Porsche 914 & 914/6 Tail Lights

Regulated Rear Style

In order to meet in-country regulation, Porsche 914 and Porsche 914/6 vehicles came with one of three Hella tail light styles: US, European/German or French specification. These designations are fairly self-explanatory, but it has been pointed out that the turn signal lenses referred to as "European Specification" by U.S. Porsche 914 owners are referred to as "German Specification" by French 914 owners (think about it). Other than the coloration of the various panels on the lens, the three production tail light types do not differ, and the housings are identical.

The Porsche 914 tail lights were never a crowning design achievement. Normal problems experienced with these assemblies include lens "spider web" cracking in the curved turn signal section, lens mount stud rusting resulting in splitting of the plastic stud holder, and housing seal failure/leakage resulting in serious rust damage to the back of the rear trunk.

Additionally, early model year Porsche 914 car tail light housings frequently experienced melting/cracking from tail/brake light bulb heat. This flaw was remedied in the later models through a slight redesign of the housing reflector to include slots for slide-in metal heat shields (as shown in the 1976 housing pictured).

Current eBay listings for Porsche 914 and 914/6 tail light lenses and housings (compare listed items with those pictured on this page to ensure authenticity):

Porsche 914 and 914/6 Tail Lights and Lenses on eBAY

U.S. Specification Tail Light Lenses

The Porsche 914 US specification tail light lenses were uniformly red across the turn and running/brake light sections with the standard clear reverse light panel. From the factory, these lenses were paired with US spec front turn signal lenses which are a uniform amber color and use non-partitioned housings.

European / German Specification Tail Light Lenses

The Porsche 914 Euro (German) specification tail light lens has an amber turn signal section, a red running/brake light section and a clear reverse light panel. From the factory, these lenses were paired with European (or Italian) spec front turn signal lenses which have separate orange signal lamp and clear running light panels (or are completely clear in the case of Italian spec).

As noted on the TURN SIGNALS page, the Euro spec front turn lenses require the corresponding sectioned housing to enable separate illumination of the lens panels. Also, Porsche 914 vehicles delivered to many European nations did not have side marker lights (cars delivered to Scandinavian countries and Italy had side markers... though the markers on Italian models are clear and wired as turn signals).

French Specification Tail Light Lenses

The Porsche 914 French specification tail light lens has an amber turn signal section, a red running/brake light section and an amber reverse light panel. From the factory, these lenses were paired with European spec front turn signal lenses which have separate orange signal lamp and clear running light panels. Cars delivered with French specification tail light lenses had no side marker lights.