Hi,
I can vaguely remember being told of some Australian produced Super Beetles in 1973 that had a mix of S and L bits. Flat screen S shell with elephants foot tail lights as fitted to the L and the padded flat dash from the 1300. Did these really exist? Was there anything else special about them?
Thanks,
Brett.
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
the only thing i can think of is the 73 onwards 1300 bug it has elephant foot tail lights and flat windcreen but the dash is padded but is flat like the metal dash bugs.
like the one in the picture.
Thanks, but it's not a 1300 bug I'm refering to. I'm familiar with them.
These cars (if they exist at all) had the same padded dash and rear guards as the 1300 series but on an S/1302 type shell, with the strut front end and IRS rear, not torsion bars and swing axles.
The guys I used to work with called them an "SL" because they were half S parts and half L parts. I saw a navy blue Super Beetle with this spec in Sydney many years ago, but it may have been just a customised S, and my colleagues were telling me tall stories.
But I was thinking today, I wonder if such a car really did exist during the changeover period from S to L spec?
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
I dont know of such a car, but its possible.
Mine will be a 73 L (1303 with curved screen) with S tail lights (the 3 color ones, with clear reverse - some dont have clear reverse....) rather than elephant tail lights.
it will still have the L dash though. Strut and IRS.
Question is, Are the dashes interchangable?
The flat padded dash on a 1300 or a 76 Bug looks basically the same underneath the padding as a 68-70 1500 and an S. So the 1300 dash should fit an S too.
I know I could create such a mongrel, but I'm interested if the factory did. 🙂
(EDIT: The L dash sure won't fit any non-L bugs without major chopping!)
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
Hi
I used to work on a S bug years ago, it had a padded dash and also had the front transmission mount that was introduced on the L bug. It was the only one I ever saw.
Steve
1303Steve wrote:Hi
I used to work on a S bug years ago, it had a padded dash and also had the front transmission mount that was introduced on the L bug. It was the only one I ever saw.
Steve
Interesting!
Was that S bug a dark blue colour? It might be the same one that I can vaguely recall. I lived in Sydney back then and worked at Volkscare Motors in the Sutherland Shire part-time.
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
Hi
It was a yellow/orange from memory, this was in the early 80s. I forgot to say it still had the early taillights.
Steve
ive seen a handfull of Sbugs with elephants feet but its always due to accident repairs
the last couple built in early 73 had padded dashes
i wrecked a 2/73 that had one and tombstone taillights
Hi,
Has this been done before and if not could it be.
Putting an l bug dash in a 1500 model (68 - 72) bug. Alot of modding and customising because the back of the dash is curved to fit in with the curved screen. but i would like to have the look of bug in the picture but with l bug dash. I do like the l bug but just dont like the curved screen but thats not to say i dont like them there one of my faviourite bugs.
Well. I dont like the 1303 that much, even though i have one. the curved screen is alot better to see out of. but I would rather the metal dash... its a fun time.
I like the l bug just not the screen but i like the dash cause you can customise it like this. Its not mine the dash but beetleboyjeff's dash off the forum.
Click here for picture
Sorry the link dosent work but i will try put up a picture of the dash im talking about.
Im guessing also this beetle with s and l bits well maybe when they brought out the l bug they still had a surplus of s bugs left so they might of used a few l bug bit that they could to build and sell off the rest of the s bugs but might have only been a small amount of bugs and may be rare now.
god some sellers are full of crap.....
"There were very very few of these ever made around 200 and there a next to none here in Austrlia"
LMAO....
Dylan, its one of the semi automatic
not real common, but not rare like that douche makes out
just a 3 speed manual box with no clutch
colonel mustard wrote:Well. I dont like the 1303 that much, even though i have one. the curved screen is alot better to see out of. but I would rather the metal dash... its a fun time.
😉
http://www.superbeetlesonly.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9344Love that Joel. Looks freakin awesome 🙂
"just a 3 speed manual box with no clutch "🙅
Joel i beg to differ ,they have a clutch plate etc,as well as a torque converter just the clutch is electrically and vacuum operated 😀:
meetings 1st sunday of the month
check wbsite for location
All Welcome
http://www.flatfour.org/
and on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/FlatFourI know, i was just putting it in laymans terms for the yound lad 😉
Hmmm...that's the second time I've seen a bug described as having a "Sportomatic"...can a "Saxomatic" one be far behind?😂
Ctefeh
makes a change from the usual "Porsche clutchless transmission" description
usually spelt porsh or porche lol
Hi
Saxomatic was an earlier version of the semi auto, we never saw them down here.
I have love hate relationship with the L bug dash, I like the way it looks but I hate working on it, I also hate that you cant see the speedo if you fit a smaller steering wheel.
BTW, Ive only seen one L bug/1303 semi auto in Australia.
Steve
Also Joel, Dont worrie about putting it down into shortened talk because i know alot more than you think and know exactly how the semi auto works. I think he is desprate and is trying to make it sound rare. Also Joel will you be at sawtell.
yea should be, me and steve are frantically trying to get our bugs back toghether so we dont have to drive there in our mainstreamers
AFAIK, they stopped making semiautos end of 73
ive only ever seen 2 semiauto Lbugs and they just had the usual VolkswagenL badge, no VWautomatic
ive driven a 72 Sbug auto it had the park position saame as my manual shows for Lbugs
dumb question, but N would also be between P and L would it not?
Wow, I never knew there were any semi-auto S or L models. I thought VWA stopped teh semi-auto when the 1500 series was replaced with the S. I also didn't know there was a semi-auto with Park position.
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
the 1300 Beetle did NOT have the padded dash..
the 76 1600 Beetle had the padded dash - large tail lamps
IRS rear end - front disc brakes...
front blinkers in the bumper...
the plastic dash could be put over any flat metal dash...
[68> beetles- NON Supers]
The automatic beetle type of transmission was first used in Porsches .. and called the sportomatic...
they neeeded an automatic Porsche to sell in the USA...
LEE
PS: the auto beetle had IRS rear end... the first beetle to have IRS...
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
colonel mustard wrote:dumb question, but N would also be between P and L would it not?
The auto beetles had a gearlever similar to ordinary beetles and they looked just like a manual gearshifter.
REVERSE - ------ DRIVE ONE
------ Neutral
LOW -------- - DRIVE TWO
H PATTERN - Not sure where park was...
never seen one in Australia.
All beetle automatics were made in Germany.
In Europe You could buy Autosticks with 1300 or 1600 engines
cheers
LEE
http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
68AutoBug wrote:the 1300 Beetle did NOT have the padded dash..
the 76 1600 Beetle had the padded dash - large tail lamps
IRS rear end - front disc brakes...
front blinkers in the bumper...
the plastic dash could be put over any flat metal dash...
[68> beetles- NON Supers]
The automatic beetle type of transmission was first used in Porsches .. and called the sportomatic...
they neeeded an automatic Porsche to sell in the USA...
LEE
PS: the auto beetle had IRS rear end... the first beetle to have IRS...
Thanks for this infor, but I have toffer with you slightly here.
Some 1300 Beetles (from 1973 onwards?) definitely did have the padded flat dash like the 76, I've seen dozens of them.
I'm very familiar with the features of the 76 model, I actually nearly bought one in 1990. That same car was still alive in the NSW Central Coast area a few years ago.
😎
Does anyone on here happen to own it??
Yep, the 68-70 Autos had proper IRS, not swing axles. We used to weld a clutch cable tube in some of those pans to convert to manual and often put earlier bodies on those pans. Im sure those mods still happen today.
Cheers,
Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria
1974 VW Superbug L - Olive 😎
1971 Morris Mini Moke - Mopoke
1966 Austin Mini - Audrey
1965 Morris Mini Traveller - Trixie
2007 Land Rover Freelander 2
2009 Nissan Pathfinder
68AutoBug wrote:the 1300 Beetle did NOT have the padded dash..
Lee the padded dash was in all bugs after 12/72 as it was an ADR saftey requirement
ive had a couple of 1300 pov paks that had it
even the last batch of 1300s with tombstone tailights built between 12/72 and 3/73 have them
colonel mustard wrote:dumb question, but N would also be between P and L would it not?
between L and R yes not park tho
park mechanically locked the diff somehow
same as in regular automatics
it was so when the handbrake cables snapped u could keep the car still when parked
