This 1969 Volkswagen Type III Fastback was found baking in the Florida sun in the proverbial little old lady’s backyard, according to the listing. It runs and drives and aside from the sun-scorched paint and interior, it looks quite sound. The seller notes he picked the car up in hopes of having a rust-free project on his hands, but budgetary needs dictate otherwise. It’s now listed here on eBay with a suggested opening bid of $4,000 and no reserve, but there aren’t any bids at the moment.
Parking stickers show that this Fastback has likely been a Florida resident for a long time, with the VW at one time living in Gainesville. It’s now listed in Ocala, one of my favorite places for hunting vintage tin. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always done well when scavenging in the junkyards down there. The Fastback isn’t perfect, with sun-bleached paint and a dented rear bumper, but for a vehicle that hasn’t seen the inside of a garage in years, it’s surviving quite well. Photos show it received an aftermarket dual exhaust at some point in the past, like so many other Beetles and 914s of the same era.
The interior looks like it’d be almost perfect if not for the sun-damaged seating surfaces. This is pretty typical of a car that has languished out in the sun, and I’m actually surprised it’s not worse than it is. The interior otherwise is holding up well, but I’d count on finding replacement seats and a dash if you want it to be perfect; otherwise, just get some seat and dash covers and call it a day for the time being. It’s pretty clear this Fastback has never fallen prey to the customization crowd, aside from the exhaust, which is so common at this point you could consider it OEM.
The seller notes this is the first year a Type III could be had with fuel injection, along with front disc brakes. While it does run and drive, the transmission pops out of fourth gear. There’s no bondo to be found on the body, per the seller, and the undersides look quite with no obvious need for floor pan replacement. While far from the most desirable air-cooled ever made, these show up for sale rarely enough that a survivor like this one is worth paying attention to. I’d be sorely tempted to lower it just a tad on some Porsche-style Fuchs to create a Cal-look cruiser on the cheap.
I had a 69 light blue one, absolutely loved that car with one exception, it had the fuel injection, and was problematic. Being only 18 years old, I didn’t think about converting it to a carb setup, (which would of been easy), ended up trading it in. Still kicking myself for that one!
My brother-in-law had a ’70 with fuel injection purchased new. I’ll never forget seeing raw gas pouring out the tailpipe of a 2 year old car!
I always thought these notchbacks were decent looking. Not sure on price but for Florida its not a rust bucket 👀😏
The synchronizer is out and can be replaced or swap the trans . Its a shame its the high gear 😉
Classic Steel, this is a fastback, they did make a notchback, but I don’t think they imported a lot of them, if any. Never saw any here in the Midwest.
Yes, Bob, they imported notches, just not many. There were 2 in a scrapyard I used to frequent in my ACVW days. Turned down a couple fastbacks because of the Injection, just too many headaches.
My favorite that they didn’t import was the type 34! Saw one about 6 years ago at the JC Whitney car show in north central Illinois, was absolutely stunning!!
The fuel injection is a ‘modernized’ version of the late 1950s Bendix Electrojector. (Bendix sold the patents to Bosch.) The main problem with the fuel injection system on these cars is that mechanics didn’t know how to work on it. Typically when problems occurred the injection would be replaced with carbs.
Overall, not bad but…that rear window seal is and has been long gone and I fear what rust might be lurking under the rear package shelf cardboard. Look at the corrosion on the rear window lock. There is also a sizeable rust hole in the engine bay to the left and rust across the rear pan.
I think he might do better if the starting bid was lower. There is a lot of work ($$) here to get this car half way decent.
At $4k looks like owner is attempting to have someone alleviate (their) budgetary needs.
Long time V Dubber, I was never a fan of these but I like this one just because she looks so original!
The notchbacks were either sent to Canada or brought over by individuals. Owned two of them, both with dual carbs. Ran the wheels off both of them and never had a problem. The double trunks turned out to be handy when we were in Europe going to the big race tracks. All that was needed was a big tent as everything else we needed to eat, drink, etc would fit inside. With gas at $3.50 a gallon the good mileage didn’t hurt either.
I’m in a border town, so that explains that.
Blame the fuel injection system! Why? Because it had more than 2 moving parts and most “techs” as the time couldn’t figure it out. AND most of the problems were NOT with the FI system! My 1st car was a 68 Squareback and I had no problems with the car at all. Keeping good plugs in it, valves adjusted properly and then the dwell and timing? 35+ mpg on trips. With the higher pressure in the system you needed to keep good hoses and clamps on it. I never found one with “fuel injection problems” that A: were NOT FI problems and B: were a simple and cheap fix. Bad grounds, disconnected wires/hose? sure. Something fundamentally wrong with the system. Nope. My best friend in HS had a blue 69 like this and she ran the wheels off it and it was EVER so much quicker than my squareback..THAT was the annoying part!
I had a ’68 Squareback, Cobalt Blue with a White Interior, lovely car, very sorry I sold it and someone should jump on this car because nice Type 3s are so hard to find that someone hasn’t trashed.
Brings back memories of my first car when I went to school in Columbus Ohio. Made a lot of trips back-and-forth to Western PA with her car. I always considered my inexpensive Porsche
Ended with no sale? They decided to keep this rare fastback 3.
They didn’t decide to keep it. No one out there thought it was worth $4,000, which resulted in 0 bids.
I miss seeing these around. This is pretty rust free. I wonder how hard it would be to find a rear bumper. He killed the sale so it’s a moot point
These were much better looking that the Beatle and a little more room in the back seat!!
I don’t know about that. The Beatles were a pretty spiffy looking bunch. Well, maybe not Ringo…
LOL! Sorry, couldn’t resist.