The VW-Porsche 914 GT - Jubiläumsmodell
The
914 Can Am model prototype development effort focused on the VW-Porsche 914 GT
for European markets, as all but one of the 914 Can Am cars were in European
trim. As is described on the other
webpages on this website, we know quite a lot about the USA 914 Limited Edition
cars, largely from the few documented examples of original cars surviving for
verification. But the VW-Porsche 914 GT
Jubiläumsmodell car is more elusive and mysterious. Photos of only a few 914 GT vehicles have
been located, in Bumblebee and Creamsicle configurations. From the records we do have, the 914 GT was
intended to be manufactured and distributed in
One
would initially anticipate that the
VW-Porsche
914 GT The photos above are of the
VW-Porsche 914 GT Bumblebee, found in Brian Longs Porsche 914 and 914/6
book, showing two views of the same car (License SU 5996, a
The
VW-Porsche 914 GT poster
The official VW-Porsche 914 media machine created a wonderful publicity poster featuring the 914 GT Jubiläumsmodell shown below, indicating the limited production nature of this vehicle. I know of only two examples of this factory 914 poster in existence. It is not known how, when or where this poster was distributed or how many copies may have been produced, but it does appear to be a factory-issued authentic poster. It is not original artwork. Printed on it in bold letters are the words “100000 VW-Porsche 914”, above the VW-Porsche factory symbol. The poster proclaims the achievement that 100,000 VW-Porsche 914 cars had been produced, a milestone that was reached in May of 1974, several weeks after the last 914 Can Am car was produced. This poster is in part an advertisement to attract prospective buyers to purchase a VW-Porsche 914 GT by stating that the 914 GT was available for purchase, and in part celebrates the milestone feat of 100,000 cars produced.
At first I thought that the poster may have been distributed at the late 1973 auto shows for publicity when the earliest 914 Can Am Prototype Cars were unveiled, but these cars were not fully developed at that time, and it would have made more sense under those circumstances to promote the Can Am affiliation than a production goal that was still 20,000 cars and 9 months away. It is not logical that the poster would have been created in May 1974 or later, when the 100,000 914 car milestone was actually obtained, because all 914 Can Am cars had completed production in early April of 1974. The G-Pack car, a less developed 914 GT prototype, dates from January 1974, so the poster must have been created after that date also, but probably before the 914 Can Am cars began production in February 1974 because the poster car has certain unrefined prototypical features. It could therefore only have been produced at sometime after the G-Pack car, and was most likely produced concurrent with the design finalizations of the 914 Can Am cars, at sometime just before or very soon after their production began. Considering these parameters, the poster could not have been produced in the Fall of 1973, for promotional use at the auto shows where the 914 Can Am concept cars were previewed, but at a later time, in late January or early February of 1974 when the approaching 100,000 car milestone was imminent.
Factory poster of
the VW-Porsche 914 GT Bumblebee
Down in the leaves beneath the image of the car, the text of the poster is as follows:
Original German text:
100000 VW-Porsche 914
Sein ungewöhnliches Konzept hat ihn zum beliebtesten
Sportwagen seiner Klasse gemacht
Coupe und Cabriolet zugleich, mit Sicherheitsbügel und zwei
Kofferräumen. Sichere Straßenlage durch den Mittlemotor.
Sichern Sie sich einen 914 aus der begrenzten
numerierten Jubiläumsserie mit
Zweifarben‑Sonderlackierung (schwarz‑gelb oder weiß‑rot).
English translation:
100000 VW-Porsche 914
Its unique concept made it the most popular sports car of its
class.
Coupe and Convertible at the same time, with a safety roll bar and
two
trunks. Secure road
handling because of the mid-engine.
Secure yourself a 914 from the limited numbered
Jubilee [Anniversary or Milestone celebration] series
with two‑color special paint schemes (black-yellow or
white-red).
This
poster is the only known reference commemorating the VW-Porsche 914 GT or any 914
Porsche for that matter, to a production quantity milestone, in this instance,
‘100,000 VW-Porsche 914’ cars. Perhaps
the factory was merely searching for justification to produce the 914 GT for
This
same justification could have been used to validate and promote the USA 914
Limited Edition cars and the Japan 914 SL cars, but for some unknown reason, it
was not. Maybe there is a similar 914
LE poster out there that has not surfaced yet, I hope so, I have been
searching. To generate interest in the
VW-Porsche 914 production milestone, a standard, fully-optioned 1974 VW-Porsche
914 2.0L car or the USA 914 Porsche Limited Edition, could have been selected
for purposes of this poster or a USA counterpart poster, but a European
VW-Porsche 914 GT was featured instead, so there must have been a rational German
reason to highlight the European version of the car. The poster uses the image of the special
production European VW-Porsche 914 GT to commemorate the success of the 914, to
sell more 914 cars, for the sole audience of the European market. While there is no known counterpart 914
Porsche Limited Edition poster, the factory would have surely benefited by
circulating one, because the
The 914 GT poster also is advertising the availability of the 914 GT and explicitly states that there are two versions available, the black-yellow Bumblebee and the white-red Creamsicle. Note also that the poster does not mention a white-green Grasshopper 914 GT – it was apparently not available.
Lastly, if you carefully compare the topmost photo above from Brian Longs book with the poster image, you will note that the poster photo seems to have been taken a moment after the photo above. Look at the bushes on the hillside behind the car as related to the car, and the lady passengers head position, they are slightly different between the two images. The valve stems on the wheels have also rotated to a different position. This car was most probably moving while being photographed and the poster image is most likely the later image due to tire rotation and the cars relationship to the landscape, with the vehicle moving in a forward direction.
VW Porsche 914 GT Details
The 914 GT for European markets may have been created in part, by the M-471 optional equipment group also known as the GT-Packet or Grand-Tourisme-Ausstattung. The information below is from a VW-Porsche internal ordering book. It specifies that in addition to the European 2.0L cars (models 473214 and 473314), the 914 GT was also available in European 1.8L engined cars (models 473024 and 473124), both with and without the Appearance Group which seems incorrect. The M-471 group description also does not indicate the means for specifying the body color combination, or completely describe this optional equipment group to include all features of the 914 Jubilaumsmodell features such as the 40 mm diameter dashboard medallion with identification number. Obviously some further information remains to be located.
M471 GT Packet Optional Equipment
Look carefully and note that the Mahle wheels are also fully painted in these photos and on the poster, including their outer lips, a feature in contradiction of how a USA 914 LE car is detailed. Observe that the front bumper blade is a USA front bumper blade (on a European poster car?), evidenced by the bumper having mounting holes where USA bumper guards would have been mounted, which are merely left as open holes. Note also the Targa bar vinyl covering which would have differentiated the 914 GT from standard 1974 VW-Porsche 914 cars which were not equipped with Targa bar vinyl.
Fully
Painted Mahle wheels and USA bumper
Targa bar
vinyl and black painted trim
The
VW-Porsche 914 GT Creamsicle
The following two photos are from the archives of a German 914 club website, of what appears to be an authentic VW-Porsche 914 GT Creamsicle car. They are candid photos of a car in a parking lot, not staged factory marketing pieces and therefore seem very credible. I know absolutely nothing about this car other than what can be observed from the photos. This vehicles originality and authenticity, the date the photos were taken or anything else cannot be confirmed, but it is interesting to study. First of all, on the assumption that this car is an authentic VW-Porsche 914 GT, note that it is a Light Ivory/Phoenix Red color scheme, so at least this one car, in this color scheme did exist. Also note that the front bumper blade does not have the bumper guard mounting holes as in the Bumblebee poster car. Since finding these 914 GT Creamsicle photos, another 914 GT Creamsicle car has been located in Germany, it is listed as ‘German 2’ (because the VIN is not known) on the 914 Can Am Registry. Carefully comparing the details from these two sets of photos (especially the wheel center caps), it is possible that the photos are all of the same car, but that has not be verified.
VW-Porsche
914 GT Creamsicle - Front
VW-Porsche
914 GT Creamsicle - Rear
More VW Porsche 914 GT Trivia
Validating the accuracy of the poster 914 GT, this VW-Porsche 914 GT Creamsicle has the correct 914 GT side stripes, vinyl Targa bar covering, and Mahle wheels with painted accent color centers. It also has no bumper guard mounting holes and an accent color (not black) towing eye hole cover plug. The most noticeable difference between this 914 GT Creamsicle and the poster 914 GT Bumblebee is that this car has bright finished Targa bar trim and unpainted wheel lips. The trim on this 914 GT Creamsicle could have been original from the factory or an owner replacement, we may never know, but considering that all USA 914 Limited Edition cars and the VW-Porsche 914 GT Bumblebee poster have black Targa bar trim, its reasonable to think this car is either an anomaly in this respect or the Targa bar trim was replaced after original fabrication. The 914 SL Bumblebee also has bright finished rear Targa bar trim, but the 914 SL Creamsicle trim is black.
The authoritative 914 reference source Das Große VW Porsche Buch, also includes the very first topmost photo on this webpage and identifies the photo of the car as a VW-Porsche 914 GT. Bewilderingly though, according to the translated text of Das Große, “after the several 914 Can Am prototypes were completed, ultimately the 914 GT was to receive no Targa bar vinyl covering, simple linear racing side stripes without lettering and Fuchs wheels, with wheel centers painted in the body accent color”, a car which is solely described by this single text. There are no known photos of this described car, just the text description in Das Große. Therefore, within this same Das Große book, the text description conflicts with the photos it includes, of what a VW-Porsche 914 GT was to have been, so in either Brian Longs book or in Das Große, the text, the photos, or both, must be at least partially inaccurate in representing an authentic 914 GT. Regardless, we are certain that the USA 914 Limited Edition cars do not have Targa bar vinyl and that their Mahle wheel lips are not painted.
The Das Große text description of a VW-Porsche 914 GT, having Fuchs with painted wheel centers and without vinyl Targa bar covering, seems to be a more refined 914 GT scheme as it would be identical to the USA 914 Limited Edition except for the Fuchs wheels, and of course this accurately describes the wheels for the 914 SL cars. This description would make the 914 GT essentially identical to the G-Pack car (914 Can Am Prototype Car 5) plus the addition of European side stripes. However, the preponderance of evidence available to date including the factory-issued 914 GT Bumblebee poster and the 914 GT Creamsicle car photos, support the description found in Brian Longs book for the 914 GT. The Das Große description seems to describe the 914 SL.
The
factory has not published any details about the VW-Porsche 914 GT, and does not
make production records available to verify the number of actual VW-Porsche 914
GT cars produced. The authentic 914 GT cars
that have been located have a 40mm diameter commemorative medallion on the dashboard with serial numbers indicated on the medallion. 914 GT cars or medallions from destroyed cars through No. 58 have been located, so it appears that at least that many were
manufactured. Long-time 914 enthusiasts
that I have contacted in
Below is a 914 GT Jubiläumsmodell key fob offered on eBay in 2005. I wonder if these were only given to 914 GT Jubiläumsmodell owners or if they were available to the public to commemorate the 100,000 914 GT Jubiläumsmodell milestone? I wonder how many exist?
Three
authoritative sources deny the existence of the 914 GT and 914 SL
The
current www.porsche.com website in their classics section on the 1974 Porsche
914, says “The IAA [
In
presenting the 914 Can Am cars, the Das Große book makes the
following translated statement, “Today originals of these GT special series, which
in 1974 were exclusively delivered to the
And finally, in May 2003 fellow 914 LE owner Craig Stewart forwarded me a copy of a letter on official Porsche factory letterhead, which only clouds the truth of the 914 GT and 914 SL. It says “The Can Am edition was built only for the U.S. in 1974, to celebrate the victory of Porsche winning the Can Am series in 1973.” Another missed opportunity to mention the 914 GT and 914 SL.
The 914 GT from
Patrick Paternies 914 Restoration book
