Creamsicle, Sail trim Options

[13b914]

I have seen a few creamsicles through the years and thought they all had black sail trim. Their is a creamsicle on ebay right now with chrome sail trim. Which is correct or did they come both ways?

Chad

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

Never side vinyl but I sure like the way the side vinyl looks on the 914!

I have seen a few creamsicles through the years and thought they all had black sail trim. Their is a creamsicle on ebay right now with chrome sail trim. Which is correct or did they come both ways?

Chad

[Pat Garvey]

I have seen a few creamsicles through the years and thought they all had black sail trim. Their is a creamsicle on ebay right now with chrome sail trim. Which is correct or did they come both ways?

Chad

Chad,

The LE's had no vinyl trim. I personally can think of some trim pieces that might look good on them....but that would be heresy!

No vinyl ever.....ever.
Pat

[914werke]

Blacked out Trim down L & R & accross the back. The pieces on top of the Targa are still Chrome.

[Johny Blackstain]

I have seen a few creamsicles through the years and thought they all had black sail trim. Their is a creamsicle on ebay right now with chrome sail trim. Which is correct or did they come both ways?

Chad

It supposedly is a very rare beast... a late model LE. I've heard of this one & one other that have sail vinyl & chrome sail trim, instead of sail paint & black sail trim. As far as I know, 99.9% of all LEs' did not come w/ sail vinyl or chrome sail trim.

[JeffBowlsby]

There are actually 3 Creamsicles with targa vinyl and bright trim, VINs:

15650
21331
21363

The owner of 21331 has a photo of the car from that day it was brought home from the dealership. All other known Creamsicles and Bumblebees have no vinyl and satin black rear trim on the Targa bar.

[MDG]

the ebay one has had a few mods to it.
Just looked again and it looks like it would be easy enough to put back to original. I have heard of these 'late' LEs before and always assumed it was a dealer paint and side stripe job on an otherwise Light Ivory appearance group car. No?

[JeffBowlsby]

Factory two tone paint and side stripes for 21331 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[MDG]

That also states it came with the standard (for an LE) "coloured 5.5x15 pressure cast alloys". huh. I guess they took those off before they sold it and stuck the Fuchs on. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) The picture above shows, and the ad on Ebay for this car states, it came with Fuchs not Mahles.

I'm sure one of you guys will know - I don't - who prints out that form in Jeff's post? Does it ship with the car from Germany? If so then obviously it's a late factory made LE albeit with a wheel option type-o on the list.

And don't mis-read this; I am not being sceptical for kicks and I'd hardly put my limited knowledge of LEs against Jeff and Dave. I am just a bit confused as to what constitutes an authentic LE. What I see in the car described here is an otherwise typical, fully optioned, 1974 L80E 914 that was picked up new at the dealership with the LE paint scheme.

Oh, and the stripe is way too high on the door compared to a 'real' LE (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif) And weren't those stripes supposed to wrap around the fender lips into the wells? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[JeffBowlsby]

We concur with your guess on the Fuchs for VIN 21331...we think they were changed at the dealer, but will never be able to confirm.

Not sure where the window stickers originate...my guess is that they are created and installed by the importer, after the receiving dealer was known.

It is not presented clearly on the website yet, but PCNA recently informed us what they are told from Porsche PAG (Germany) constitutes an authentic 914 Can Am car (LE). It must have both these items in their records:

1. Paint code either U1 (Black/Sunflower Yellow) or U2 (Light Ivory/Phoenix Red) which were unique 914 paint codes to the 1974-only model year. The Karmann plate would indicate the base color as the standard paint code (L04I thats the letter 'i' not the number one) or L80E.

2. Optional equipment package M-778 which apparently is a group of the otherwise optional equipment items - Front spoiler, console, sway bars etc. Germany has not been able to state specifically which components are in the M-778 package, but they are listed on the 8 identical window stickers we have for the LE cars.

With VIN 21331 and the other two cars on the registry with VINs higher than 16764, these cars have the paint code, but not the M-778 equipment according to PCNA records. The puzzling thing about VIN 21331 is that it is one of the best documented 914s anywhere, and the window sticker indicates it has the correct equipment for an LE. So the PCNA records and the actual car are in conflict. PCNA tells us that there are actually many late VIN cars that have the paint code, but not the M-778, up to and including the very last 1974 model year car built, VIN 21379. Pretty interesting huh...

I would not be too concerned about the stripe installation. The stripes were all dealer installed even though they were provided by the facotory, so they will all be installed differently. Ed Morrow and others who worked at the dealerships at the time these cars were delivered, informed us that the cars were shipped covered in Cosmoline to prevent corrosion in transit...which had to be removed during dealer prep, then the stripes were installed. No wonder there is no consistency in how they were installed.

[MDG]

With VIN 21331 and the other two cars on the registry with VINs higher than 16764, these cars have the paint code, but not the M-778 equipment according to PCNA records. The puzzling thing about VIN 21331 is that it is one of the best documented 914s anywhere, and the window sticker indicates it has the correct equipment for an LE. So the PCNA records and the actual car are in conflict. PCNA tells us that there are actually many late VIN cars that have the paint code, but not the M-778, up to and including the very last 1974 model year car built, VIN 21379. Pretty interesting huh...

Thanks for that, and I've visited the LE site many times; Kudos!

And yes, your above quote is interesting and I wonder if, after the official 'Limited' run of LEs was finished, did the factory squeeze out a few more to fulfill orders by pulling and modifying fully optioned cars off the line and simply adding the paint to the bumpers and rockers, put a spoiler on and stick a stripe kit in the trunk?

If so, does this not water down the true Limited nature of these cars? Let's face it, it's not the mechanical options on the LEs that make them unique; the '73 2.0 I drove in the 80's and the one I own now have all the same options - technically they have a few more: chrome bumpers, vinyl and chrome sails. So it's really the cosmetic options that differ these from a factory, fully optioned 2.0 liter. If that is in fact what happened, what makes this car different from a dealership (or even a buyer) taking a Light Ivory '74 and doing the same thing?

Oh, I did know about the stripe application being done at the dealer by the way; all discussions need a devil's advocate sometimes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And again, I do not dispute this car was bought new this way; my queries are based on my simplified acceptance of what constitutes a factory 'Limited Edition' 914. What I have learned from your site: the basics - two tone paint, spoiler, painted Mahles, no chrome, no sail vinyl on an otherwise fully optioned 2.0 liter. By definition if the factory themselves were to alter that, is the 'Limited' aspect not diminished? Opinions?