Help needed defining a 1972 Super Beetle. Have a chance in aquiring this type and am keen to know what is/was so special about them. Owner tells me it has the 1300 motor ,mags and cresent shaped air vent on rear side windows. Having looked at various pics i`m wondering why they inserted these vents on this model but did away with them on subsequent later models. Car is manual. Any help appreciated.

Hi

The 1972 Superbug had a 1600 motor. The car could be 1300 of the same year, less desirable, they have 4 wheel drum brakes (the Supers had front discs), beam front end and swing axle rear. If its Superbug the spare lays flat, if its a 1300 the spare sits up in front of the fuel tank. The crescent shaped vents were used in all bugs in Australia from 71 - 76 when they stopped production.

Steve

Hi

Superbugs have 1600 engines, MacFerson strut front suspension, IRS rear (I think), front disc brakes, and are badged Volkswagen S. The are slightly rounder in the front than 1300 or earlier bugs. The vents are there to improve air flow to the rear passenger area I think, but are not unique to superbugs.

Standard beetles of the era (1300 beetles) had drums all round, torsion bar front end and other less 'sporty'/modern features.

I'd guess any mags are after market. If the car you're looking at has a 1300 motor it is either a replacement or not a superbug.

Hope this helps.

Hi Greasykitchen and 1303Steve. Many thanks for your input re Beetle. It transpires that it is a 1600 engined Super.It is in overall fairly good nick. And comes with a spare same body,panels and some new misc spares. Actually a trailer load. All that as a swap for my 87 pajero. Looking forward to this new aquisition already after being many moons since my last/first beetle. Now lies ahead the reading up on relevant info etc to reaquaint me with these gems. OK. Once again,thanks guys and look forward also to gaining much from yourselves and others here on this forum. And of course all going well joining in at various meets. cheers

Hi

You want to visit http://www.superbeetlesonly.com  I'm a member over there and so are a few others on here, and you wont get dissed about owning super bug by the Luddites.

Steve

Thanks for the info Steve. Will definately check that site out. cheers, gordon

Also,was wondering about some supers i`ve seen featuring a grille apron panel beneath front bumper. Is this a standard item or were they reserved for imported models? Later on today i`m hoping to check out a 72 super i`m interested in so it`s just something else for me to look for. cheers

Hi

The grille in the front apron was for factory air con on US models.

Steve

Ah cool ! OK. So that`s why. So scratch that off the list of "look for". This is obviously local made car.Hindsight is annoying. Saw this car a few weeks back but had no idea at the time i would/could become its new owner, so didn`t pay any attention to it other than thinking it could do with a good clean and polish.Used to be owner/operator of auto detailing business. Transpires that the current owner is after a 4x4 to do some scrub bashing and thru friend enquired as to if i`m interested in a swap of my 87 mitsu. Swap includes another body/panels and various new mech/misc items. [trailerload] So now it`s just a matter of getting over to his place and having a look see at what`s there. Btw, looked at that site you gave link of. Gee whiz it`s a huge site. Makes you realise there`s more v-dubs/folk out there than i realised. Thanks again. Gordon

Well that was a waste of time ,going to check this guys car out. Understood why he had a trailer load of spares. Car was as rust riddled as they come. Needless to say it`s not worth posting here what was good about it. So i`ll just bide my time. VW show coming up end of May so i`ll see what`s available then. Gives me time to read up and garner further info for my benefit. Talk about 'going back to school' !

Hi

Its better to have looked and lost, than to have not looked at all. Keep hanging around here for some VW learning.

Steve

Or as i didn`t have it, i didn`t lose it. Yep, plenty dubs out in the parkin` lot. One`ll come by that grabs my attention. Cheers Gordon

Thanks for the info. Got mate down that way,so good reason to pay visit too. Btw,you`re just down the road a bit from me. (Livo area) cheers Gordon

Hey pod, can you supply any more info on the show down Nowra way
rhanks
don