One of the last 1.7s made on BAT this week! Options

[MCShack]

One of the very last 1.7s made is up for auction on BAT this week!

I debated on posting this here or in the Originality forum, but since it is about a car that is for sale at a current auction, it belongs here, I think? It is one of the very last ’73 MY 914s made with VIN 4732927189 of 4732927660 and one of the very last with a 1.7L engine every made with a total of only 470 cars made after it. In 1974, the 1.7L engines were replaced with 1.8L engines.

It is almost comical that the COA says “European Equipment” instead of “North American Equipment” because this car while obviously made in West Germany, contains just about every single piece of equipment that appeared on cars bound for the USA. The small button amber side lights, the P-O-R-S-C-H-E letters on the engine grille cover, the lack of the VW logo on the back rear trunk panel, taillights are solid red w/o the amber lenses, front turn signal lenses are all amber instead of amber and clear/white or all clear/white, then the US DOT sticker inside the driver door rear door jam with the VIN and build completion date is present. The Porsche logos and emblems were not used in Europe because it was seen as a VW, so there would be no Porsche Crest on the butterfly horn button instead of the Wolfsburg Crest that came on VW made cars. I believe the European hub caps had VW logos on them or maybe they were plain. The only ones I have seen in North America either had no logo or had the Porsche Crest in the center of the hub caps. Very nice, very original, North American ’73 MY 914 1.7L car.

However, I just noticed this car has chrome bumpers with front fog/driving lights in them and they are not listed on the COA. 73s came standard with black bumpers and chrome bumpers and fog lights should be equipment listed on the COA as that those were not standard equipment on European or North American cars. We do know that a lot of changes happened between the '73 and '74 MY cars, like the little center dials on the tach and speedo gauges which are both silver and not black on this one. Also it has the black plastic door sill guards rather than the silver aluminum ones which came new on my car made only few weeks before this one. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[MCShack]

I will say that the person selling this car is the reason I got into 914s and is a great friend. The car is exactly as represented. The odd fuel pump mounting was to avoid having to put any holes in the car to mount a replacement fuel pump as the original wasn't available when he had to replace it.

I don't know of any reason that the bumpers, sills, etc., are not as delivered on the car. It really is like a time capsule and has been maintained in his ownership to keep it original, but still use it.

Good Evening, As the owner of the car, I will add the car has won its class and division in preservation at the 2008 Porsche Parade and came in 2nd in class and division in 2016 at the Jay Peak. The late Allan Caldwell who is one of the foremost 914 experts around judged the car at both Parades and he had no problem with anything on the car and this was with the COA present for him to review. I can't answer why the COA has listed what it does, but the car is shown as it was delivered when new according to the PO upon my purchase.
The 2-3 inch hole under the battery tray caused me to have to relocate the fuel pump using a custom made bracket with existing holes. If the next owner wishes to patch the hole and relocate the fuel pump back to the original location, it should be an easy job for a quality bodyshop. Thank you again for looking at the car, it is a pleasure to drive and will make an exceptional car for someone.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that the black plastic door sill plates were not correct, they are correct. All of them are black plastic after VIN #4732918919 and this car has VIN #4732927189 which is way after the change was made if the information in Dr. Johnson's book on 914s is correct. The one thing we know for sure is that the manufacturing dates do not closely follow the VIN dates, especially in certain MY cars for whatever reason. The Karmann Chassis numbers seem to track pretty close, but I have little doubt this car is all original except for the noted fuel pump relocation.

As for the the judging at the Parades, and with all due respect to the judges, you must take those things with large boulders of salt. I have not doubt that it was at least the 2nd most original car at the Parades. Expert Judges are like Dr. Johnson who wrote the book on 914s, they are human beings who used the information that they had or learned prior to that date. The past few years here on 914World have been very revealing regarding things that were once considered Gospel. Such as the black sills, you will find statements from some very knowledgeable 914 "experts" that will say they did not appear until MY 1974 cars. We know this to be incorrect today and in fact they appeared at least as early as April of 1973 on '73 MY cars. My car was made in March of 1973 and had the silver aluminum sills new from the factory when I received it in May of 1973. This is just one example of a few mixed MY part changes that occurred during the switch-over from 1973 to 1974 MY cars during the summer of 1973.

As for the COA, there have been many noted errors in the documents, although this one goes beyond most of the others. Incorrect Paint Codes are almost common place, missing info, even incorrect VIN numbers which are just typos I'm sure, and lack of QA/QC. Information under the "Optional Equipment" is often very unreliable. Record keeping at Karmann, Porsche, VW, and even PCNA did not exactly give a high level of confidence back when they were still being sold. You can get a 'Porsche Classic Technical Certificate' for $500USD+tax from one of a dozen NA 'Classic Porsche' dealerships or a 'Porsche Production Specification' doc for somewhat less money but for a piece of paper that gives color codes and the often poorly translated options list, and nothing much else. Even the Kardex cards can contain errors, typos, and incorrect translations, but dpateman can still get a Kardex type report over in the Originality and History forums AFAIK and for a modest fee and it doesn't take several weeks to get like the ones from PCNA.

I have corresponded with the seller and with what I can learn from him, the description, pictures, etc without being to view or drive the car personally, it is a very fine example of one of the last 1.7L 914s made. I wish the seller well in his auction on BAT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-porsche-914-80/

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bringatrailer.com-25305-1665690956.1.jpeg)