Factory Rear Emblems 1974, Black Metal or Plastic Options

[914Sixer]

Sourcing emblems for Creamsicle. I always thought they were plastic for 1974. LE is an original car with metal emblems, so which is correct?

[flipb]

Super helpful, @wonkipop . Great rundown of the changes and when they were introduced.

The key distinction I use between MY73 and MY74 is the rubber bumperettes. MY73 cars had them front-only; MY74 cars have them front and rear. These may be US-only, but I believe the model year cutover was precise and consistent. I'm not aware of any exceptions, although plenty of folks have altered or backdated their bumpers.

[wonkipop]

Super helpful, @wonkipop . Great rundown of the changes and when they were introduced.

The key distinction I use between MY73 and MY74 is the rubber bumperettes. MY73 cars had them front-only; MY74 cars have them front and rear. These may be US-only, but I believe the model year cutover was precise and consistent. I'm not aware of any exceptions, although plenty of folks have altered or backdated their bumpers.

correct mate.

they did the changes they had to do for USA DOT requirements and USEPA/CARB emissions. from the start of the MY.

@JeffBowlsby knows the revisions to the emissions. being the D jet man.
i think it was a matter of unhooking the vacuum hose from the advance can on the distributor, pretty much like the 1.8s did. but not sure. it was a very small change to the engines for emissions when it came to the 2.0 L cars as far as i am aware.

the rest of the changes were to do with production efficiency and lowering the cost of manufacture. though i think its a misconception to think of them as cheapening the quality of the cars. the germans were big into plastics and the development of plastics.
synthetic materials being one of the big legacies from WW2. germany had to develop synthetic materials due to lack of resources. synthetic rubber, synthetic fuel...etc. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
the gradual introduction of plastic components replacing metal and cardboard etc that starts happening in 74 MY is prompted by the development of the new water cooled car line by VW. thats when it starts happening in the VW factories. the scirocco begins production at karmann alongside the 914 and the passat commences at wolfsburg.
a lot more plastic starts coming in with those cars. and it spills across to the compnents for the 914. in addition interior cabin decor changes in terms of material palette purely as a result of the new "modern" interiors for the water cooled range. its not necessarily all about being cheapskate as is the popular take on that.

little known fact. the german market 74 passat was the first car in the world with a plastic fuel tank. the australian ford falcon in 1979 was the second. Ford Australia flew out VW engineers to assist with the development of that tank. that was about weight saving in the post fuel crisis era. ironically the plastic fuel tank was a mid 1960s Ford patent, but i believe the further development of it was resisted by USA DOT.

the 914 inherited a bit of that work on the passat with the plastic expansion tank incorporated into late 74 cars. very early use of plastics in fuel carrying components. we like to think of the porsche engineers as gurus and technocrats, but the VW engineers were right out there, particularly the ones working in the audi/nsu division at that time were very clever and innovative. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)