1971 VW Type 3 Notchback: Assembly Required

Type 3

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This is what the car looked like in the ’90s. There has been one owner since 1990 and he is now selling one of his “most prized possessions”. There are very few examples of this model in North America and I do like them a lot. The owner drove the car, then garaged and slowly disassembled it. Then he had to move to a tiny garage. There he separated the body from the pan, stripped and epoxy primed the body.He now has less time and you know the rest of the story.

Type 3cType 3b

The only rust was in the front inner fenders so new metal was welded in.

Type 3d

The pan was rust free and it was cleaned and painted black.

Type 3fType 3e

The body is back on the pan now with new steering box, ball joints and tie rods.  The engine bay, trunk and inner fenders are painted VW red.  This is the condition you will receive your new purchase in.  Included with it are many extra parts: 2 extra doors, 2 extra front fenders, 2 extra rear quarter panels, 2 new door seals, windshield rubber, 1 NOS bumper center rubber strip.  The bumpers are straight and original.  The owner states “1 rear fender I needed took me 7 years to find!”

Type 3a
If you are looking and/or ever wanted a Type 3 please don’t let this one get away.
Cheers,

Robert

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Comments

  1. boxdin

    My first car was a 1965 version of this car. Great memories until my older Bro blew up the engine. A new one from the dealer was 1100.00 installed.

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  2. Tom

    Too bad it’s still a Volkswagen

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  3. Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember

    Too bad it’s all the way up in Canada.

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  4. redwagon

    ok there is a lot not to like about this one.

    it’s a vw (although not a problem for me)
    it’s all the way up in canada
    it’s disassembled
    it’s a coupe not a wagon
    it’s an unfinished project
    etc, etc, etc.

    but, take a look at the pictures, specifically the stuff in the background. this is not the garage of an ordinary grease monkey. everything is in order. everything has a place and is in it. there are clipboards with paperwork hanging on the wall for goodness sake. there are white cupboards that look clean – in a garage! the outside wall is lined with clear plastic and there are *ahem* calendars hung up afterwards to make the space more liveable. hard to tell just from looking at the pictures but i would wager a bit that the owner is very organized with more than a touch of ocd. that is a good thing if you are getting into someone else’s unfinished project.

    if you like the make/model i would not hesitate to talk to the owner.

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    • RobertAuthor

      redwagon,

      Agree.

      Cheers,

      Robert

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    • Aaron

      I think the coupe is the best of the type 3, but I’d take a fastback or a squareback anyway.

      Being a VW is a plus in my book. They’re very easy to work on, reliable for a 45 year old car, and and have a really good aftermarket (at least as far as the drivetrain goes. My last one with a 1600 engine had no problem keeping up with modern econoboxes on the freeway, and would have been a great driver if it were properly sorted.

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  5. KO

    Looks like a lot of good work is already done. I don’t care for the huge marker lights, bigger bumpers, and the pig nose front clip of the ’70 and later models. Values bear this out. Could be a great car for someone, just not going to get much out of it.

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  6. Audifan

    Why did he have to paint it partially in dumb retail-red?
    Hopefully the new owner will go back to the original color.

    What’s with the VW bashing lately? Unlike GM with the faulty iginition locks, nobody was killed with VW’s emission tampering.

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  7. jim s

    sad that it is an automatic, not sure how easy it would be to convert to manual. nice find.

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    • Aaron

      It’s very easy to convert to a manual. I think it only takes a swap of the transmission and the shift linkage.

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  8. JW454

    I also think the original color would have been a better choice. If it was closer I’d consider it.

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  9. MikeH

    My first European car was a ’67 type 3 squareback, bought in Germany. I brought it back to Texas, but five years of salted roads got it. That car changed my whole philosophy from big engined, stone aged engineered cars, to small engined, high tech, fun to drive cars. I haven’t owned an American car since ’67.

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  10. Fred

    RE: the VW scandal: When this was new, the company’s reputation was untainted. I had one just like it, painted that shade of red that looks shiny new , then fades to the color of red primer. Very reliable car.

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  11. shiro1303Member

    This is a very good deal the auto is a good transmission and there is still good support for them being a transaxle design the gearbox part can be swapped with a few Audi early boxes there is tons of support and info out there for these and I don’t see this one being around long once word gets out on the Samba.com

    Like 0

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