A Family Porsche Reborn: The Lucas 914-6 Tribute Build

A Factory-Style 914-6 Vision

The vision is authentic and detail-oriented: the car should look and feel exactly like a genuine factory 914-6, complete with the distinctive side marker “warts,” correct badging, and every other period-correct nuance that enthusiasts love.

Robert is a longtime Porsche enthusiast and no stranger to the 914 platform. Even from the other side of the world, his clear direction and deep knowledge of these cars have been invaluable in steering the build. This father/son collaboration across continents has made it a truly unique long-distance project, strengthened by their shared passion.

Repairing Decades of Daily Use

Before the fun upgrades could begin, the car needed some serious attention. Although it had previously received an excellent repair from Jay Leno’s body man, the years of daily use and heavy towing duty had left their mark on the tub — particularly in the rear trunk area.

It was refreshing to work on a 914 that had been repaired to such a high standard at one point in its life, especially since these cars were often treated as second-class citizens compared to the 911s of the era.

Restoring the Tub and Respraying It in Original Bahia Red

We began by completely stripping the car to bare metal. From there, meticulous metalwork brought the tub back to factory specifications. We then replicated the original 1973 assembly line appearance by carefully applying Wurth seam sealer using both Schutz gun and brush techniques for an authentic factory look. At the Lucas team’s request, we added full factory-style 914-6 undercoating for lasting protection, followed by a generous application of Lizard Skin sound deadening inside the cabin. The result will be a noticeably quieter and more refined interior. Once the structural work was complete, the body received a flawless full respray in its original Bahia Red, exactly as it left the Osnabrück Karmann factory.

A 250-Horsepower Warm Street Engine

While the body was in paint, we built a stronger 911SC 3.0 liter engine to a well-balanced warm street specification. It features 9.5:1 pistons and a Mod S-Cam from our friends at Webcam.

For induction, we installed a modern EFI system built around Jenvey Heritage Series IDA3 throttle bodies. This setup perfectly captures the nostalgic visual appeal of the original 914-6 while delivering modern reliability, crisp throttle response, and an estimated 250 horsepower — an ideal power level that will make the car an absolute joy to drive on both canyon roads and longer trips.

Drivetrain, Differential, and Suspension

To handle the extra power, we fully rebuilt the 914 side shifter with new internals, a Wavetrac limited slip differential and a billet intermediate plate.

The suspension was completely refreshed in-house, and the car will soon be rolling on beautiful factory 6x15" Fuchs wheels.