The Official 356Talk Forum

My brother has always wanted a white over red painted dash 912, but finding the early early ones has been getting harder and harder. But we got the call a few months ago, a 1 owner early 912, painted dash, still has the warranty cards in the glovebox and the toolkit in the trunk. Dreams do come true! Just be patient.

He actually was getting a little desperate and started looking at the 912 we had out in the yard, now that would be a project! We sold that one a few weeks ago, the guy was ambitious!!!!

A '66 912 with a painted dash and a red interior, now that is a very rare 912. I look forward to seeing it come back together.

I've been curious about this "painted dash 912" phenomenon. Up until maybe 5 years ago, I had never heard of such. In spite of owning dozens of old cheap beat up 900 series cars over the last 33 years, including a few 3 gauge 912s (with customary black dashes), and seeing a great many more. Is the "painted dash 912" for real? How did I miss this over the years? Completely possible I suppose. Or has it just suddenly become fashionable to paint 3-gauge 912 dashboards body color to set them apart from the crowd? The idea would seem to run counter to the Porsche literature of the period which made reference to the matte black non-reflective dash surfaces as a safety feature of their then newest model.

Inquiring minds want to know!
DG

David, the earliest 912 cars had the dash painted the body color. They only made a small number that way, about 1500 in early 1965 as Adam told me via email (I thought that dash style extended into late 1965 but he says not). They are rare, and very few are still around. I think they're cool just because they are different. Have always wanted one...

It was a short lived phenomenon, but a cool one. We like them because with the painted dash it is a a real connection with the 356. In fact, in the early press photos the cars had B/C VDM steering wheels, if I was restoring this one instead of my brother I would probably put the 356 wheel in there. I think a lot of people overlooked the early ones since the 912 has always been overlooked. But a nicely restored painted dash car is a real beauty to look at, we have only had a handful over the years and never a white over red, that was why my brother Matt slid it into his collection, that and the cool provenance that came with the car.

My Father had the first new 912 that his friend and dealer delivered. It was supposed to be an SC Cab but the factory cancelled the order and offered the 912 instead. The car was Irish green with a black interior and 5 speed. He was very involved with Porsches at the time and we almost never saw another painted dash car. In fact, the 912 seemed to get to a slow sales start until later in 1966 when you started see quite a few. By then my father had decided that the car was no substitute for his '63 S90 and ordered a new '67 911S. He had fun with the S but it was still unable to replace the joy that the 356s gave him and he bought no more Porsches. I still own the S that I bought from him in 1974 but I don't drive it much. The 356s are more fun.

Cliff, do you remember the steering wheel the car had?

900 style plastic

Another small change they made when they went from the painted dash to the black dash was the trim strip on the bottom. If you look closely the painted dash just sits on the bottom, while the black dash it goes all the way up. Also, if you look closely at my picture of the rough car, this trim piece is missing, but the indentation is only on the bottom.
So the dash's are different, at least the trim is, but I bet the later 3 gauge ones had an indentation that went up the side of the dash to cradle the later trim strip.
This would be an interesting way to out anybody who painted their dash to get the look, but not the real deal. Not that anyone would ever fake anything on a Porsche to make it more interesting....

Thanks Barry, Adam, and CJ. A new Porsche fact to file away in some dusty corner of the mind. I still wonder at the logic of it, especially if Adam is correct that the dash metal is a different stamping. Makes about as much sense as putting vent pulls in some roadsters, and not in others.
DG

Frank Barrett's 1966 912. He is the original owner.

Sent to me by Bill Block, posted with his permission:

Bill Block wrote:It's actually really straight forward:
'64 & true model year '65 had painted 3 hole dash
'65 model (including those built from Aug '65) had dark grey 3 hole dashed
-- used to have a slate grey/red like this.
'66 model had dark grey 5 hole dash -- just like a 911, but with fewer
quivering needles.

This one just popped up on craigslist in VA.

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/2944152608.html

It is the closest thing to a 356, that isn't.

Carpets are not original. Rubber mats just like a 356 are correct as is square weave on the other surfaces. Early 911s all had velour(soft) carpet and all early 912s had the manly square weave.

Cliff-
You missed the speaker grill and radio.