This little rusty number has all the elements of an original Special Edition 1974 Sun Bug – including a (partial) original deck lid emblem, the correct Hellas Sun Gold Metallic paint scheme and matching gold Lemmerz “GT” sports wheels. Found here on eBay, underneath this convertibles gold is a type 153 Karmann Beetle Cabriolet LHD, which was sent stateside from VW’s Wilhelm Karmann plant in Osnabruck in that year exclusively. And that’s when a lot went wrong.
Unfortunately, VW sent the gleaming golden goddesses straight to North American dealers – entrusting them to add the Sun Bug exclusive trim items like logo gear knob, tunnel console, black body stripes, and hip ladybug badging. In classic early seventies fashion – each one of these were truly a “Special Edition”, with every variation of levels of completeness included. To the ancestral detailers defense, even the original VW “Let A Little Sunshine Into Your Life” brochure technically doesn’t feature many of the badging in its own pictures.
It does, in all its magical glory, include sheet music for their campaigns song – although I’d prefer to hear the bow tied dandy on the brochures cover rendition. If you can look past the painfully contrived marketing, the Sun Bug is a fun version to restore – with great history and a loyal following devoted to accurately bringing these very limited editions back to life.
My sister had a cool candy red ’75 Super Beetle AutoStick (their unique version of a semi-automatic transmission), and was able to grind the gears even though it was marketed as impossible to do so. But man, was it fun in the sun! And with lots of work, this Sun Bug might be a great way to relive the wonder (and grinding) of those days past.
The Sun Bug package could also be had as a sedan, with a crank-open metal sunroof & stripe package. Don’t get me started on the evil that was Automatic Stick Shift, I’ll be here all day.
The engine in my very first Bug had an odd oil pump-looked something like a dual pump system and I was once told only the Auto-Sticks used it. Any verification on that? The car was purchased at what could best be described today as a salvage yard-but the owner would buy old Bugs and get them running (using whatever was on hand) and sell them off.
The auto stick used a large vacuum canister to operate the clutch.
You’re correct. There was a switch in the botton of the shifter that actuated a vacuum solenoid in the engine compartment. This in turn activated the hydraulic torque converter to disengage the tranny. It only worked right, without grinding gears, if it was perfectly adjusted. Dark magic, I say. And…..DON’T rest your hand on the shift knob, or you’ll be kicking in & out of gear.
always liked any year any type of bug.
She looks a little rough on EBAY. Not much in the way of interior pictures so I guess it gone too. I still have a new uninstalled Sunbug emblem left from my days as a VW partsman while going to school. Guess that emblem might be unobtainium now.
Do you still have the Sunbug emblem?
My mother still owns my 74 Sunbug in good condition but the Sunbug emblem was damaged when the engine caught fire.
I would love to get one to put back on the car.
Interested in selling the sun bug emblem?
She’s only about 15 minutes from me in heavy traffic, but needs way too much work. Anyone needs a serious look, I’ll see if I can find time.
The dealer that did the service in 1986 was about 15 miles away from me.
Sun bug had no Stripe
the Super Beetle Sport had the stripe
Joe Howell do you have the Sun Bug emblem?
I’m at evomoe@yahoo.com
Snuffy,The pump you described is for the simi_automatic
Semi automatic then. These days PZEV partial zero emissions What the hell is a partial zero !!????
Lol right? Every time I see a Subaru I ask myself that. It’s either zero emissions or its not. I guess maybe when it isn’t running it isn’t putting out emissions. ..
My son sold his 1974 Super Beetle convertible for hardly nothing, cause his hillbilly grand-mother teased him for having a “bug” instead of a truck. Still upsets me to this day and he wishes he had it back now.