This might get some knickers in a quibbley but I'm trying to figure out had the 914 design team's vote to badge the car been honored, which badge would have come on my car. Porsche Classics shows the orange badge used through MY 1973 and the red badge beginning in MY 1974, but there is also this graphic showing the switched occurred sometime in '73.



The best I can tell, the switch might have happened with the introduction of the 911 G-series in MY 1974 but I've had a hard time finding when actual production began. I did find this article saying it started in August, 1973 which might be a good clue.

That may be all I need to know, but does anyone have anything to add?

Doesn’t matter since 914’s aren’t supposed to have a badge - NARP

I use a sticker, to save weight.


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Thanks both, but that wasn't the question.

Orange bars till ‘74 than red speckles but there wasn’t any 914s delivered with a badge from the factory, dealer installed.
There is a picture of a 914/6 in a manual that has a badge and Ferry Porsche was given a 914/8 that had the badge.

ps: all of the 914/6GTs had a badge on the rear fascia (actually a 356 hubcap badge) but nothing on the front hood.

I think you answered your own question. Orange badge for 73 and earlier and red for 74-76

Agree Orange bars till '74 then red. Have a '74 911 very original and it has orange bar.

Yup, if my car had a crest on the hood, it would be the orange one. If I ever felt the urge, I would likely order the decal they use on the GT3 cars. That would apply right on top of my PPF and no harm done that way. I will not drill holes in my hood. Now, that said, I really do not have any issues with the Porsche crest on the hood, so long as it is installed at the right height. After all, I have a 3.2 in my factory 6.

It wasnt, so totally up to you what you want to do.

I think the devil is in the details here. From what I’ve seen, if the car was built in ‘73, even if a ‘74 MY, it came with the orange. From CY 74 on, they were red.

When I bought my '74 Can-Am LE, built in February of 1974, it had an orange bar badge on the hood (in exactly the position specified by Porsche). And the original Connecticut dealer's invoice says "Porsche Emblem ...... No Charge" in the list of options so I assume that dealer had some older orange bar badges lingering in the Parts Department. Those orange bar badges go for good $$$ on eBay.

Yeah, this all makes sense to me. I think if the graphic is correct, they are referring to production dates rather than model year. I was curious when the switch was because I think the red badges show particularly nice against silver metallic, but my car has an April production date. I'm actually undecided if I'll badge the car. It's a lot to spend on a frivolous bauble, but I've always thought the hoods of light colored 914s have a lot of blank space and look like something is missing. IMO, the badge looks particularly nice against metallic colors. Whatever I decide, there will be no holes drilled. 3M trim tape works perfectly well to hold emblems on.

Is there a factory spec for 'right height' ?

@bbrock

inspired by my sunday afternoon driving around north melbourne for an hour straight seeing how fast i could take a 90 degree gridiron city corner (in a city deserted due to a 4 day weekend thanks to death of QE2 ) i thought to myself i need a real badge on this go kart i own.

when i parked it up this arvo i sat down on a stool and smoked a peter styvesent while i enjoyed the smell off a really hot VW engine cooling off in the garage.
its been a long wet winter down here in north antarctica but today i got the car nice and warm.

dimension suggestions gratefully accepted for my piech designed VW to get it ready for spring time.



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OT - sort of - i can't believe how quick you ( @VAn B ) bought those speed limiting dist rotors off @914Sixer .

not fair, i was asleep in the future.

i got to stop being ahead of my time and get into living in the past!

Sorry wonki, but you did put the idea in my head lol.

Regarding position of the crest, on all Porsches that the marketing dept didn't F up, the crest is mounted centerline and 80mm from the lip of the hood to the bottom point on the crest.

Without measuring the distance, I believe they look best when you find the center of the headlight bucket height and place the top of the crest at that level. I have seen a lot of crest placed at the top line of the headlight bucket and to my eyes, that is high. But that is just my recollection.

This is where mine is. PO drilled the hood so I just went with it. Click to view attachment

That's the spot I would install one.

Enjoying the comments,

You could buy a 911, in 1974, still with orange bars.

And then this question, why, in the first place, did 914s leave the factory with no hood badge?

Did factory not want them?
Did designers not want them?
Did they try to make the car less expensive?
Who came along and said “no badge”?
Any other reason?

That seems to be a big decision to not put any mark on the front of a car.
They spent $ (marks) to put the Porsche letters across the grill, (mine in 74 were plastic)

I wonder if prototypes had a badge?

I'm sure the Porsche bean counters made certain that EVERY single orange bar emblem was used up before the reds were distributed to the line. Therefore it is practically impossible to figure out which were the last vehicles to be orange badged.

Ansbacher

We actually have a little insight into this from the 50 Years Porsche 914 book. This has rekindled my interest in the badge. From the book:



I'm not sure who made up the "program committee" but assume the design team was well represented. So it seems those most intimately involved with the 914 determined it was worthy of the company crest, but the marketing lunkheads who I hold mostly responsible for the poor treatment the 914 has gotten for decades were already selling the car as VW-Porsche.

I've tried to image how that committee meeting discussion went and would like to think it was something like this:

"The matter of approving model nine-one-four to receive the Porsche crest is now open for discussion. Any comments?" The sound of a shoe pounding on a desk reverberates through the room. "Nein, nein, nein!! Nein crest. The car has a Volkswagen engine. It is not a Porsche. Not a real one anyway." This must have been the origin of NARP and caused quite a stir in a group sitting in the back corner of the room. A spokesman for the group responded. "Shut the fuchs up Franz. You don't know what your are talking about. We developed that engine. It is a great engine. It is worthy of Porsche." Now the room goes silent as people shift uncomfortably in their seats and look nervously around. They remember what happened the last time the committee voted against the engine design team. For a month, sandwiches and desserts from staff lunch sacks stored in the break room refrigerator went missing and were replaced with moldy cheese, shriveled sausage, and in one case, a handful of raisins so dry they may have actually been rat turds. Nobody wanted to relive that nightmare so the vote was unanimous. Yes, even Franz had to admit resistance was not `worth facing the wrath of a vengeful Type IV team.

Of course none of it mattered because the marketing team who stored their lunches in a different refrigerator, in a different break room, in a different town were not intimidated by the Type IV mobsters as they had come to be known, so continued with their bumbling plan to secure the badgeless 914's legacy as one of ridicule and controversy.

i hate to be a contrarian.

but it was never actually a porsche (in terms of corporate entity ownership).

it was fully paid for by VW. porsche were the design consultants and paid a handsome fee for their troubles.
like all their work for VW from about 1945 to around about 1971 when r. leidling pulled the plug.............savagely.

it even had a VW type 4 model designation. what does that tell you?

porsche were piggy backing on the side of what was effectively a type 4 "karmann ghia" of sorts, except it was designed by porsche, not karmann.
(probably to karmann's disgust - i point you to the karmann cheetah?!!).

who knows what silly idea nordhoff had in mind before he died.
it was obviously not very well resolved.
a kind of family dinner table agreement as i understand reports of historians.
nordhoff was married to a member of the porsche family, a cousin or something?

so.......i don't think any of them had really thought it through.
as to what it would be.

hence the amalgam name in europe.
though they sold the 4 s through VW dealers and the 6 from porsche dealers.
which tells you something.
and neither of them got their resoective badge - on its own.
cause don't forget VW put a badge on the bonnets of their cars.

i give you the karmann ghia.


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i honestly think this was nordoff's version. it had a VW badge where the porsche crest is in your speculations?
how it would have went looking exactly the same for all intents and purposes alongside porsches version with their badge,........well, its anyones guess. but i'd say badly.
for porsche. which is how it turned out anyway in reality when it came to the 6.

they obviously woke up to that, the marketing guys are not actually stupid.

they got it right in the USA by just calling it a cheap porsche rather than an expensive VW. thats the way i would have gone if i had been in that meeting too.

and with VW not being exactly friendly at that moment, and owning the project lock stock and barrel having paid for the entire R+D along with financing a very large percentage of the weissach test centre who can blame them for probably kyboshing the porsche crest.

i reckon that is who said no to the badge. the VW management executive sitting on the top floor. not the marketing guys.

--------

all of which does not matter one bit when it comes to the actual industrial object.
its a product of piech's driven genius. the same drive that produced the 917 and pissed everyone else around him off - severely.

thats what geniuses do?

it does not need a badge. its piech's first road car project.
as far as he was concerned he was VW and he was PORSCHE - in huge capital letters.
he barely respected his uncle and he had nothing but contempt for his cousin.
he believed he had the genes from the grandfather.
egotist - maybe? but he was right?

its taken 50 years for the crazy arguments about whats a porsche and whats a VW to be resolved. they are one and the same. at one end an everyman car every bit as good as the model T and at the other end sheer sports car perfection with every thing in between. including anachronistic arse draggers and pumped up SUVs.

the 914 is both a VW and a porsche. and why not i ask to anyone who says otherwise.

White over Yellow Karmen Ghia

Mr. Lewandoski gives us more details aided by access to company archives in his book. He shows us just how chaotic the project was after Nordhoff's death and Lotz took over. Lotz had nothing to do with any verbal agreement so went strictly on the text of the contract in hand. This gave VW full ownership of the project AND the right to market the car as Porsche regardless of what engine it contained. In fact, they explored using their own engine for both the 4 and 6 cylinder versions and building the car in Wolfsburg. Market analysis nixed that plan. The Marketing team pops up a lot in Lewandoski's accounting. The identity of the model remained in limbo throughout development with Porsche and VW having different ideas. Finally, Lewandowski has the following to say:

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So there was a notion that there would be separate VW and Porsche models depending on engine fitted which might have been what Nordhoff and Porsche had in mind. That evolved into VW-Porsche regardless of engine fitted. Had the decisions of the program committee in this single meeting been honored, our four cylinder cars would have come out of the factory with the number 913 rather than 914 on the rear AND a Porsche crest on the hood. Not VW, but Porsche.

What we know from the archives is that it WAS decided to badge the cars with the Porsche crest. There is no indication a VW crest was envisioned, and in fact, it is clear from other evidence outlined in the book that Lotz wanted to cash in on the Porsche name to market the cars. What we don't know is what happened between the committee meeting and the introduction of the 914 to the world at the Frankfurt Auto Show a mere 2 months later.

Here is a photo of the VW-Porsche stand at the 914's world debut at the 1969 Frankfurt Auto show. Wait a minute... what is that I see on the hood of that 914...?
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https://www.motorsportimages.com/photos/?ra...event_id=265530

Badge - no badge. You can rationalize it anyway you choose but the reality is they shipped without the badge. Ferrari guys rationalize ways to put Ferrari badges on Dino’s too

They also didn't ship with radios, crested shift knobs, side stripes, or rear reflectors but all were available as accessories from Porsche just like the badge. I'm just curious why we don't get our panties in a wad over those? I'm just trying to figure out the rules.

I do get my panties in a wad over crested shirt knobs, Porsche logo side stripes, and rear reflectors.

Everyone gets one deviation, I’ll take the radio as my deviation.

Long article in the latest issue of 000 explaining the history of the badge.... leave it to Pete!

Uh, oh... I'm already over my quota. I have radio AND shift knob. I find the smaller vinyl knob more comfortable. Guess since I'm already in violation, I might as well go ahead and convert to EV.

You guys are all great, but I gotta say, the NARP crowd gives the air cooled 911 crowd a good run for their money when it comes to shaming people for what THEY do to THEIR car lol
The real lesson here is that the family fight that resulted in the badge being omitted continues today like a family of tragic codependency.

As for me, I will end the cycle in my house and give the car the badge it should have by right and pedigree. Karmann built other Porsches too, ya know…

I have the crest,the crested shift knob radio,rear reflector ,side stripes and the factory ac

You take us far too seriously

EXACTLY! We are carrying on a tradition that started well before the first 914 was even sold.

@Front yard mechanic you are brave going public with your many offenses. We'll dispatch a security detail to your home to make sure you are safe.

Eh, it’s an overarching statement regarding “purists” in general… like emo kids, they all think they’re special but to everyone else, they all look the same!

Dealer butchered AC - fixed it for you

Signed
The NARP Police
(As sung by Cheap Trick)

the eurotrash established the rules in the old world.
you bought a 4 you purchased it in VW showroom and got it serviced in VW garage.
you bought a 6 and you purchased it from porsche showroom and got porsche to service it.

went down like a lead balloon in europe.

in the usa you were buying a porsche from porsche/audi and you got porsche audi to service it in their workshops.

mind you half the dealers who had a VW dealership also had a porsche audi dealership on the next block...........!

thems the rules. its not about a badge. they were already on their way to a conglomerate back then. its just that they had a product in a 914 they could not quite work out how to sell?

in the end they were most successful in the USA where they attempted to confuse the least.

i'm just going to get a piech badge made for mine and stick it on the bonnet.
then there is no confusion.
and ....... i don't care, the badge does not interest me, only the thing and the person who willed it into existence.

its fantastic when you throw up a photo like that @bbrock .

not only is there a bonnet badge on a lowly orange 4 (and it is i can tell by the wheels and hubcaps) but there is also a 917 sitting on a stand with a VW-Porsche sign in front and behind.

1969. f piech was at the height of his egotistical first moment as a late 20 year old.

it blew up on him. those kinds of photos are great. they speak volumes.

........about a future that took another 40 years to finally arrive.

i suggest the reason that a 914 did not end up with a badge is because its all about piech and in the end its the mark or evidence that he kind of disappeared or was erased for a time. its not the reason that the badge is not on the bonnet but all the arguments there would have been around how to badge it would have orbited his presence or shortly to be non presence.

thats why my car is never going to have a porsche badge on it.
piech had to endure not having the name porsche.
so i absolutely honour him by maintaining no badge.
my car is not a porsche. its a piech?

@wonkipop So you are dismissing the lunch-thieving Type IV bullies hypothesis so easily?



Or... do we honor Piech by giving his car the badge and by extension, him the name he always wanted? Oh boy, this conundrum just never ends.

you are on to it mate.

i don't know about lunch thieves. but at least VW sat back and let them call it one name in the USA. some sense prevailed there and the idea of the car was a little less confusing to the average consumer. (i am not an average consumer so it would have made no difference to me, but you know.......the idea of a slow porsche was more credible than the idea of a fast VW so wolfsburg type 4 lunch bullies probably saw sense or were made to see sense? - but only so far? = lets not forget as soon as nordhoff was dead VW went cool on porsche and were tentatively booking the divorce court and then in 71 leidling just put the loaded gun on the table and said. go on pick it up).

piech was not a porsche. but he was. that was always his problem so to speak.
having his fathers name. i think he was the original KDF accountant business brain.

piech's mother was a force of nature. ferry's sister.

so to honour piech i am going with the idea it cannot have a badge.
it kind of reflects piech's own quandry concerning his name and status.
which really took a savage bashing from about late 1971 to around 1980-----
when he started to come back with a vengeance from the obscure siberia he had been sent to at audi.

i maintain that the 914 was subject to the same disrespect as piech was for the 70s and its part of what explains its curious status.

i truly think that is why during the late 70s and 80s all history regarding the car was stifled. like who designed it? was it a gugelot toaster? etc and so forth. it kind of went to the gulag with piech for a while.

@wonkipop Don't fret. There is a badge for your car.

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Oooohhh man! No excuses now Wonki!!

Y'all are


If you want a Porsche badge on your 914, put one on it.

If you don't want a badge, then don't add it.

It is your car, and it is YOUR choice. Nobody here will ridicule you one way or another.

To quote @Rusty .... "I can't be an elitist, I drive a 914."

Do what makes you happy.

I reserve the right to ridicule Brent, well. . . Just because.

Would it be acceptable to add a VW badge to the frunk of my 914?

I might add a prancing Moose sticker / bage. That ought to really throw em’ off the trail
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The only reason anyone would ridicule you for that is if you didn't post pictures of it.

I once put a Porsche badge on a VW bus so turnabout should be fair. I think it needs to be the big bus badge though. Be bold!