Porsche building cars without a VIN? (911), 914s also, maybe? Options

[74ravenna]

Hi all,

Last week a coworker sent me a photo of a 911 without a VIN.
Its a factory built race car that the owner bought new around 1970 (i think) and put the car away, never really drove it i guess.
To look at the photo you'd think it was a nut and bolt restoration, but its all original!

So, did Porsche actually build cars without a VIN in situations like this?
I can't help but think that they had to put some sort of numbers/ID on it.

Did they build any 914s in this same manner?

Steve

[davep]

9140430059 was an AFN test car, and used by the press for articles. Sometime in mid 1971 it was badly crashed into a telephone pole (by somebody from the UK Porsche Club who had it on test). AFN had the body replaced, and the old chassis was left around until some mechanic resurrected it with 914/4 parts. A few years after the chassis was replaced the whole drive train and interior was replaced with parts from a 1972 914/6 that was crashed after only 3 weeks. So about now the car retained only it's original registration and license tag and perhaps some suspension parts. When the original chassis was resurrected, it had to get a "kit car" registration. The owner of the replacement body managed to obtain the original engine, but apparently the original transmission # is not known, and that transmission was lost at some point. About 1991 the replacement body was fully restored. The owner was in contact with the owner of the original chassis to see if the car could be purchased. I am not aware of what has transpired since 2004 when I was last in contact.

As for the 911, it should have a serial # of sorts if only the production #. If there is no # stamped in the chassis in the usual location, then the kneepad will have to be removed to find the production #. Depending on the age of the chassis it could be a 13xxx number or a 0x1yyyy number. I do try and keep track of these chassis.

[larryM]

Dave - trying to follow this 0059 history ?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

1. was AFN = armed forces network or?

2. AFN had the body replaced

- was this with a factory provided "body-in-white" done where & by whom?

my research on other sites suggests that Porsche would sel a fresh shell & authorize "transfer' of the original serial number (VIN) onto a fresh body-in-white if presented with evidence that the oem body was trashed beyond repair

3. A few years after the chassis was replaced the whole drive train and interior was replaced with parts from a 1972 914/6 ...

at this point i am lost - which car are you referring to here - did 0059 with its presumably authorized new body get the '72 /6 parts, or did the original wrecked & resurrected chassis get them?

4. The owner of the replacement body managed to obtain the original engine -

when you say replacement body - do you mean the AFN re-body, or the resurrected "kit" registered body?

5. About 1991 the replacement body was fully restored

- does this mean the AFN "re-body" with it's legitimate Porsche authorized VIN & '72 parts, or the "kit reg'd" body was restored?

if i am following this correctly - the 1991 owner-restorer obtained the oem 1970 engine that had been replaced by the '72 engine?

the fact that this apparently all happened in Britain tends to confound the story since they have a different process for certifying & registering cars than we USA folks comprehend

- of course, this also was 40 yrs ago, when the rules were different (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

9140430059 was an AFN test car, and used by the press for articles. Sometime in mid 1971 it was badly crashed into a telephone pole (by somebody from the UK Porsche Club who had it on test). AFN had the body replaced, and the old chassis was left around until some mechanic resurrected it with 914/4 parts.

A few years after the chassis was replaced the whole drive train and interior was replaced with parts from a 1972 914/6 that was crashed after only 3 weeks. So about now the car retained only it's original registration and license tag and perhaps some suspension parts. When the original chassis was resurrected, it had to get a "kit car" registration. The owner of the replacement body managed to obtain the original engine, but apparently the original transmission # is not known, and that transmission was lost at some point. About 1991 the replacement body was fully restored. The owner was in contact with the owner of the original chassis to see if the car could be purchased. I am not aware of what has transpired since 2004 when I was last in contact.

As for the 911, it should have a serial # of sorts if only the production #. If there is no # stamped in the chassis in the usual location, then the kneepad will have to be removed to find the production #. Depending on the age of the chassis it could be a 13xxx number or a 0x1yyyy number. I do try and keep track of these chassis.