My car has a decal on engine deck lid that states 2+1 seating. I noticed that another 914/6 listed on eBay right now only has seating position as 2 and not the 2+1. Did the factory change the decal because of regulations or did the change the decal based on options selected? I know that the third seat was an option, but my COA does not show that listed. I get it that COA's can be very unreliable, but wondering if any one know why the difference in decals and was it the same for 914's and 914/6's.

My car was produced in March of 1970....

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eBay car was produced in May of 1970....

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Here's the sticker from my car, built in 02/72:

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BTW, on the -4 it's up front on the gas tank.

The "+ 1" part was marked out by either the factory or the dealership, as it was like that when I bought the car ("new") in May of 1972. It would be interesting to see if there was a service bulletin.

There might also be more info on the "originality forum."

I'm not sure when they changed the labeling but my late '70's /4 still had all the assorted hardware for the center seatbelts when i bought it.

I've also seen a German equivalent of a US title for a '70 /6 that stated the 2 + 1 seating on it but i don't remember the build date for that car.

Maybe that was a special decal for that came with the optional jump seat and seat belts installed at the factory?

IIRC from my conversation with a P+A dealer in `72 about the seating of 3 - for the USA under the DOT regs., it had to have the optional 3rd middle seatbelt installed to be 2+1 - & that may vary in other ROW countries where seatbelts weren't required for all passengers. That may be why anderssj 72 has it marked out by the dealer, if it didn't have the center seat's belts.

But back then they were available at the dealers easily, & AFAIK either they were the same as any VW &/or Audi &/or Porsche 356/911 lap belt - or were at least easily interchangeable parts.

It also depended if you had the center seat/tray/cushion or not, which was also an option available at the dealers.

So the marked out +1 seems an odd step for the dealer to take.

PS - IIRC it was in the 73 MY that you stopped seeing the 2+1 stickers, but you could still add the center lapbelt & cushion at the dealer.

I was known for carrying 3 or more on special occasions - without a center belt, as did the PO/OO of my 73 2L with his 2 girls to/from school, & they sold it to me when they were expecting a 3rd child & needed another car with a back seat. He removed the center console for transporting his girls more comfortably ("....her legs are touching me Daddy!" arguements with the center console forced his hand ;-), but I never got it from him & had to buy another one in recent years for my resto.

Pat G. our O&H Moderator may have more info on it, but he's not on the O&H lately.


Tom
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Back in those days, many dealers had no qualms about swapping parts between cars at a buyer's request. "I want the red one, but I need the center cushion and seatbelt like the yellow car has, and I like the wheels on the blue one better." Money talked.

The only surprise is that a dealer would remember to mark out the '+1' on the decal after swapping the seatbelt to a different car.

The third/center seat belt wasn't a generic lap belt. The mounting plate had a 45 degree bend to fit the floor mounting points on the early cars. '70-72 have the mounting points for the belts. I had a set but never used them since it would be unsafe to have my kids use just a lap belt. Especially with the shifter right in front of them.

I never said it was a generic belt Mark!

But you can do the 45 degree bend on them in 2 minutes with a metal break, a bit longer with a ball peen hammer.

It's been done, I've seen it done - so - yes you can use & adapt another V/A/P lapbelt to fit perfectly!

It's also great that you didn't cart your kids in it today's world - but in the late `60's we were just moving into requiring lapbelts for all passengers, & 3-point belts for driver & shotgun began in the early 70's.

It was a different world then, & you didn't get ticketed for not wearing a belt - they just had to be there!

So you're comparing apples with oranges.

PS - IIRC the 914 specific center lap belt was also a bit shorter than the ones in the rear seats of the 356 & 911/912 & other VWs &
Audis, but you could still make them work by cinching them up more.

Folks did that back then to use a similar exchange part, in order to save some coin over the Porsche parts, just as they do today.

So my point in mentioning it above, is that someone today could get a new/NOS/repro VW belt & put it in the center of their 914. But you're pointing out the 45 degree bend is good info for them, although the belts still work if left flat, but just don't fit in the space as well.

PSS - My OO's `85 BMW 325e E30 & `88 VW Westy both have rear seat lapbelts (only BMW has outer rear 3-point), so it was still legal to use lapbelts even in the 1980's.


Tom
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That's exactly what I ended up doing in the mid-1980s . . . found that a rear seat center belt from a Rabbit (or Scirocco, not sure what year) worked well. I seem to remember that the hardware matched the 914 stuff--shape of the tang, even the day-glo orange "push" sticker on the catch. The other nice thing was that it had a self-contained inertial reel. I installed it but don't think it was ever used. IIRC, it's now in a box under the workbench . . . .

My '70/4 has always had the center lap belt and console. Build date on the car is 01/1970. Original sticker in engine compartment attached.

Paul

Gee Paul, I hope you at least put in the cushion for center passengers!

PS - it's really odd that you didn't get the 2+1 sticker.

I guess the stickers, like many other 914 parts of the day, were a bit willy nilly in application. So much for the vaunted German logic & consistency!


Tom
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