I am the third owner of a 73 2.0 and was told by the second owner that the car came with air condtioning that was installed by the dealer. Is this possible? Does it count as original? I do not have a COA or the original bill of sale to verify. If a photo would make a difference let me know.

Stephen

Dealers DID install aftermarket a/c systems. Does it count as original? Oh Boy, you may have opened Pandora's box.

It boils down to this (IMO). If it isn't on your COA, it isn't Factory.

However, since you don't have hardcore info, or the COA, some pics would settle it. What are the marking on your a/c control unit? Since you live in Minnesota, a/c is meaningless - but I'm curious - does it work?

Pat

Send pics

Sorry for the poor picture quality, all I have with me is my cell phone for taking pictures. The car was originally purchased in Texas hence the a/c. It blow air just not cold air.

I think the telling difference is the condenser in the front trunk. One is round, the other is square I believe. We'll figure that out by the time you get back.

I have the square unit.

Here is a picture. Sorry for the mess.

In my non CW opinion, if it looks like I installed it, it's not original.

I figured as much, not being dealer installed but since I am new to this 914 thing I thought I would ask. What about the spinners are they factory?

There were 2 factory approved ACs. VPC and DPD. Yours happens to be a VPC. All were dealer installed. The car was designed with A/C in mind, such as the threaded mounting holes on the fan housing. Keep in mind the original York compressor used about 14 horsepower.

Back in the day when you sat down with a Porsche salesman to order your new 914, you could order it with air conditioning. I've seen original 914 window stickers that actually showed air conditioning as one of its options. However, the air conditioning didn't get installed at the factory. It was always installed after the car arrived in the US.

My Sahara Beige 914 has dealer installed VPC air conditioning ($495.00) and my car did not get gigged at the 2003 Parade (preservation group) for having air.

VPC interior shot

Any chance at all of getting a scan of one of these window stickers?

Dave

Hey Dave,
The last window sticker I saw that showed "Air Conditioning" was on a one owner 1974 914 2.0 in South Florida with 50,000 original miles on it.. I told Bob Ferguson about the car and he purchased it. Later Bob sold it to my good friend Frank Hood. About a year and a half ago Frank sold it to someone in Pennsylvania. It's possible that Frank kept a copy of it. I will ask him and if he did I will get you a copy.

Dave,
I emailed you a copy of the sticker.
Steve

Can you send one to me too Steve?

jeff dot bowlsby at sbcglobal dot net

No problem, I sent it to you.

Thanks for the copy of the window sticker and the page from the manual. That is very interesting. The A/C is not priced on the window sticker. It makes me think that at some point the cars were modified at the distributor level prior to delivery to a dealer. This would make them a semi-official option. The installation could then be more professional since the mechanics would get more practice at it.