Many enthusiasts and owners of air cooled Volkswagens (Karmann Ghia included) and Porsches from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany showed up at the Aircooled Winterfest, held on January 9 and 10 at the Autotron. The weather conditions were ideal for both visitors and those who arrived in their own air cooled classics. Let’s take a walk along all those colorful original, restored and modified classic VeeDubs and Porsches.
1963 Volkswagen Beetle 1200.
1961 Volkswagen T1 bus, 1.6 liter engine.
From 1969 onwards Volkswagen’s Type 3 (introduced in 1961) looked like this. Pictured a 1970 Volkswagen 1600 Variant.
A Variant is Volkswagen-language for a wagon. Almost half of all Types 3 built was a wagon.
A very rare and fully restored 1974 Volkswagen SP2, a 1972-1976 Brazilian Volkswagen model.
1972 Volkswagen Beetle, in the outfit of the ANWB Wegenwacht, the Dutch roadside assistance.
1978 Volkswagen T2 camper.
A part of its interior.
Splendid 1961 Volkswagen T1 single cab pickup in a nice shade of dark brown.
Volkswagen’s Type 4 was built from 1968 to 1974, above a 1969 Volkswagen 411 4-door. After the 1972 facelift and update the model was renamed to Volkswagen 412.
1977 Volkswagen T2 single cab pickup with the 1.6 liter engine.
Of course Herby just has to be present at an event like this !
1967 Volkswagen T1 camper, 1.6 liter engine.
How cozy !
1954 Volkswagen T1 single cab pickup, 1.2 liter engine.
1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (964 series).
A thing called Volkswagen Type 181, this one is from 1972.
Volkswagen T1 pickup carrying a Formula Vee single seat race car.
1970 Volkswagen 1600.
Volkswagen Fridolin, officially called Typ 147 Kleinlieferwagen. It was built for the German postal service, between 1964 and 1973.
1974 Volkswagen T2 bus.
1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 14 convertible.
1963 Volkswagen T1 double cab pickup in an immaculate condition.
1968 Porsche 912. The 912 was introduced in 1965, it was a more basic (thus cheaper) 911 Urmodell with a 90 hp 4-cylinder 1.6 liter engine.
1982 Porsche 911 (G-Model).
1970 Volkswagen 411.
Volkswagen Type 181, it arrived just in time from Germany for a picture.
1976 Volkswagen T2 double cab pickup.
Classic Beetles as far as you can see.
Really neat, this 1969 Volkswagen Beetle pickup.
1975 Volkswagen T2 bus.
1.8 liter engine in the back.
1970 Volkswagen 1600 Variant.
The 6-cylinder engine in a 1990 Porsche 911 (964-series).
1972 Volkswagen 1600 sedan.
1975 Volkswagen Beetle pickup.
A 1966 beauty, 1.5 liter engine.
Clearly not a member of the German air cooled family, but a pleasant surprise anyway: a 1959 500 cc BSA M33.
Used by the Dutch roadside assistance. All the tools needed are in the sidecar.
I just noticed this specialty when I walked back to the parking lot: a 1973 Citroën SM.
And this beast, a 1953 Krupp, is in front of the entrance/exit of the Autotron’s main building. You can’t miss it…
I had seat time and wheel time with many of these Volkswagen. VW1200, 1300, 1302, Type 3 Sedan, bullies and transporter.
Thank you so much for the great shots.
Something happened to the VW roundel on the 411. It does not look right sticking up in the air.
I’ve seen the SP2 in the metal in Baden-Baden. Since there are so few it may have been this one. It’s a great looking machine.
No. The SP2 in Baden-Baden was yellow.
Love the SP2–seeing that would have been the highlight of the show for me!
Many thanks for a wonderful VW fix this morning! The “single seat race car” is a Formula Vee (click for the US FV site).
Always nice to see a Herbie replica, but unfortunately, a lot of folks get the font on the decals wrong (click for image of correct graphics).
Ha! I was wondering if you had beat me to making that comment, and so you have. Also noticed that Herbie is missing the support tubes that go to the towel bars over the bumper.
That gulf blue 63 in the 2nd photo looks just like mine. Identical except for the wide whites, the widened rims, the spotlight, the chrome trim over the headlights, the chrome trim over the windows, the antenna, the additional side mirror, and the chrome trim on the running boards.
I swear my car is the most unique VW anywhere because it has NO accessories.
I swear my car is the most unique VW anywhere because it has NO accessories.
Thanks for that! Which means it’s actually like 99% of the VWs on the road back then.
My ’63 will eventually, one of these days, be Gulf Blue as well. The only accessory I plan on is a roof rack, which came with the car.
Added the Formula Vee, thanks !
Formula Vee on the pickup is my pick of the show.
Thanks for the tour Johannes!
Drove a ’68 single cab T2 for a VW dealership from ’74 to ’76. A ’61 double cab off the used car lot. A ’79 panel T2 in ’82 for another dealership, this one an automatic. Drove brothers ’56 panel.
First car at age 14 in 1970. In year order, not in order of ownership. Last air cooled, 1982.
’59 Beetle (used to build fiberglass dune buggy)
’62 Beetle
’63 Beetle
’64 Squareback
’65 Bus Westfalia Camper
’65 Karmann Ghia
’66 Beetle
’66 Bus Sundial Camper
’66 Fastback (actually 2 at different times)
’68 Fastback (actually 2, one wrecked made one good one)
’71 Super Beetle
’73 Sport Bug (Super Beetle)
Nice to see these old friends looking like new! 16 were enough for me to get air cooled’s out of my system. The Formula Vee on the pickup is priceless. 1970 was the first year of the long front end Type 3.
That’s an impressive air cooled list !
I would have loved to attend this show, especially to see that long row of Beetles. About the only Beetle I see these days is a derelict one identical to my first car that I got new which is located near where my parents live. I miss seeing (and hearing them with their cheap, whistling replacement tailpipes) all over the place.
Thanks for bringing us to the show.
I was impressed by the long rows of Beetles too. Here’s another one.
Thanks, Johannes!
Doug ;
Don’t feel too bad ~ back in the day very few VW’s had the accessories you now see them covered in…..
This is a nice article , I always love seeing air cooled VW’s .
-Nate
Seeing old VWs Never fails to make my heart beat a bit quicker….
Nice feature and what a great idea to have a car show in the middle of winter. The lack of snow would have made it so much easier for the owners and vehicles to gather together. Not going to happen in my part of Canada.
The picture of the 1954 Volkswagen T1 single cab pickup immediately reminded me of a Dinky toy version I had way back when.
And I noticed the ’54 doesn’t have the ‘eyebrow’ with the cab roof extending forward over the windshield. Apparently that was a change to improve cabin ventilation. I can’t say I remember seeing any with the earlier roof style.
The “eyebrow”-model was introduced in February 1955. As you say, the cab roof extension did have ventilation vents.
Nice feature, thank you. I did a double take seeing the breakdown motorcycle and sidecar, same colour as our AA motorcycle patrols, they rode BSAs but usually an M21 a 600cc sidevalve single.
While I like the beetles and the buses, that Type III Variant has my attention today. Those sold fairly well in the US, and I spent some time in a couple of them. My mother had a part time job which involved driving to and from a medical lab, and was given one of them for that purpose. Also, one of the dads in my scout troop had one. I have not seen one of those in a long, long time.
Also, I am really looking forward to DougD and Ed getting their VWs on the road. I am wondering if CC sanctioning some kind of public contest as to be which will be the first to be back in service is the appropriate move here. 🙂
Doug’s car actually looks like a car right now – mine is a pile of parts!
What??
no type 34?
Where’s all the type 34 VWs?
IIRC they never sold many Typ 34’s , they were *very* expensive .
I had _one_ ~ a Typ II ‘Ghia , from Canada IIRC as they were never sold in America .
As much as I loved flogging old split and oval window Beetles across America long before the droolers decided they were cool , I really miss the various Typ III’s I had over the years , maybe the best one was a 1970 Fastback in beige with sun roof , automatic tranny and Blaupunkt AM/Shortwave radio , I bought as an abandoned car in the L.A.X. parking lot auction for $125.00 in the early 1990’s .
It had nary a scratch nor dent and the original seats were nice , the engine hadn’t been hacked / touched (BOSCH D-Jetronic F.I.) so I knew even if the engine was blown up it’d be cheap and easy to repair .
Turns out it had $175.00 worth of parking tickets on it (no surprise) but only needed a couple hours worth of fuel hose replacement before I was able to drive it home and clean it up , scare the beejeebers out of friends by hauling them up and down the North West (twisty) bit of Mulholland Drive at ludicrous speeds….
I foolishly sold it to a Customer who offered me WAY too much $ for it plus her dead Super Beetle with new paint in trade .
I still miss it twenty years later .
The current crop of VW ‘ enthusiasts ‘ don’t actually like them , they never drive them anywhere and modify them so much they’re cartoonish to look at , unpleasant to drive or ride in and terribly unreliable .
All this on top of the well known DEATH TRAP aspect of any old VW (I don’t care) makes them a rare site to see and there’s still lots of them here in Los Angeles .
-Nate
My only experience with VW was a 71 superbeetle I bought as my second car because I could not afford to drive my 60s vintage chrysler which got 6 mpg from its hotrodded 440. I thought the Beetle was great until I found out how expensive parts were for it and how often it broke down and how the heater didn’t work. Fuel mileage wasn’t as good as I thought it should be either. After a year the engine was ruined and I got rid of it. It would actually do 100MPH. I believe it had been upgraded with a big bore kit and possibly high compression pistons by the previous to the previous owner. One day it developed what I thought was a bad exhaust leak and had almost no power whatsoever. Turned out the heads were coming loose due to the studs pulling out of the engine cases.
I would think there would be plenty of type 34s in Europe which is where these photos were taken.
The ones I don’t like is where the cars are slammed and put on much smaller diameter tires, surely this must produce some pretty nasty side effects from the suspension geometry?
Some interesting cars there, I’d take the second Beetle ute!
*very* much so John.
As I said ; they’re only interested in the idea and how it looks .
VW’s were very good drivers when left stock and upgraded with better tires and shocks .
Lowering also literally beats the poor things to death rapidly .
I live near the Angeles Crest Highway and always enjoyed it when the lowerd kiddies lied and said they’d drive anywhere , any times blah blah blah ~ I’d offer to buy lunch @ Newcomb’s Ranch , the very few who ever took me up on it were always left in the dust by me daily driver almost bone stock single port engined air cooleds .
_ALWAYS_ , never one could keep up , few even tried after the first couple corners .
-Nate
Never seen a Fridolin before. SP2 for me please.
I always thought it was a shame the Fridolin wasn’t more widely distributed, There was a retail version in Germany but it too was a panel van; despite the quarter panel pressings that looked like “this is where we put the windows” and a shelf that fairly screamed “this is where we put the back seat”, there was no wagon model.
Interesting. Certainly overtones of Type 3 in that face, but also reminds me of the Bedford CA.
Great shots. I also find the ’63 VW 1200 interesting. It’s as old as I am, and nearly identical to our ’61 – the first car I ever rode in, coming home from the hospital. We kept it until about 1970. I love the Type 1 and 2 pickups and vans as well. A rare sight in Canada nowadays, but in the summer you might see one. I wouldn’t mind an old Type 1 or 2 camper to putt around Ontario back roads during the summer.
Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed the VW’s and Porsches. Thought by chance there would be 1 ‘Vair. : ) Then again they are rare at old car shows in North America as well.
The 412 needs a vinyl roof and some Brougham badges to complement that hood ornament.
The second Beetle (green, indicators on the front bumper) in the long line of Beetles speaks Spanish… with a Mexican accent.
gotta love the slammed Thing!
was the SP2 in any way related with the ‘Jamaican’ kit cars? Front end is different but rear looks very similar.
Nope. http://jalopnik.com/this-vw-is-the-fastest-looking-slow-car-ever-1440772064
I used to have a red/black trim 911SC very like the one in the first photograph – which reminds me of how unattractive the impact bumper 911’s are from some angles. Side on they look okay, but that rear three-quarters is just awful.
Regardless, the price of impact bumper 911’s has followed the early cars up into the stratosphere. I could sell mine today for 2-3 times as much as what I got for it 12 years ago and it really wasn’t that great a car. Fun, but lots of pita compromises and expensive to keep.
Great stuff! I’d really like to get a squareback some day…