Door beams 1973

[majordad]

I’ve owned my 72S for 33 years. IMHO the real reason Porsche moved the flap was production cost. Making a unique panel and flap for the S model just cost too much. Having the Oil Tank located like the Ölklappe 72 S moved 11-13 Kilos inside the Wheel base and also moved that weight further away from the rear.

In Europe in the 60s it was usual to have your petrol filled by a Petrol Attendant, as I assume was the system in the USA.

[Arne]

IMHO the real reason Porsche moved the flap was production cost. Making a unique panel and flap for the S model just cost too much.

But it wasn't just an S feature, all 911 models had it for MY '72. So the unique panel was not part of the equation.

[Arne]

Great document!

Here are the final 2 pages of the document.

Fun to note:

• At the time this was written (September 1972) the North American distributor was still referring to the new 4-cyl 914 2.0 as '914S' (page 3), a designation that was soon nixed by Porsche in Germany because the increase in performance was not deemed worthy of the 'S'.

• The standard wheels on the '73 911E were the brand new cookie cutters ("pressure cast alloy wheels").

[stout]

Here are the final 2 pages of the document.

Fun to note:

• At the time this was written (September 1972) the North American distributor was still referring to the new 4-cyl 914 2.0 as '914S' (page 3), a designation that was soon nixed by Porsche in Germany because the increase in performance was not deemed worthy of the 'S'.

• The standard wheels on the '73 911E were the brand new cookie cutters ("pressure cast alloy wheels").

Great doc indeed, and my guess from everything I've read is the oil filler door delete was a mix of the usual suspect (consumer/attendant confusion—even if that fell short of mixing gas into the oil and merely resulted in people asking for the wrong door to be opened), cost, ease of install, and/or homologation reasons. It's hard to believe Porsche spent all the money for that tooling and equipment and then dropped it lightly. Very few other Porsches used that door. Would be curious to hear others' views on the possibility of decreased safety with the oil there in the event of a side impact, but doesn't seem to me to be quite the issue that a fuel tank is. And it was offered again.

Brett, to your earlier point between door bars and MY 1973 or year 1973: Not sure it carries over to 911 production, but my very early 1973 914 (193rd VIN) has no door bars and 100% MY 1972 inner door parts plus MY 1972 door window/window track/targa top. There are 1973 "transition doors" as well, with the upgrades required for the later windows and top, and then finally the fully 1973-spec doors.

Arne: PAG shooting down the 914S always long sense to me for the reason stated, but may have also been denied because there already was a 914S designation in use—for the two eight-cylinder cars built for Ferry and Piëch. They did owner's manuals, etc for them, and while I haven't seen the orange car's manual, the silver car's literature all refers to the car as a 914S. We printed some of it in Issue 000, and one thing that stood out while speaking with the man who was responsible for the build of both cars was the fact that both cars remained in the factory collection when so many other Porsches were quickly (or eventually) sold off or destroyed.

[BrentF]

Can't see how safety standards would come into play? Probably unwilling to own up to their mistake, hence cast the blame elsewhere.

[911T1971]

doc copies of post 2, 13 and 14 are btw my own made, my originals.

[911T1971]

another goodie from my documents, 1973 Dealer Training and Selling Binder.
Note how No.5 in my 3-page Sales Training Bulletin is further detailed, giving more precise infos for Porsche Dealers.

[Arne]

doc copies of post 2, 13 and 14 are btw my own made, my originals.
And i beleive no one else has a copy, it never surfaced elsewhere.

Karim, my apologies! I was given those images on a thumb drive by an acquaintance. I did not intend to poach something from anyone.

[911T1971]

Very OK Arne ! - they are given to share infos to all - just wanna give myself credits
This 3-page document i bought years ago off ebay for 5 dollars, never saw a similar one again.

Sometimes the most modest documents are the most rare ones, while everyone goes for shiny brochures, these papers are often more elusive to find...

[Arne]

Very OK Arne ! - they are given to share infos to all - just wanna give myself credits
This 3-page document i bought years ago off ebay for 5 dollars, never saw a similar one again.

Sometimes the most modest documents are the most rare ones, while everyone goes for shiny brochures, these papers are often more elusive to find...

Oddly enough, I had a copy of that one for a while. It was part of the original paperwork with the '73 914 2.0 that I restored a couple years ago. Seen at the left of this picture.



I scanned it before I included it with the car when I sold it.