914S Badge, Not OEM But Interesting Options

[914Sixer]

HPH has this badge for sale on Ebay for the LOW Price of $199.99. It states that they do not know who manufactured it. SO, if your have a little money you want to burn.

[914Sixer]

I was trying to make the point of some of the prices of items on Ebay. Numerous examples of just because it says Porsche you SHOULD pay stupid prices.

[bdstone914]

I was trying to make the point of some of the prices of items on Ebay. Numerous examples of just because it says Porsche you SHOULD pay stupid prices.

Aside from the price that part has some interesting detail like the pebbling on the short connecting pieces just like the factory original ones. We all no there really was no 914 S , right? Just a u.s. marketing trick that Porsche did no approve.

[Tom_T]

... We all no there really was no 914 S , right? Just a u.s. marketing trick that Porsche did no approve.

"914sixer:
"Bruce,
You are correct, it was a short lived marketing ploy. I also agree that some one took the time to get the details right on the badge."

.

With all due respect guys, your comments are off-base - this is NOT some "rebel US Porsche+Audi (P+A) dealers' conspiracy" theory BS!

Why do people keep perpetuating this false info that there was no "914S"!?

It is a well documented FACT that there was a sub-model "trim package" called the "914-S" authorized by Porsche USA, VWoA, PAG & VW-Porsche (note that it was still the JV at the point of late 1972 - early 1973 & Porsche only bought out VW from the JV in 1974) -- collectively "Porsche" below, in order to sell the USA new 2.0L -4 as the "914S" in the USA, Canada & Japan; & as the "914SC" in the UK (+ Australia & New Zealand possibly too).

In the North American market the "914S" moniker was dropped for the "fully loaded" trim package model nos. 473664 (CA), 473644 (rest of N.A.) which included both the Appearance Group (AG) & Performance Group (PS - also called "Sport Group" - SG) groups of options within the base price of $5299 for the "914S".

Initially Porsche only sold the 2.0 -4 as the fully loaded "914S" here - their biggest market worldwide at +/-60% of all sold - in the 1973 MY, in order to attract buyers of the less successful selling & higher priced 70-72 914-6, which it was replacing. So they were offering more optional goodies, included within a lower base price than was the last of the base/stripped 914-6, with 95 vs 110 HP, but better Torque lower down in the rev range (i.e.: more tractable & more responsive throttle at low revs in street use, AX & tight tracks).

While the other sub-models with either AG, PG/SG or base equipment & no options &/or the preceding with customer selected options were available in dealerships in the ROW markets - & by order here in the USA/Canada (North America or N.A.) - they were not imported to the USA to sit on dealer lots here in the USA during the first half or 2/3s of the 73 MY.

Dealers here just didn't want them because they were afraid to have lesser equipped 2.0s sit on their lots unwanted & perceived as stripped down 2.0s, & taking away from the slow 1.7 sales due to their detuning to meet the CA & 49 state emissions standards (in CA the 1.7 dropped to just 69 HP, & 72 HP for the 49 state versions) - since they were still worrying about the hurdles of replacing the prior 70-72 914-6s.

In March 1973, Porsche (all of the above subsidiaries) had to raise the base price of the loaded "914S" trim package to $7299, but they still wanted to have a lower priced 2.0 to advertise - so they switched their advertising to the "914 Sport" which had no AG group options but kept the "Sport Group" PG option group - basically a stripped down 2.0 with sway bars & the Fuchs 2.0 wheels as model no. 973764 (CA) & 973744 (rest of N.A.) in order to advertise a 914 with the 2.0 at $5299.

Dave K's Orange/Black 73 914 Sport is an excellent example of the "914 Sport"

Porsche had to keep a base 2.0 model in that price range in order to compete with Datsun 240Z/260Z, MGB/GT, Fiat 124, Alfa 2000, etc. in roughly the $5-6k base price range - while the economic currency exchanges had the West German Deutche Mark (WGDM) escalating vs. the US Dollar (USD), which caused VWoA/P+A to raise the US price of the fully loaded "914S" up $2k from $5299 at their Aug/Sept `72 introduction - up to $7299 by Mar/June `73.

This was the time that then President Nixon took the USD off of the gold standard, & allowed it to "float" in the currency markets against all other currencies - because being fixed by gold backing was draining our gold reserves, as holders of other currencies were drawing gold on their USD holdings, as their "home currencies" de-escalated against the gold backed USD. His action in 1973 was also due to the economic effects & high inflation caused by the first Oil Crisis in 1973.

At that point, Porsche added the other trim packages for the USA as well - including the "914 Sport" with Sport Group/PG only - because the WGDM was rapidly escalating vs. the now "floating" USD in currency exchange, causing all Porsche models 914 & 911 to rapidly escalate or lose money on the currency exchange rates. It wasn't so much that production costs & parts were going up that much, but rather that the USD was dropping vs. the WGDM, the British Pound, & other stronger of the world currencies - so they got less dollars per WGDM each month. So those old world history & economics classes that you had to take in high school &/or college actually do/did have relevance to your car hobbies!

It was an ECONOMIC pricing decision to stop advertising the "914S" as their halo price & value leader - & switch to the "914 Sport" as their "price/value leader" to get people to come into the showrooms, & to hopefully buy a 914 - hopefully a 914 2L - & hopefully buy up & pay EXTRA fro the options &/or pay the full increased $7299 price for the "914S".

However, the "914S" model lasted the ENTIRE `73 MY - not just part of it, & they used the sales brochures listing the "914S' for the entire 1973 MY - & never reprinted them with the "914 2.0" until 1974 MY!

Note that those "914 Sport" models were the last sub-model numbers add to the `73 model numbers list at Jeff Bowlsby's link below (by model number sequence from the factory - which is how Jeff has them listed as well), which is indicative of the later addition of that "sub-model trim package" set-up being added later in the 1973 MY - in early/mid calendar 1973.

http://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/ModelNumbers.htm

So according to the Porsche & P-Dealer sources with whom I've been further researching this "914S" situation, where much of the above facts come from - it was changed as part of the VWoA/P+A/Porsche's USA marketing plans reacting to the WGDM inflation against the USD - in order to keep an entry level 2.0 914 at $5299, while raising the price of the fully loaded "914S" so as NOT to lose money on them with the AG/PG/SG options included - AND apparently NOT the oft touted conspiracy theories that the USA PCA members with 911S's forced Porsche to change it, or that Porsche had never approved the "914S" & forced the change - they are NOT true!

In fact - the "914S" was a trim package used in multiple world markets of the USA, Canada, Mexico (collectively North America as served by VWoA & their Porsche+Audi dealerships) & Japan, & "914SC" in UK (& possibly in Ireland, Australia & New Zealand markets as well).

In the automotive business it is no different than the other major 914/4 "sub-model trim package" (or "Trim level", "variant", etc.) - known as the 1974 MY Limited Edition/LE or Can-Am listed on Jeff's models listing as model nos. 974644 (CA) & 974664 (rest of N.A.) - wherein certain of the options, 2 special 2-tone paint schemes with Mahle "Baby Gasburner" wheels painted to match the accent color, black painted trim, anti-sway bars, etc. The primary difference was that the factory limited them to 2000 examples (1000 in each color scheme) & were produced to commemorate Porsches wins in the Can-Am Race Series (there was also a similar 2-tone painted 1974 sub-model trim package" with a dash badge called the "Commemorative Edition" to commemorate the 100,000th 914 built at about the same timing as the USA/Canada 914 Can-Am LE).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_level_(automobile)

However, both the earlier 1973 MY "914S"/"914SC" sub-model trim package, & the following 1974 MY "Can-Am"/"Limited Edition" sub-model trim package, were both approved by Porsche, & both were intended to help boost sales of the 914s with a "Halo" model which would draw prospective buyers into their dealerships. It is very common for automakers then & now to offer special sub-model trim packages on a new or updated model in it's first year - as Porsche did with the "914S"/"914SC" & still does with recent & current models.

Another difference between the two, is that the 1974 MY "Can-Am"/"Limited Edition" sub-model trim package was only offered for a few months in the later 1974 MY in Spring of 1974 - whereas the prior 1973 MY "914S"/"914SC" sub-model trim package ran for the ENTIRE 12 months of the 1973 MY - so I'd say that it's hard to try to say that it was some fleeting marketing ploy by rogue US P+A dealers - as some erroneously claim!

While R&T and some other publications back then had reported that the home office didn't like the "914S" moniker - which was conjecture on their part - the reality was that Porsche needed to offer more other 2L 914 sub-models with lower price points & less options included in the base price, than the fully loaded "914S".

However, Porsche still wanted press coverage on the full line of 2L options/trim levels, so they stopped exclusively presenting the "914S", as they had in the first half or 2/3's of the 1973 MY - & they eventually just referred to it as the "914-2.0" in articles & press releases (R&T had referred to it as "914/2" for their March `73 article, which was by their own admission made up by themselves - not Porsche).

To be clear - there never was a "914S" factory badge for these 1973 914 2Ls, but some dealers did make some up to put on the earliest 73 914s because they only had "914" on both of the 1.7 & 2.0 powered models. By the same token - there NEVER was a "914-LE" badge or other markings for the 1974 "Can-Am/LE" sub-model trim package either - although Porsche did experiment with a "Can-Am side stripe, which was never used on any production LE; & by necessity they had to put special paint codes on the Karmann Plates to signify the two-tone paint scheme used on the LEs - making them easier to ID at this late date, but it's just a paint code, NOT a sub-model badge.

> These 914-S ads ran from around Aug. 1972 through about March 1973, when pricing changes forces VWoA/P+A/Porsche to raise their price from $5299 to $7299 -


.

> Note the extra options included in the "914S" Sub-Model Trim Package from BOTH their print ad & North American/USA P+A Dealer Sales Brochure -



.

> Note that the the above "914S" ad was not replaced with the similar ad with the very same picture, but with the "914 2.0" instead, & without the "included '914S' options listed as included until 1974 MY -



> However, the USA P+A dealer sales brochures continued to list the "914S" in their specs & included AG+PG/SG optional equipment until the end of the 1973 MY in July `73 - i.e.: for the ENTIRE 1973 MY -

.

> And the "914S" was regularly displayed at USA New Car Shows by Porsche/VWoA/P+A throughout the ENTIRE 1973 MY - This is at the Fall 1972 Ft. Worth Car Show -


.

For those interested in more history on the "914S"/"914SC" - I did this topic a while back -

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=107851

.

Hopefully we on this 914world board can stop perpetuating misinformation on the "914S"/"914SC" - & instead correctly characterize them as what they were:
The well priced "loaded with options" introductory 914 2L Sub-model Trim Package, which was priced out of serving as the Porsche+Audi dealers' "price leader 'halo' car" 914 2L, due to world financial, currency economic conditions causing it's price to rise by 38% in just 7 months on the market from $5299 to $7299 (West Coast POE, Ease POE was slightly less).

Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////