to dealer Johnny von Neumann in California, but neither source links him to a chassis.[12][6] Later fitted with a 3.2 Carrera engine.[9][16] Long restoration in the UK, reported nearing completion in 2021.[9][14] featured in "Classic & Sportscar" Sep 1982[8][12]
914 2 33 0020		VW Silver Metallic, Day-Glo bumpers[6]	632 5026	Hans-Jürgen Kischkel, Köln[6] 2/2/72[6]	USA (owner’s family)[6]	Completed on 2 Feb 1972 under production number 1310439, the seventh car finished.[6] By 1974 the first owner had painted it black with Gulf Orange trim and fitted a 2.7 RS engine.[6] Later owners: Andrew Swett Richman (1975) and a US Army Lt. Colonel (1976), who brought it to Georgia and later Florida.[6] Bare-metal restoration by Patrick Motorsports, Phoenix, back to silver with Day-Glo red; named best of the 914 group at the Werks Reunion Monterey in 2022.[6] Photos: Excellence ↗

Most of what is published about the individual cars comes from enthusiast research, auction catalogues and magazines, and the sources often disagree.^{[4][6][8][9][10]} The biggest open question is chassis 0015, Gerd Porsche's silver car. It is reported crashed and probably scrapped, but RM Sotheby's believes all 916s survive and George Hussey says the damaged car was repaired.^{[4][12][13][14]} Engine number 632 5021 is listed for both 0015 and 0017, so at least one of those entries is in error. Engine numbers can also have changed when cars were later fitted with 2.7 RS or 3.2 engines.^[6][9][10]

06A factory 916 up close

Detailed close-up photos of the factory Porsche 916 at George Hussey's Automobile Atlanta, taken by Vincente D'Ingianni. Hussey is a long-time 914 authority who also contributed his expertise to the restoration of Brutus.^[5] The car is chassis 914 2 33 0012 in the registry above; most of these photos were taken there in February 2010.

Photos © Vincente D'Ingianni. Click any photo for the full-size original.