Over on EVDL someone asked about replacing the 5mph bumpers to save
weight on his Fiat with the earlier variety (they are all URY914's at
heart over there ):

I was wondering if anyone has any experience or insight into the
consequences of removing the 5 mph bumpers on my Fiat 124 and
replacing them with the pre 1975 bumpers. I guesstimate they
weigh at least 75 lbs, so I can probably save >50 lbs by replacing
them with the lighter earlier bumpers. It's not all that much but
handling wise the weight is in the worst possible place and
they're ugly.

What I'm most concerned with is insurance, I don't intend to
insure the car for damages to it but I'm wondering if the
insurance company will still try to use the fact that I didn't
have the original bumpers as a way to get out of paying damages to
the other vehicle in the event of a fender bender.

I thought I'd pass this request along to the 914 crowd because a
number of people have retrofitted earlier bumpers on their 75-76 cars.
Any collective group wisdom about insurance companies' perspective on
the topic that I could pass along?

Thx,

Skip

There are alot of people who have back dated their bumpers. I did it on my '75.

As far as insurance is concerned, IMHO, I doubt that they would even be able to tell on a car that old.

I backdated the bumpers on my 76 for those reasons, weight and appearance. The car does handle better. As far as insurance, I doubt seriously a claims adjuster would know the difference between a 74 and 75 914. I'm not sure if that would void your policy, maybe an insurance person will pipe in.

Also be sure that your state doesn't perform a 'bumper check' during inspections (if you have inspections!)

I recommend coming to a complete stop before removing your bumpers.

Hah!