here's a pic from the DGVWPB

you are the authority not me. If the fuchs were standard for Japan along with the side vinyl then they were standard. The certificate of authenticity says that the only two options were m 193 standard headlights instead of halogen, and m 779 which the factory states is the can am equipment for europe and the rest of the world!!!!

Thats how I read it too. The Fuchs/vinyl musta been part of the Japan-market 914 Can Am equipment.

Wow you are fast. You have already changed ownership of this car to us!

I also note that the top pic of Jeff's post, the one in the S&T doc & the one posted by Gustl/Wolfgang all show it with the sail chrome & vinyl, while the Creamsicle is the usual black trim & no vinyl but with painted Fuchs 2L pretty much exactly like the wheels I bought last year 7/09 & await resto or??

But why does the COA for George's new baby say 3/1/75 & not 74???

So is the consensus for my Phoenix Red Fuchs 2L set to try to find a user of them in that finish, & me sell/buy or swap to get another set of "standard finish" 2L wheels??

Geesh - if so, more logistics work to find a set & sell/trade those!

... Mark ???

Jeff - it never fails that I learn new stuff from you & your multiple sites every time!

Anyone know if this pale green zinc-chromate (??) type primer under the Phoenix Red is the way the factory painted the Fuchs 2L for Japan or wherever?

I know that greenish zinc-chromate primer was commonly available & used in the 1970's, & commonly seen on aluminum alloy aircraft parts - but am not sure if that is indicative that te set I have was a factory prpered/painted set of Fuchs???

Here's a close up of one of my wheels where the seller "experimented" with removing some of the Phoenix Red with acetone, that full wheel set, as compared to the pic of the Creamsicle with this type which Jeff posted for comparison.

My wheels -
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Jeff's pic -
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.

BTW - proper restoration of these to use on any LE/SL/GT or clone would require a clean-up, rash smoothed & repaint (old paint has some staining, oil, chips, etc.).

I figured, either way it needs resto & I had planned to resto to the satin/polished OE finish as appropriate for my 73 2L - not thinking that they might be a "real factory set" for a "real" Creamsicle!

Hey George

I have actually seen this car in person here in Japan several years ago while the Matsuda museum was still open...the next time I make a trip back home I will see if I can dig out the old pictures of the car (non digital) and try to scan them for you..from what I remember they had 2 914's and that yellow 916 in the collection not to mention the rest of the incredible cars I spent the entire day drooling over....it was awesome!! Too bad all the cars were later on sold...I do still have the original Matsuda collection book here in Japanese and a little funny English, but its black and white and has no color photos....

??? Do you mean May 75? (Mai 75) would be in model year '74.

Maybe Mai/May Jim - You've got the pre-dating bass-ackwards though, cuz either way it's 75 MY not 74.

Model Years run approx. Aug. of preceding calendar year through July of same calendar year of the MY.

For example, my early 73 MY 2L was built 8/72 & Steve G.'s Sahara Beige was Mar. 73 IIRC.

An LE 74 MY should be built Feb - May 74 according to Jeff's LE website, so something is off on that, unless it was a late importation date to Japan??

So Jeff - I see you on there - so Q on pic from your LE website ...

What was up with the pic of a Cremesicle "coming home from dealer" with standard satin/polished finished Fuchs, as well as sail/rollbar vinyl & silver trim, Porsche side decal doesn't wrap the fenders, etc.?

Click to view attachment

... I suppose it could be as simple as a wheel swap at the dealer, but wondered if the current or any PO's told you what, how & why they changed?

.... or is it one of those LE-clones from the personalization program??

That was the only US example I saw of an LE with any Fuchs on there, other than the ones of the Japan 914-SL Bee & Creamsicle you posted pix above.

Because none of you guys bothered to actually translate the German COA correctly.

The date in question is the "Rechnungsdatum" which simply translates into the date the vehicle was first sold ...
Andy

http://dict.leo.org/?lp=ende&search=Rechnungsdatum

VIN 14438 has the lowest Chassis No. and is one of the earliest 914 CanAm VINs on the Registry. This car was built early in the cycle.

I think that info is on the site too Tom, this is a very complicated car. Thats a photo of VIN 21331, PCNA does not recognize it as a bonafide LE. It has the correct 914 LE paint code U2V9, but PCNA records says it did not have the Can Am Equipment package...IN SPITE of the dealership window sticker that documents that it has the equipment, and as verified by the car itself. The Targa bar vinyl delete apparently was part of the equipment package, hence the vinyl/bright trim. The wheels were apparantly swapped at the dealers, perhaps at the purchasers direction, but its not known, the car currently has the correct Mahles.

According to a few on this site that worked at dealerships during the day, the side stripes were not applied at the factory but shipped unmounted with the car, which was coated in Cosmoline for the float over here. During dealer prep the cosmoline was removed, and the stripes were to be installed at the dealers...so individuals installed them differently, or not at all if the buyers did not want them installed.

There are 3-4 others cars in this category at the bottom of the LE Regostry page that have been located. Correct paint, incorrect equipment, not as well documented as 21331.

Here is a well-done wannabe (fake) or tribute Creamsicle...your choice...a 1976 model.

wow that would be GREAT! Thank you very much. When I go and get the car after the 5th of July when it arrives I will have more pictures.

Okay - 1st of all Andy - I didn't even try to translate it - primarily because I got indoctrinated over the past year by PCNA that they do NOT put a first sold date on the COAs, so I presumed that would be the case for Zerts. too - particularly since a first sold date a year after production makes absolutely NO sense & is useless in documenting the 914's provenance as an LE.

2nd - why would a first sold date be about a year after mfgr.?? Certainly the ship got there well before that, so were sales that slow in Japan in 74/75 so as to have one of only 20 914-SL's sit in the dealership for a year????

Thanx Jeff, I did read up on all that & that "undocumented LE" last night, but wasn't sure if that was the story on the Fuchs & vinyl/chrome trim. Maybe it just "escaped" the assy. line early without the full treatment!

Those Phoenix Red Fuchs I have actually came off of a P. Red 75, but the seller wasn't sure if they were original to that 914-2.0 per se, or if later painted by a PO or dealer, or swapped. So it may have been a non-L80E "tribute" under the personalization program in 75 MY, similar to what you say for the one above in L80E, but just in the case of the wheels.

Do you know of any special option code if a buyer had wanted to order "colored" or painted Fuchs 2L alloys?

... or would it have been just a "customer request" special order write-up?

German COAs do not come from PCNA ...

Andy

Yeah, I know that bud!

... & I would think that the Germans would put a useful date to establish the 914-SL's date of MANUFACTURE to clearly establish the provenance & correct fitment of the car as the LE model for Japan, instead of a useless & possibly incorrect date of first sale - wouldn't you!!??

Furthermore, their Kardex records & records of sale are sometimes in error. They erroneously had mine as first sold in 9/73 - more than a year after the 8/72 build date at the VIN sticker & Chassis no. - as well as sold in Conn.! That was despite my Cal. DMV registration cards from 12/75 on showing first sold in CA on 11/9/72, & PCNA did change their records to correct that error, but not until after insisting that they were right, then getting copies of my documentation to the contrary & my taking it up with their customer care GM!

So Sir Andy - I am understandably sceptical of the "Holy Grail" info on either Zerts. or COAs, when they do not track with what common sense & logic suggests.

In this case, either there is documentation that it was not first sold in Japan until a year after mfgr., or else there is an earlier sale which makes sense & can be documented.

If it did indeed languish for a year - one of only 20 available - then the "why" is a valid question to ask.