I have been having very hard months lately with my job working on a huge project with a looming deadline only about 10 days away now, and its been difficult for me. My whole life has been on hold. But I got a nice surprise tonight.

I received this great email from Mitsuru this evening and wanted to share it. I located his 914 LE car on a Japanese 914club website last year, but was not successful in contacting him. He found my 914 Canam website and contacted me. I have told him about the 914club and invited him to check in, I hope he will join in. He writes very good english, so he would be our first Japaese member. Please post any messages you may have for himn here, or I have posted his entire email to me below, and it has his email address. There are two photos of his Creamsicle on the 914 LE Registry webpage. Its an exported US market 914 LE, not a Japanese market 914SL as I had previously thought and indicated on the Registry.

From: "prettygood 14" Add to Address Book
To: bowlsby@sbcglobal.net
Subject: I am 914 limited owner from JAPAN
Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 12:18:58 +0900


HI !

Your site was found by chance .
My name is mitsuru MASAOKA .
E-mail was sent from JAPAN
Surprise ! !
4742914980 indicated to your site is my car .
My car from the U.S.A 15 years ago .
Therefore . it is not the car sold at the japanese dealar .

My car is original paint and no rust .
it is in a very very good condition !
However . engine breaks and is converted into
carb from D-jetronic .

It E-mail in detail again .

Best regards

mitsuru MASAOKA



*************************
À¯²¬¡¡MASAOKA
prettygood14@hotmail.com
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that is pretty neat !!!!

welcome Mitsuru if you read this

QUOTE (Mueller @ Sep 2 2005, 11:35 PM)

that is pretty neat !!!! welcome Mitsuru if you read this

Mike's got it -- this is way cool. (Mitsuru, I'm sure there are a lot of us that would be quite interested in hearing your story!)

(and some of us occasionally travel to Japan on Biz -- who knows?!!)

kim.

Welcome to the Club!

what Adam said (I hope).


(Adam- that avatar pic is intresting, btw)

Mitsuru San,

Hajimemashite. クラブへの歓迎。私は100 回にわたる日本を訪問した。質問を有すれば私に連絡する自由の感じ。次は私のEメールアドレスである。daigoro555@aol.com
Watakushi no namai wa Daniel Callicott. 914 daisuke! California sunde imasu...

Message 2 from Mitsuru....

Hello ! Jeff

Thanks for your mail .
I am glad to meet you .

My car came from California .
it is not Japanese SL .
Limited edition other than me is not in a
Japanese 914 club .
I do not know where it is.

I live in Chiba . It is the neighboring prefecture in Tokyo .

My car detail

4742914980

Chassis : 0849562
Date : 02/74
Engine : GA013101
Trans : HA23014

photo is sent next time.
Keep in touch !

Best regards
mitsuru MASAOKA

*************************
À¯²¬¡¡MASAOKA
prettygood14@hotmail.com
*************************

Jeff,

How many 914's were sold in Japan and what years? Any counytu specific modifications ?

Very interesting.

Hey Jim glad you asked. I clipped the blurb below from a Matsuda collection catalog (former well-known P-car collector in Japan). Its a little confusing to me so here it is in entirety. There is a Japanese 914-club website that at one time indicated that there were at least 2 914/6 cars in a boneyard there, so I don't think this clip is the full story, but maybe the official one on importations. Mitsurus Creamsicle was apprently a private import of a USA car, not one found at a Japanese Porsche dealer.

Lets see, the Japanese-market specific parts I know of include: Special sidemarker lenses, speedo, and door jamb rear label. The two 914 SL cars (Japanese market 914 LE cars) I have documented on my registry show slightly different equipment than the LE cars for the USA and European markets. The 914SL cars have USA negative lettered stripes, painted 4-bolt Fuchs, Euro lenses, no engine grille letters and no bumperguards. One has a front hood crest, the other does not. One has targa bar vinyl, the other does not.