What is the best year model beetle to use for a baja project ?

I have been told that it is 67 / 68 /69.
is it any of these or is it another year all together ?.

It use is not a fully blown baja racer, but one that is used for street during the week and some off road fun on the weekends & any other time i can get it a little muddie ?
your thoughts ?

Speaking from a little experience but mostly from others opinions.

Apparently you should avoid MacPherson Strut front ends found on the newer beetles as they tend to fold when under punishment from the pavement coming upwards too fast.

The rear end is either swing (Older) or IRS (later), technically their both independant but IRS will allow you to jack you baja for more height without the toe in that will occur with swing axles being jacked. Of the two though it's the most common opinion that swing axle is the stronger of the two but you would need a lot of punishment for the IRS to fail as well.

I have had both and don't really have a preference although the IRS is the more popular I have found the swing axle to more than enough clearance for normal bush and beach trail blazing even though my baja is at stock height.

As far as year models go there would be others here that would know better than I on exactly which one is the best. I have heard that some late 60's semiauto pans are the best to use. Can't remember why, somthing about that they can use bigger trannies like the type 2 or mabey they already have an IRS rear with the stronger front end.

Like I said, I'm new at this to so I'm sure others can shed some more light on the best models to use.

I would use any of teh 12V beetles, don't use anything with Macpherson struts as they don't handle the bumps real well.

Best setup is IRS / Bal joint for what you want. This ony cam standard in the late 76 Beetles but is easy enough to swap in using a superbug pan with ball joint frame head or just add pivot boxes to your swinger.
IRS is much safer that swing axle if you are going to run it with a little lift.

Bronze, jacking up a swingaxle affects the Camber not the toe in. As you jack it up you get positive camber which means the top of the tyre sits further out than the bottom.

As far as a daily driven Baja and play toy on the weekend goes, there is nothing wrong with swingaxle 12V Beetles, I've had numerous Baja's all being swingaxle and had no probs. Going 12V means you also get maintenance free balljoints and disc brakes on the front. I've also had a couple of Baja Kombi's that run IRS and again no probs. It'll probably come down to what you can find for the price you are willing to pay.
Happy Baja hunting.
Graham