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

Seventy percent of second generation businesses fail. In other words, only three out of every ten children who follow their parents in the “family business” succeed. The numbers are even more striking for third-generation businesses, with a failure rate of about eighty eight percent. Does this matter to 914 owners? It should.

Why do these business owners fail in a business that often flourished in the hands of their parents? There are lots of reasons. Sometimes the business loses its relevance in a changing market. Often the children lack the knowledge, resources, or network connections to make the succession work. But, these aren’t the most common culprits.

Rather, the most often cited reason for the failure of children to transition into the management of a business their parents built, is a lack of passion for the business. They frequently are just not inspired by the company, and don’t have enough interest in it to make it work.

So how does this affect us 914 fans? It seems to me that the biggest threat to the cars we love is not rust. It’s not rising prices. Or a lack of replacement parts. All of those things matter. But, they don’t matter the most in the fight to keep our cars on the road and being enjoyed. 

The largest threat to our cars it a lack of interest by the next generation. Will they yearn to get out and drive? Will they relish the opporunity to sneak out to the garage and work on the car? Will they appreciate all that these cars have to offer?

With the myriad of choices of methods of communciaiton with friends, as well as the vast amount of entertainment, available to young people today, many appear to be losing interest in driving. Rather than racing to get their driver’s license on their sixteenth birthday, as many of us did, many kids today are postponing this long-standing right of passage. Instead, they seem more interested in updating Facebook, texting, or watching YouTube.

You can help ensure that the joys of 914s are passed on to the next generation. How? By instilling that passion in the young people around you. Take your kids/grandkids for a drive. Teach them. Transfer your 914 spirit to the ones you love. It may be the thing that helps our cars live forever.

Save the 914, Steve