Rare 1-of-23 1971 Porsche 914/6 M471 Is Heading to Auction

The most expensive Porsche you can buy new right now (not considering any wild customization options) is the 911 Sport Classic, which will set you back, at minimum, $274,750. Knowing that fact, those not familiar with the classic market might be surprised to hear that Porsche auctions that top $500,000 are not all that uncommon. The appreciation for certain vintage models from the legendary German marque is really astonishing.

Case in point: At the Porsche 75th Anniversary Auction alone, a sale being held by Broad Arrow Auctions on June 10 at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia, six vehicles have estimated selling ranges that top half a million dollars (and a few more that could go that way if deep-pocketed buyers get into a bidding war). What is uncommon about this event is the 1971 Porsche 914/6 M471 “Competition Option Group” model that is included in this group. Only 23 versions of this specific sports car were produced by the factory, making it a supremely rare specimen from a storied automaker.

Now, if you know your Porsche history, you’ll know that the standard 914 is generally considered the ugly duckling of the brand’s sports cars. Made in conjunction with Volkswagen during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, “[the model] started out as a volume-selling budget alternative to a 911 on Porsche’s end, and a worthy successor to the shamelessly slow Karmann Ghia on Volkswagen’s side,” as Hagerty wrote in its history of the car. But they also noted average auction prices have been increasing, especially for variants that bucked the entry-level designation and moved into more rarified territory.

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One of the early upgrades came in the form of the 914/6 GT, a racing edition that was trialed at that diabolical Sicilian event, the Targa Florio, as Hagerty noted. But in order to satisfy a homologation requirement for the Sports Car Club of America, wherein 500 cars must be produced, the M471 “Competition Option Group” was subsequently offered.

These models kept the 2.0-liter flat-six engine from the Porsche 911 T, but without additional upgrades that boosted power for the GT. Here are the upgrades that did carry over, as Robb Report detailed in its write-up of the sale: “Factory-built M471 versions of the 914/6 included extra-wide fenders with 15-inch Fuchs alloy wheels — the muscular signature of a serious 914. Flared fiberglass rocker panels and hand-formed, flared-steel front valances were fitted to accommodate the wide fender flares. The upcharge for the M471 package was $1,375, and with just 23 examples produced by the factory for 1971 and 1972 model years, these are some of the rarest Porsches around.”

If you’re doing the math in your head and it’s not working out — they were supposed to build 500 cars, but only 23 of these exist? — there’s a reason for that. As the listing explains, besides these factory-made models, Porsche also “produced approximately 400 M471 conversion kits although it is not known how many were installed or on which chassis numbers.”

For this rare 914/6, though, the documentation is there, as are the ownership records, and the upkeep has been seen to. As such, this particular “ugly duckling” is slated to sell somewhere in the range of $525,000 to $550,000 on June 10.