okay, i've seen several 914 bumpers with two different colors split split at the middle. can someone enlighten me?

It's a way to identify different cars within the same team from the front. The way many modern-day race teams use different color vinyl for their sunscreen on the windshield.

Ran outa paint?

factory GT racer for identification (as mentioned above)

Used in '70-'71 to make the RACE 914's visible to the crew. It wasn't pretty then, but effective.

Don't do it now - would look like someone pimped your ride & would provide negative value to the originals.

Because...They can....