“M” is for M471

A pair of teeners with a production pedigree.

Republished with permission from the Spring 2016 issue of Fourteener Motoring Magazine.

Among the rare and famous 914s there are some amazing cars. Certainly the GT race cars of the 1970s era come to mind. And the Bumblebee and Creamsicle limited edition models are becoming more scarce every day. But included in the list of these cars, is a model that very few people have even heard of, much less seen.

Porsche 914-6 GT M471s are unique cars, to say the least. And how they came about makes them even more interesting. With mixed racing results early in the 914’s career, the factory decided to put the 914-6 GT on the track. The GT was a factory-developed race car, that had proven itself in endurance competitions in 1970. It was decided that the GT would be raced in SCCA C Production events. But there was a problem.

The SCCA has a production requirement of 500 cars. Since less than three dozen GTs had been built, it didn’t seem that the car would qualify for SCCA racing. And so, in an effort to meet the homologation requirments for GTs to race., the M471 was born.

The M471 Competition Option is a factory-built 914-6. The car includes steel flares, but none of the racing parts of the factory race cars. Only 23 M471s were built, 15 in 1971 and 8 in 1972, all constructed in Germany. Since these cars still didn’t get Porsche to the needed 500 units to qualify for SCCA C Production, dealers were provided 400 kits to convert any customer 914-6 to a “GT” in spirit. But, that is another story.

The M471s were only available for model years 1971 and 1972. Of the 23 total M471s produced, it is thought that only five made it to the United States, all 1971 versions. Of the five cars brought to the U.S., four were silver and one was Gemini Blue Metallic which, along with one of the silver cars, was sold at Cavalier Porsche/Audi in Richmond, Virgina. One of the other silver cars was delivered to Triangle Porsche/Audi in Durham, North Carolina, while it is believed that the other two silver M471s went to Art Bunker in Kansas.

Indeed, M471s are perhaps the rarest 914s you will ever see on the street. So when I heard that George Hussey and Steve Gaglione would each be bringing their M471s to Okteenerfest last September, I couldn’t resist the chance to dig a little deeper into their story. As rare as these cars are, what I found in talking to their owners is that the tale behind these two M471s is as interesting as the cars themselves.

The story of how these two cars became connected begins with Hussey’s M471. George has dedicated his life to the Porsche 914, having been intimately involved with the model since 1974. In the mid-1970s he opened Automobile Atlanta, which has been one of the primary Porsche 914 vendors since. Few people, if any, have as much knowledge and experience related to the mid-engine Porsche of the 1970s.

Early in his career Hussey begain buying a number of the rarest 914s. He owns a 916 as well as the last 914-6 off of the assembly line. In the late 1980s one of his employees who was dating a girl living in Charlotte, North Carolina, saw an ad in a Charlotte newspaper for a 914-6 GT for sale. When George heard what the employee had found, he insisted that he immediately go home and get the paper.

George went to Charlotte to see the car, which was listed for sale for $14,000. It turned out to be the sole Gemini Blue Metalic 1971 M471. A single 1972 Gemini Blue Metalic car was also built, but never delivered to the U.S. Needless to say, George bought it on the spot. The car was brought back to George’s shop in Atlanta and cleaned up. Hussey enjoyed the car for years before parking it in his museum-like display of 914s at his shop.

In 2013 George decided to enter his M471 in the Hilton Head concours. Two months before the event, he decided to restore the M471. Steve Gaglione came up from Florida to help with the effort, and the restoration was completed just in time for the concours. To no one’s surprise the car took home first place in its class.

The restoration of Hussey’s Gemini Blue car isn’t the first enounter Steve Gaglione had with an M471. In 1988, soon after George bought the Gemini Blue Metalic M471, he let Steve drive it. Steve knew immediatley that he wanted one. It did something for him, not only in its looks, but with its wider stance. It handled in a way that he knew he had to have a factory-built M471.

Gaglione was no stranger to 914s. As a 19-year old he was denied the chance to buy a Lotus Europa because the dealer’s salesman deemed him to be too young. So, what did he do? He promptly ordered a new 1973 Porsche 914 2.0 liter, and has been a Porsche guy ever since. Since then he has owned eleven 914s, and has always had one in his garage.

But that drive in George’s M471 was special. It began a search, that would take a number of twists. After searching for two years after driving the Gemini Blue car, Gaglione located all five U.S.-delivered M471s. Since none were for sale at the time, he kept in touch with the owners, hoping that one would change their mind.

One of the cars was his primary focus for a number of years. The particular M471 was orignally purchased from Art Bunker by Grace Slick’s husband. George had known about the car for years, and asked its owner, John Daniels, of SSF fame if he would be interested in selling it to a very passionate 914 enthusiast and personal friend. George had had a long personal relationship with John, and although John said he didn’t think he would ever sell the car, he would consider selling it to someone like Steve. So George got them in touch with each other. When Steve got a chance to see the car, in 1988, it was stripped and had been sitting for decades.

In 1993 Steve made an agreement over the phone to buy the car for $25,000, sold his Carrera, and flew to California to meet with the John. When he got there, however, the seller said he had changed his mind and would not sell the car.

Gaglione didnt’t give up there. He called Daniels a couple times a year, and even sent him Christmas cards. This went on for years. In 1996 he even wrote a poem and sent it with a box of Godiva chocolates. Today, he admits that he may have “gone too far,” with that idea. To this day, John, George, and Steve always chuckle over that poem. Yes, Steve was obsessed with owning an M471.

The poem got the owner’s attention. John increased the asking price to $50,000. Steve countered at $40,000, since the car did not include an engine (the original engine had been removed and sold in the late 1970s), and many of its parts were in boxes. The owner said he would get back to Steve with an answer. Weeks went by with no call. Then months. And then years. Soon a decade had passed. When Steve called John one last time in 2006, ten years to the day after he had offered $40,000, he knew within a few minutes that he was never going to sell him the car.

After all of the years trying to get the owner to part with the car, Steve was almost able to buy it through a third-party broker who offered to negotiate a secret deal. The problem? Steve would have to pick the car up from the owner himself. To avoid the seller recognizing Steve as the buyer, and either increasing the price or refusing to sell it at all, Steve grew a beard to disguise himself. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The deal fell through before he went to California to get the car.

Steve had all but given up on ever owning a M471. Then one day in 2007 George Hussey called his lifelong friend with news. He explained that a factory M471, formerly owned by Erich Strenger, was being advertised for sale on pca.org. Erich was the renowed Porsche photographer and graphic artist that shaped much of Porsche’s visual identity through its early years. They both knew that a 914-6 GT owned by Erich had a special pedigree.

Hussey emphatically urged Steve to buy the car immediately. But, Gaglione was hesitant to commit. Finally, George asked Steve to put his wife on the phone, and promptly explained to her that Steve had to buy this car. George declared that he felt so strongly that if Steve didn’t put a deposit down on the car today, he would purchase it himself and resell it for a fifty thousand dollar profit, to a prospect he had chomping at the bit for a car like this.

Three days later the owner picked Steve up at the airport in the car. They talked for hours. It was important to the seller that the car, and its history, be preserved. After recounting his 18 year pursuit to own one of these rare 914s, it soon became apparent that Steve was the right person to become its custodian. A deal was made, and Steve finally owned an M471.

Once he got the car to his home in Florida, Steve immediately restored the car. Along the way he has made a number of improvements, bringing it closer to its orginal, assembly line condition. The car does not have the engine that powered it when it initially left the factory. The original engine for the car was located on ebay in Germany. But, it had already been promised by the engine builder to another 914-6 owner for an upcoming race. Gaglione offered to buy the engine after it was raced. Before the engine could be purchased, however, tragically the owner and engine builder were killed in an ice rally training accident in Finland, and the engine was destroyed.

As for the engine now in the M471, Steve rests assured that it is the powerplant Strenger wanted for the car. The 1972 six-cylinder has yet to be rebuilt. But, it is clear that it is not a stock 914-6 powerplant. It remains to be seen what surprises it carries. But, whatever they are, Steve is perfectly happy with it just as it is.

Another unique feature of the car is the stripes up the hood and down the trunk lid. After extensive research Steve has verified that Erich Stringer had the stripes installed within a year of its leaving the assembly line. In fact, photos of the car with the unique stripes, and Erich Strenger’s wife Urlula, have appeared in a number of books.

Today these two cars are quite possibly the two rarest 914s in existence. Finding an M471 (“Street GT”) on the street today is as unlikely as anything you can imagine. But, these each have a pedigree, beyond their model designation, that makes them one-of-a-kind finds. It is icing on the cake that they are owned by the best of friends. It’s almost poetry.