Filed Under: News
I suspect that we have all become so used to Volkswagen turning out Polo’s, Golf’s and Passat’s we tend to forget all the models that went before, and there were many, naturally made with the normal Teutonic efficiency, but not necessarily brilliant sellers by their standards.
Of course the first car that comes to mind is the ubiquitous Beetle, it goes without saying the greatest success story in the history of the auto mobile. Though one should not forget the Golf is well on the way to becoming, dare I predict even more successful, as a certain local cider maker coins a phrase “only time”, will tell. No doubt there are some of you saying so and so has made more of, well if you look at today’s Golf you can still see the original concept.
Success of course brings its own problems, just look at the supermarket shelves some of the products have been around for years, Bovril, Marmite and HP sauce to name a few, provided the quality is maintained the money keeps rolling in, unfortunately the motor industry is not that simple, the public demands better and better quality, faster and faster models, what went a few years ago just won’t do in this fast moving world.
This was the problem Volkswagen had to face, the Beetle was not going to be a best seller for ever, but what to replace it with, idea’s cost money, vast amounts just to produce a prototype, at one stage management at Wolfsburg were watching the life blood of the company drain away.
Luckily the little Polo its bigger brother the Golf and of course the Passat saved the day, do you realise that both the early Golf and Passat’s are now in the classic Car league. Prior to this the company produced what it thought would be a more modern concept of the Beetle.
The type 3 or using it’s better known title the VW1500, which was built between 1961 and 1973, approximately 2,500,000 units rolled out of the factory gates in that time span, true the 1500 closely followed the Beetle with a rear mounted air cooled engine, originally a 1493cc was fitted but before long it was upped to 1584cc in 1965, you had a choice for a year as to which power unit you wanted, the 1493cc was then dropped.
Do you realise the VW flat four or as some call it the Boxer engine was in production from 1936 right up to 2006, and as such is the most versatile internal combustion in the world, it was used in the Porsche 914, at least 13 light aircraft makers used it. The Australians harnessed them to operate the ski lifts at Thredbo in New South Wales, they also got into the Australian Opel mines to run compressed air jack hammers.
The 1500 was the first volume car to feature Bosch pioneered electronic fuel injection, there were some notable differences in the suspension, it was the first to incorporate transverse torsion bars, which were cross mounted in the lower tube so that each bar span
The full width of the car, whilst the upper tube has an anti roll bar connected to the trailing links.
The type 3 was a two door model with a boot at both the back and the front thanks of course to the flat four engine, a twin carb version became available and also an estate version, and later came a TL baged fast back saloon, in truth the type 3 was very modern looking, though the two door concept could well have been it’s Achilles heel, Volkswagen unfortunately did very little work on the car other than minor detail changes like adding 4.5inches to the nose which increased luggage space, The 1500 expired in 1973 after production was moved from Wolfsburg to VW’s new factory in Emden.
Overall it was quite a successful model given it was selling against the Beetle and a more up to date 411 or type 4.
Technical bit, 12 volt electrics, 6.00×15 tyres which I think were crossply, front discs with rear drums, the gear box was automatic with a hydrodynamic torque converter and a planetary gear set, also a double jointed back axle, lastly the petrol filler appeared on the outside obviating the need to lift the bonnet, it was reckoned you could get 26 to 30 mpg and the turning circle was 36ft 6ins.
The type 3 like the Beetle was produced in Brazil, though it must be said the styling was somewhat different to its European counterpart.
The type 4 broke the tradition of the two door saloon, it had four but it retained the famous flat four air cooled rear engine, as a matter of interest apparently this motor is highly tuneable, well according to those who know.
The 411 was produced from 1968, for Volkswagen it incorporated a lot of firsts, Unibody construction, Macpherson Strut suspension with coil springs, a hydraulic clutch for the manual, you could also get an automatic, for some unknown reason the battery went under the drivers seat.
Strangely the 411 had gone before the Type 3 had finished it’s production run, reason being an updated version of the 411 had sufficient changes to warrant a name change so we now have a 412 Type 4, however the life of this model will be for only 2 years.
For the technically minded the type 4 had recirculation ball steering, 4 speed all syndromes gearbox, though you could go for the three speed auto box. Acceleration 0-60 started at 18 secs for the earlier models and gradually improved to 14.5secs on the last models, top speed went from 90mph for the 1679cc engine up to 98mph with the larger 1795cc unit, if you had the auto deduct approximately 2mph, once again there are variations in these figures depending on what book you have or site visited.
Braking was taken care of the usual Front disc and rear drum configuration you also got 12 volt electrics, though by this time most manufacturers had moved away from the 6 volt systems.
One thing that surprised me was the lack of information for both the Type 3 and the Type4, it is almost as the models never existed, for your records the Type 4 was forty in 2008, and should you have one or are thinking of looking there is a dedicated club site on the Internet called Type 3 and 4, it is not connected to Volkswagen, independent is the word and I would recommend any would be owner to contact them as spares do not seem to be plentiful except engine parts.
Another interesting car that came out of Wolfsburg was the failed NSU K70, when VW purchased NSU in 1969 they received the K70 which NSU had developed, so the story goes VW had great interest in the K70’s four cylinder four stroke water cooled unit which was linked to front wheel drive, apparently the K70 was at the time very modern in that the body style was far in advance of Wolfsburgs current models and driving tests showed the car had immaculate road holding abilities, inside was well appointed.
The K70 came with two engine options a 1605cc and 1807cc both overhead cam, with the larger engine speeds of 100mph were achievable and 0-60 times of 10.5, which was very brisk at the time. Naturally there is a twist to the story apart from only 211,000 units coming off the production line in four years, it also clashed with VW’s own model for this sector, our old friend “The Passat”, one other problem no parts were interchangeable making production inefficient, remember the doors of the 1800 Austin.
I would doubt there are many examples of the K70 around, though surprise surprise I found a wreck on Done Deal for 300euro, it had been sold, just in case your appetite has been whetted the K70 came with the usual Front Disc rear drum servo assisted braking, rack and pinion steering , the overhead cams had duplex chains and the carb was a single Solex, radial 165SR14s tyres, on the slight downside petrol consumption was a heavy 20 to 22 to the gallon, but on the bright side you could propel yourself at in excess of 100mph on the larger engine, when no doubt the petrol consumption increases to the point that only the wealthy classic car owner can afford to fill the tank.
Just so that you are kept in the picture whilst all this is going on the Audi comes into the picture, a separate story. Soon that thanks again have a super week
Regards Ted tedlay@gmail.com
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