
Star Power: Carl Sagan’s 1970 Porsche 914 (2016) - benbreen
https://barnfinds.com/star-power-carl-sagans-1970-porsche-914/
======
cronix
They should have used it for the test payload instead of Musks Tesla.

------
squozzer
I would argue "no" on Sagan's effect on the car's provenance.

Not an expert, but years of watching Barrett-Jackson and Mecum auctions (along
with their commentary) leads me to conclude the following will generate
interest:

1) Cars owned by famous racers

2) Cars owned by other famous people who like to race, e.g. Paul Newman

3) Cars involved in a well-known incident, e.g. Bonnie and Clyde
[http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=283](http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=283)

4) Cars owned by celebs who have expertise and resources to maintain their
cars well, e.g. Leno and Seinfeld

The car itself must be exciting - Jeff Gordon's minivan won't cut it.

For instance, I think people are still looking for James Dean's Porsche.

One of Howard Hughes' cars did OK -
[https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/12/19/howard-hughes-
recor...](https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/12/19/howard-hughes-record-
setting-1953-buick-roadmaster-heads-to-auction/)

OJ's Bronco? Maybe not so well.

~~~
Theodores
Carl Sagan also owned a 911 in orange, this adds to the man being a Porsche
fan.

This 914 has been unlucky in that it has not been loved since the man passed
on. It has been loved but not made it to be a devoted project. I think that it
deserves to be fully restored and shown. It would do well if it was in Europe,
at events such as Goodwood, not on the track, as an exhibit.

Heritage is really important with the Goodwood type of scene. Those Ferraris
(and Porsches) that are worth untold millions do get raced, crashed and
repaired. They are not garage queens and if they were taken out of circulation
and made into garage queens then they would not command the sums they do.
Legends like the McLaren F1 are legendary because you can see them get sent
round the track at Silverstone, if they didn't do that then the cars would
become antiques, of interest only to museums.

Clearly Carl Sagan was not from the world of motorsport, however, if this 914
was fixed up properly and restored to stock then I think it would provide a
lot of pleasure for the owner and have resale value far above what a 914
normally commands. I don't think you would be able to shaft Elon Musk $2.5
million for it, however he did pay $20 million for a tweet not so long ago. I
think that he would make it worth your while to restore it to stock, as if
Carl Sagan had just driven it back from the lab.

Most cars from the last century aren't any good when it comes to that key
metric of safety. They are all antiques so it doesn't matter that this 914 has
less horses in it than today's cheapest family saloons. It was a competitor to
the FIAT X1/9, those British MGB efforts and other gutless efforts of the era.

Although period 911s are of value none of them are special. Everyone has seen
a 911 already and they all look the same to non-petrol-heads. The 914 is of an
entirely different body shape and even people who think they know cars will
take a second look at a 914 due to the rarity of them.

Who the heck is Jeff Gordon? People don't say that about Carl Sagan.

~~~
rmason
I'm more of a Formula 1 fan but even I've heard of Jeff Gordon. Not everyone
know him though as this test drive shows.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nu9yiGUeqE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nu9yiGUeqE)

~~~
Theodores
Thanks for the video. I will remain oblivious to the guy, due to the disguise!

So he is an American version of the Scottish F1 driver David Marshall
Coulthard, MBE, known to anyone in the paddock as 'DC', still doing stuff for
Mercedes and Red Bull. DC does commentary and people know his voice more than
his driving nowadays.

------
RickJWagner
Q: Will the new car have to put additional money into that 914 to make it
reliable and presentable?

A: Billions and billions....

------
kevin_thibedeau
Dr. Tyson might want it.

------
newnewpdro
TIL Carl Sagan didn't have particularly good taste in sports cars.

~~~
jacquesm
914 is a really nice car, mid engined and as small as that engine is it is a
hoot to drive. It was also quite cheap at the time.

~~~
newnewpdro
No, it is not. It's a poor implementation of a great concept.

~~~
jacquesm
I've driven one for a bit and I thought it was quite ok given the time it was
developed in. A 911 from the same era would park you backwards in traffic if
you tried the sort of thing with it that a 914 would be happy to do.
Especially the /6 are neat (but unfortunately very rare). The main drawback
they have is that they are super unsafe, but this goes for almost all cars
from that era.

