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The era of the absurdly-priced vintage Porsche 911 has long outstayed its welcome. It’s gotten to the point where even the four-cylinder 912, once dubbed the “poor man’s 911,” can cost a pretty penny. Despite handling better than its six-cylinder sibling thanks to less weight, the 912 is not a fast car, and some 911 enthusiasts will argue that owning one will not give you the authentic Porsche driver’s car that we all dream of. Will swapping in a flat-six engine change their minds?
This 1969 Porsche 912 with such a swap in it currently for sale on Bring a Trailer will surely make purists think twice about saving their lunch money for a same-year 911 (good condition examples of which can go for more than $140,000). The car was recently repainted Ivory White and has custom fiberglass fenders, bumpers, and hood (plus an extra ducktail engine cover), as it’s been built as a tribute to the 1967 911 R. Thanks in part to these components, the car weighs just 2,050 pounds, designed to have a similar weight distribution to the car it pays homage to.
The 912’s short-stroke 2.5-liter (same displacement as the 911 R) engine is a true Franken-motor; it’s made up of 911 S rods, 906 grind-cams, J&E forged pistons, Weber carburetors, a 964 oil pump, and a host of other parts attached to a 2.0-liter crankcase. It was built by Porsche specialist David Brown and is connected to a 915 five-speed manual transmission. Although the car was put on a dynamometer, no power output figures are provided, but at least David Brown’s monster sounds good.
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While the exterior and engine echo that of the old 911 R, the 912’s interior imitates that of the über-expensive 911 Carrera RSR, primarily with RSR bucket seats and door sills. The odometer shows 165,000 miles, 300 of which have been driven post-build, but BaT says the true mileage is unknown.
What to do you think? Is this heavily-modified 912 a good alternative to a first-generation 911? Better decide fast, because the car’s current bid is sitting at $45,000 on only its first day of the auction.
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