I found a guy who has two of the early rear bumpers today.

Any interest? I can't tell how straight they are, but they looked

good from what I saw.

Mint? Yes I am interested in one.
Not mint....I would have to see it.

This is more of an originality & history question, however the way I understand it there isn't much difference between the bumper off of a 4 vs a 6 (not counting 75/76). The difference is in the early models vs the later models. All early 914s had the straight or squarback rear bumper & the later models have the curved bumper. Look @ the back of most 914's & the rear bumper is rounded @ the bottom corners in the license plate area. Early production teeners were not rounded in the lower corners of the plate area. Squareback/straight bumpers are very hard to find & pretty damned expensive.
1st pic is the roundback on my LE. 2nd pic is the squareback off of my 1970 6.

That is actually what I should have said, not just the 6 cylinder cars...

I am looking for a perfect example and a early front as well...

I'd be interested depending on condition and price, please let me know.

My understanding is the early bumpers, squared license plate opening, came on the '70 MY cars and maybe some early 71's. My car is a late production '71 and has the later style rounded license plate opening. I have a nice early bumper that of course would go out to be re-chromed, but understand it would not have come on my car from the factory due to the build date. Discussion?

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I wonder about GTs? I'm pretty sure GT teeners had fiberglass bumpers but were the rear bumpers square or round?
Edit: looks like the GTs were fiberglass squarebacks.

I am interested in an early rear bumper. It doesn’t have to be perfect as I can have it straightened and re-chromed at a very reasonable price. Shipping from CA is probably cost prohibitive.

I thought I would throw it out there, I can pursue it for someone, as I'm going back there for more parts. I didn't see the whole bumper(s), but I would assume they need re-chrome and aren't mint. He knows his stuff on Porsches in general, but not the nuances. I'm learning also, pm me if you want pics or really need this part.

Looks like a nice early bumper, why would it need to be re chromed?

Is it for sale ?

Not to hijack but...is this an early bumper. Not sure where i got it but I liked it better than the one that came on the '73

Click to view attachment

Yepp, you could probably make a nice profit selling that to a /6 guy ...

Andy last time I dropped by EASY in Emoryville they had 5 or 6 early square cut bumpers, some better than others. I bought the nicest one for $100, but it needs rechroming.

Oh sure, burst my bubble...now my kids arent going to university...

Hi Pete000-
The bumper has a few minor dings and waves in it from years of use. If I were putting it on my Six I would have it straightened and re-chromed. However it is a nice bumper.

Didn't mean to burst your bubble! I did get a great deal from EASY on the bumper. I've seen perfect early bumpers going for quite a bit, at least asking price. Not sure if they're selling at the asking price, but they don't seem to be coming up for sale very often these days. Maybe Bruce Stone has one or knows where to find one. Good luck to you.

So does anyone have the definitive answer when we switched to the rounded/smooth license plate opening vs the hard edged one?

I understand, and I may be wrong, that it was mid-71 MY. I just want to be sure that the rear bumper on my car is correct before I sell my early rear bumper that did not come with my car.

Where in CA can you get a quality re chrome on a bumper? I have not heard good reports from any shops in the LA area...

I have a couple that are pretty ding free, but need some loving to be perfect.

I've been unable to find any definitive info on when they went to the round back, both in the originality & history forums & in my old fashioned books. The only thing I've found for sure is that squarebacks only came in chrome, according to page 30 of Brad Johnsons book on the 914 (both original & revised versions of this book). However, the book also hints @ the existence of the grasshopper on page 20, so I don't have much faith in it's accuracy.
According to Brian Longs book on the 914 (pg. 53) the change to the roundback was for the entire 1971 model year. Knowing how Porsche went about producing model year cars around August of the previous year, I suspect there may have been a few 71 914s with a squareback, but they would have had to have been very early models. Although an outstanding read, this book also mentions the possible existence of the mythical grasshopper on pg 83 so I've lost faith in it as well.

Found out my squareback came off a 71. I'll try to get the VIN

Johny Blackstain and cwpeden- Thanks for the information. I am tempted to put the square back on my car since its such a limited production piece. But I know the originality crowd will likely flip out…..

Fortunately I have lots of time to make that call.

If Johnson says that square bumpers only came in chrome he's wrong.
I have a pretty nice green one right here.
This is probably where the whole notion of "6 " rear bumpers comes from.
In 1970......and probably into 1971, 4 cyl. cars came with a painted "square" rear bumper. Unless.....! it was an appearance group car or a 6, then it would have been chrome.

This does not surprise me @ all- there's a discussion about the accuracy of Johnsons book over in O&H & how full of it is. But it's not alone; 3 of the books I have on the teener mention that LE's came in white w/ green accents & that's just not so-