To Badge Or Not To Badge, Purist vs. Polished - A 914 Identity Crisis Emphasis on the Emblem Options

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What you should know should you decide to badge your 914.


TO BADGE OR NOT TO BADGE. THAT IS THE QUESTION. ONE OF THEM, ANYWAY.

We all love our beloved Porsche, er...VW...uh, VW-Porsche 914s. Therein lies a silly to some, but in actuality, a long-time identity crisis for this car, particularly persuaded one way or the other by engine type (/4 or /6). Yet even the /6 with the Porsche engine was unbadged (save the model photographed for its Driver's Manual). Some may find this a silly issue, yet some purists remain conflicted to how they should - or want to ID their 914. Badge it, or not?

Those who are purists or make their cars Concourse may not don the emblem crest upon their bonnet - though may want to, but authentic integrity prevents them. Most of us go ahead and ID our (Porsche) 914 with the Stuttgart horse and coat of arms shield because of its nice finishing and polished touch.

So what are your thoughts on badging your car or not? And if not, what hesitations prevent you?


BEARING THE BADGE ON THE BONNET; BUT WHERE...EXACTLY?

If you decide to badge your car, where exactly is it placed? No crest emblems were ever applied by Porsche (or VW, obviously), save the only known car, the 914-6 on the cover of the Driver's Manual. Dealers gave the option to install, but how did they know where to place the badge (exactly)? Most simply center and place it to where they think it will look good. But if you want to don the Porsche crest on your bonnet, wouldn't you want to place it (and drill holes into your hood) exactly where it's "supposed" to be? According to the only known factory-placed Porsche crest emblem on a 914 bonnet, it is 80mm from the bottom point of the badge to the top of the bumper lead, centered in the middle of the bonnet.



Beautiful all original car tainted by incorrectly placed shield too high on the bonnet and slightly to the right of center.




The only known factory-correct placement of a Porsche shield on the bonnet of a 914 on the 914/6 Driver's Manual.


DONNING THE CREST. BUT WHICH ONE?

If you are going to badge your bonnet, you're also going to want to make it "authentic" by using the period correct emblem. Unfortunately, this is a bit tricky for a couple of reasons, one depending on what year your 914 is.

It seems somewhere in 1973 OR 1974, the Porsche crest changed. Conflicting authorities say it was changed sometime during 1973 and others say sometime during 1974 (instead of changing at the beginning of the year for more specific and simple identity). Ergo, some cars produced in that year (whichever happens to be correct) that donned the crest (911s) had one badge and at some point later in that year donned the "new" badge. So you could have two 911s of the same year and depending on when during the year they were produced would determine which badge would be correct.

Where this falls into place on the 914 is to know what period-correct badge (would've) gone on your car if it was factory badged. This is not an issue with late '69-'72 models or '75 and '76 models. However, if you have a '73 or '74 model, who's to say which crest is correct for your car? Depending on what time of year it was produced and which year it was produced (Porsche's website has both badges for 1973 year cars, indicating it may have changed sometime mid-1973. However other authorities, including P914.com and PorscheResource.com claim it was changed sometime in mid-1974, hence both badges would be period-correct depending on what time of year your car was produced). During the time the Porsche shield changed, be it mid-1973 or mid-1974, the most distinctive difference are the color bars. The prior years had orange and black bars, as opposed to the latter years donning the now more commonly recognizable red and black bars.

The other problem in badging your car "correctly" is finding the right badge. The early orange and black bar shields are difficult to find and draw a high price - and a lot of faux badges. More dimpling than the original, slightly off raised PORSCHE lettering, no marks on the back or slightly incorrect marks on the back or a smooth back, no solder marks where the pins are and slight curvature of the shield are identifiable signs of a high-priced fake, though many are difficult to tell apart. The latter early red and black bar badge is not as expensive, though still pricey as there have been three red and black bar badges to since follow it (one after 1976 being identical on the front but having full ID number on the back as manufacturer had changed), having transparent red bars as opposed to the original opaque orange and black enamel paint over the PORSCHE text with slightly different font lettering. The early red and black bar badges, being the most identifiable amongst the masses, are the most commonly fake productions.



Period-correct orange and black bar shield for early 1973 (or) early 1974 and prior Porsches. This one came off of a 1968 911E.




The evolution of the Porsche crest (per Porsche).