Hey guys just wondering what sort of price these fetch these days? and if there are many going around for sale?

What are you after??
One mate of mine just bought a VERY original ratty one for $1,200
No rego but an un-welded pan, every there and very solid

Another mate bough a very tidy GL, bare metal respray with a 1916 for about $15k

Mine is a 1916 and some where in the middle

they are by far the best 1303 because of the R&P steering - and personally i reckon the best of the Supers

they're few and far between, so might take some searching

they were only made for a few months
the swap to rack and peanut didnt happen till 2/75 then they stopped manufacturing them in july or august

agree with Barry, there the pick of the crop in terms of refinement

know what to look for when your searching though cos there's ring ins like mine
it was sold new as a 75 in 75 even though it wasnt originally rack and pinion

i've seen a few on ebay like that

yeah the R& P is what im after. hence the 75 on. not looking for a spectalucar restored one. would prefer good heater channels obviously although i do have some spares sitting here (brand newies). just on the prowl really..had a 71 before. now im craving curved windshield, a dash, and the r& p

A 1975 example fell into my lap. Put vforce spyder wheels, yokohama C drives, vforce lowered struts, and a strut brace, and it is so much fun to drive. The turn-in with R&P is amazing. It just doesnt load up.
Recently picked up a 1976 standard beetle, ball-joint beam front end etc, and what a regressive step that was for VW.... But they are both keepers as they are so rare.

The only way I will sell the 75 R&P is if I find a nicer version of the same thing.

Yes the 1976 was an interesting 'bitsa' model, using the body and pan of the old '70-'75 1300 Beetle, but the trans, rear axles and engine of the discontinued Superbug. It was a 'regressive' step only in that the Melbourne factory was 'running out' the Beetle and was using up the inventory of parts. Superbugs had been discontinued in Europe and CKD kits were no longer available. The last '76 Beetle was made in July 1976, and the last one wasn't sold until March 1977. I remember dozens of unsold '76 Beetles clogging the VW dealerships in those days - no one wanted them. The Passat, and the Golf, were the big things in '76 for VW here.

In 1975, VW Australia sold only 1,930 Superbugs (and just 462 1300s) , compared with 4,113 Passats. In 1976, VW sold only 1,159 Beetle 1600s, compared with 4,429 Golfs and 3,945 Passats. A last 130 old-stock Beetles were sold in 1977.

Glad you are preserving both!

Hi

Ive seen many 75 Beetles advertised as 75 that aren't, they may have been sold in 75 but they are essentially a 74 model, so be careful.

Keith Haeusler on this forum picked up a reasonable one on Ebay not long ago, they are out there, so don't give up.

I converted a 72 1302 to rack and pinion, it was sensational to drive, I now have 73 1303 that Im building, it was converted many years ago to rack & pinion.

Steve

davids bug is later than mine isnt it? and mine was sold like that

i just gotta finish putting that rack in mine and it will really be the 75 model that VW reckon it is

very few people get to experience how much better a R&P bug is to steer,
good reason cars for the last 20+ years have been r&p

steering boxes went out with the arc

Question then.
How hard is it to fit 1975 rack & pinion bits to earlier superbugs? I havent had a good look under mine but for those who have done the conversion, was it reasonably straightforward or do you need to weld new mounting points etc?

Honestly, the improvement is so good, it would be worth someone doing a conversion kit, but I imagine the r&p is hard to source.

Hi

David's (my sons) car is a 10/74, it still has the T runner seats, Ive seen other 74s with the 3 point seat bases.

The racks are getting harder to find, I wrote this on another forum a few years ago

Rack & pinion in a 1302

It’s a hard job but I believe the benefits are worth it. First find a 75 1303 that has a rack fitted.

Take some measurements to get an accurate idea where the rack will bolt to the chassis rails. This is important because the inner guard has some stiffening in it that weaves around the stock steering box and idler arm mounting points.

There is a cross brace that needs to be removed that runs across the base of the spare wheel well.

The depression in the 1302 chassis that the rack fits into is not deep enough so you need to make this depression much deeper. I heated mine and flattened it down with a mallet. If I ever did again I would cut the section out and weld ½ circle of heavy wall tubing in there. The job on my car was made a little easier because I have no spare wheel well as it has been removed to fit a radiator. To hold the rack in place you will need to fit some captive nuts in the chassis rail, I just cut a slit in the outer side of the inner guard, fitted some captive nuts and then re-welded the slit. I have seen these mountings fitted another way, make some sturdy 90-degree brackets to bolt to the existing the stock steering box and idler arm mounting points and then the rack can bolt to these.

The 1303 steering shaft will also hit about ½ way along so the body will need a small amount of clearancing.

Steve

oh no..what have i started :p haha yeah i remember you did a r&p conversion into your yellow bug steve? remember hearing it was quite the process

I had one of those ones Joel

so... now i want to drive one to see how much better we are talking.

just wait another 4 or so years i might finally get mine swapped over and have a drive
its only been sitting there 18 months so far

the subi didnt sit that long.... it will be done by the end of the year, after you get cravings!