356 C Front Turn Signals- USA

[Paul Hatfield]

A well respected PCA Concours Judge (who judges 356 cars) has told me that my front turn signals are wrong. Mine are clear, not orange lens. He told me that by law, the 356 C cars built for the USA started to use the colored lens and that by 1965 all of them were the orange color.
Yes, I realize that PCA guys are not always in tune with our cars, but without naming him, he is a National Concours Judge and a National Concours winner with both an early 911 and a 356.
So, is he right?
Paul

[Charlie White]

At the peril of "quoting the parts books"..........in the B T-6 Parts Book Supplement, it lists the turn signal lens as 644.631.411.06 as "yellow". So if Yellow is orange, maybe he's right. But there is no change shown in the C Parts Book Supplement. BTW, the 356-B Parts Books shows them either White 644.631.402.05 or Yellow 644.631.411.06. Go figure.

Paul, don't you have the parts books? BTW, what's your friend's source of information?

CW

[Paul Hatfield]

Thanks for the reply Charlie-
Yes, I have all the Factory Original Parts and Workshop Manuals + Supplements.

I was not sure if I could tell what the car shipped with by looking at the Parts Book though.

Sounds like from what you mention, the car should have shipped with yellow/orange or whatever color you want to call the colored lens.

I asked him about his source of info and he started to tell me about US law and the regulations mandating the colored lens. He did not site a Porsche reference.

[Barry Brisco]

Paul, what is the COA date of your car?

Anyone who starts quoting US auto safety law but not a Porsche reference I would not take too seriously.

Thanks,

Barry

[Charlie White]

Barry, here's one to not take too seriously.........

quoting Wikipedia, for whatever that's worth:

"Until the early 1960s, most front turn signals worldwide emitted white light and most rear turn signals emitted red. Amber front turn signals were voluntarily adopted by the auto industry in the USA for most vehicles beginning in the 1963 model year."

CW

[Charlie White]

Paul,

In the "I remember" category (which I don't like to use much).........

In early 1965 (it was cold in Tucson), a fraternity brother of mine, took delivery of a 1965 SC SR Coupe (loaded with everything). It was Bali blue with black leather interior (I can still remember the smell), and I remember being struck by how "cool" the amber turn signal lens looked with the Bali blue color of the car! I also remember the chrome wheels.

Enough reminicing, my brain is getting tired..........

CW

[Paul Hatfield]

Hmmm-
I hope some original owners can chime in. It would appear the judge may be correct. At least for 65 model C cars like mine.

Brad- Hope NLA has a good inventory of the colored lens!

[Barry Brisco]

"Amber front turn signals were voluntarily adopted by the auto industry in the USA for most vehicles beginning in the 1963 model year."

Charlie, I agree, let's not take that too seriously: the key words being "voluntarily" and "most vehicles".

When Porsche actually started using amber front turn signal lenses on US export cars...we don't know yet.

Thanks,

Barry

[Bruce Baker]

Paul, while not it's original owner, I had a '65 C in '69 that was 'unmolested' and that had the amber lenses in front. Of course, we thought back then that was 'Euro spec,' but the rear lenses were all red. Back then, the only judge that mattered was in traffic court!

I solved this terrible dilemma of clear vs amber on my last Speedster by using an amber bulb inside a clear lens in front.....looks kinda cool, actually. (it's 12v, so bulb choices are more varied than 6v) You can sorta see them in this shot if you look hard;

Iconoclastically yours,
Bruce

[Charlie White]

Or.............you could have it both ways!

CW

[Tom Tate]

I can't believe that you guys aren't old enough to remember the '60's. Where is Al Zim when we need him? Back in the mid 60's when all the US cars were being delivered with amber front turn lenses we "updated" our cars by painting the bulbs with clear orange paint. You could buy the small bottles in what looked like fingernail polish containers at any Western Auto store for 49 cents. They also offered 6v bulbs that were painted orange when manufactured but they were 49 cents each. Since you could do many cars with one bottle of paint, we all chipped in, bought one and then passed it around. That was at the Univ of MD Sports Car Club, 1963. KTF

[Paul Hatfield]

Jack Keyes is the original owner of his 65 Cab. He is going to check around for early pictures of his car.
Stay tuned....
Paul

[John Linden]

My car is a late 63 T-6B Cabriolet body # 158696. The last T-6B Cab was 158700 so my car is about as close to the T-6C cars as you can find. My car came with white turn signal lenses from the factory. So I don't think Porsche changed to yellow in 63. It had to be 64 or 65.

Best to All!

John Linden
Alamo, CA

[Pat Daily]

If it helps, my 63 VW bug had clear lenses and white turn signal lights, my 66 Bug had amber turn signals. My 66 was a European model imported to the US 7 months after it was purchased.

[Ron Hoff]

My 63 T6 Coupe S90, #212518, had white lenses. Production date roughly 11/62.