Though the Beetle was the most popular VW back in the earlier decades of the brand, it wasn’t just Bugs that were adorning our roadways, as the Bus was also a popular choice along with a few Karmann Ghias and an occasional Thing sighting. A more family-oriented People’s Car billed as a compact before smaller sizes were everywhere was the Volkswagen Type 3, which used the same wheelbase as the Beetle but featured both some extra occupant and cargo room. This 1970 model here on Craigslist is a fastback with just three prior owners, so if you’ve been in the market for an early seventies German offering it’s probably worth a look. The car is in beautiful Lake Elsinore, California, and comes with an asking price of $11,000.
Tony Primo, thanks for another great tip here! This one’s got a neat story, as the seller says the original owner lived at McClelland AFB and used it on the base for quite some time before selling it to owner #2, and being that the VW is still in The Golden State I was a bit surprised to see 180,000 listed as the mileage, a good testament to how well this one’s has been cared for over the years. It’s also hard not to notice that the seller also has a Volkswagen Bus in his driveway!
The outside is by no means perfect, as there’s a blunder on the passenger side door along with a ding mentioned on the hood plus another on the driver’s front fender, but this all seems relatively minor and not too hard to live with unless you’re wanting to take this fastback to the next level. If the latter sounds appealing, it’s a good candidate as the seller states the only corrosion present is some light surface-only rust on the bottom side, but I kind of like the idea of preserving the original paint for as long as possible.
A slight increase in engine size occurred one year earlier, as in 1969 the displacement grew from 1500 to 1600 cm, still not exactly potent but the seller says the base motor has been upgraded with a set of dual Weber carbs for a little extra pep. While I’d personally prefer a stick shift, this one’s equipped with an automatic, though the seller does say his VW is super fun to drive.
Nothing specific is mentioned regarding the interior, but if what we’re seeing inside is all or mostly original it still looks a lot better than I would expect, especially considering most of the components are white. Even if there has been some upholstery work it appears to have been performed to high-quality standards, and although I’ve never tried to swap one out that cracked dashpad doesn’t appear all that difficult to remove and replace. What are your thoughts on this 1970 Volkswagen Type 3 Fastback?
Nice car. had 2 Type 3 Notchbacks. First one an early dual carb model and the second one an injected version. In Europe at the time and used it for winter driving and trips to Germany. Too slow for the Autobahns so built a 10.1 compression engine with a big cam and two big carbs. Lowered it a bit as the aerodynamics matched that of our garage and hit the road. Would cruise all day at 100 mph but did require the available 100 octane fuel. Could run with the BMW 2002s in the mountains. Lots of fun.
Bob did you run an oil temperature gauge? Over sized sump? After market oil cooler? Over heating here in SoCal has prevented deviating from stock CR.
Had an oil temp gauge but never went over the limit. The cooling fan on these engines is very efficient. Even going to Le Mans in 95 degree weather had no problem… and we had at least 100 lbs of beer with us.
A guy I know bought one of these new,in this same color.
It had deep chrome wheels (factory?) and pinstriping “By Shaky Jake”.
A truly cool & memorable car.
I would love this! If possible i would swap the engine to a porsche 911 or subaru for extra horsepower and daily drive it
911 motor = more than the cost of the car. It’s not 1973 anymore, alas
These are very good engines and doubling the hp is easy and less expensive than a Subaru. Forget the 911… won’t fit, and as said, expensive.
Bought one back in the day for 50.00 bucks put some gas lines and brakes on it and drove it for a couple years
I had a similar ’63 Notchback Type III, very rare care. My brother in law at the time bought a new one and soon had to bring it to my dad to fix it. The problem: raw fuel pouring out the tailpipe!
Very nice proportions. Would prefer to see less #s on the(or no) clock, than on the speedo.
As a VW fan( pun intended), but never actually owned one, I never could understand why the Type 3 wasn’t more popular. I suppose VW should have been grateful that the Bug, the only viable foreign car here, sold as well as it did. The Bug had several inherent features still from the 50s, these were so much more modern, yet,,bupkus. I’d say we, in Beer City, a tough sell to begin with, saw maybe 1 Type 3 for every 100 Bugs. Seriously, they were made from 1961 to 1973, a bad time for a small car in America, with our Mustangs, and such. The Bug was always just a novelty. A shame, just the beginning of small cars, and if VW stayed with it, I bet it would have been more popular. I call that, “IH pickup truck syndrome”. With the Rabbit several years away, I think there was a big following for air cooled VWs in the 70s. This has a 3 speed fully automatic, not that goofy Autostick thing, and a great find.
We had one of those “goofy Autostick things” in our 71 Super Beetle we bought in July of 72. My finance (then) couldn’t yet drive a stick, so it was mandatory. I definitely would have preferred a stick, but it had to be. I later taught her how to drive a stick and now SHE prefers them. :)
Type III Notchbacks were never sold new through dealers in the USA. They were brought in by military personnel, or tourists who fell in love with them while overseas.
I have never heard this. My family had one and no one was in the military. They advertised them in the US so they must have sold them here. They called them the Fastback and sold them along with the Squareback wagons.
Notchback, NOT Fastback or Squareback. I had a girlfriend in the late ’60’s that drove one that her father or brother shipped back from Germany. Roomy for its size.
A notchback is like a two door coupe, the roof rounds down and it has a trunk, much more desirable for those who like to customize or hot rod them, they’re much better looking than the fastback like this one or the wagon.
My first one came from Canada. Second one was bought in Europe.
There’s an article about those in an older Car & Driver magazine,
that debunks your story.
Who’s story?
What is it purportedly debunking? As Bob Hess and Ron have correctly stated, there were 3 models: Fastback, Notchback and Squareback. As also correctly stated, the Notchback was never officially imported by VW. A Notchback is a bit of a rare sight today. Might see a couple at a good-sized VW show.
I owned one of these back in the day, a 1968 when I was a college student in the 1970’s. Back then it was just a $500 car, but it felt ‘exotic’ to me. It was more fun to drive than might be imagined from it’s humble roots.
The one thing that confounded me (and every mechanic I took it to) was a bizarre fuel situation: it would only get 7 mpg. Yes, seven miles per gallon. Always. Regardless of whether city or highway driving, taking it easy or beating on it. A consistent, unchangeable 7 mpg.
I and several VW mechanics put that car under a tunneling electron microscope trying to figure it out. There were no fuel leaks anywhere, no gas leaking into the cylinders, clean exhaust, good compression, fuel tank was solid. I, and every mechanic I took it to, gave up.
Any guesses as to what was happening?
Even if the speedo was in kilometers, that’s still only 11kpg. Something doesn’t sound right, sorry, as a mechanic since I was a wee one, and something would have indicated a problem. They weren’t powered by the Saturn V.
This happened to my father. His mileage, on a Squareback, would go from something like 111mpg, to 2mpg. When my Dad first got the car, (found this out at his funeral) he would brag and brag about its great gas mileage. Then? Like overnight, the gas mileage became totally erratic. At his funeral, a couple of his work buddies were standing around and laughing. The story was that they got tired of hearing about it, so they would fill his tank for several weeks, and then randomly drain it almost dry for a period of time. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
“this one’s equipped with an automatic, though the seller does say his VW is super fun to drive” – sure it is…….
Yeah, I had a ’72 square back automatic, hardly “fun to drive”. Good car, ran forever, but really just an A to B appliance.
We rode in one of these as a kid. Still remember that smell of the interior ! Always thought it was cooler than a Beetle , probably because it was always much rarer. Seem to remember my mum always wound the window down an inch to make sure the door shut properly. This looks a good example
I owned a 67 Type III Squareback when I was in high school – it was a great car. This one seems to have awesome potential. Oh, if I only still lived in the US, I would be in serious danger of buying it.
I have been driving my 69 Type 3 squareback with original fuel injection & automatic transmission for 17 years.
Friend brought one back from Germany, where he had been stationed, in the USAF. I remember the script on the back being Deviant, the other was a Variant, Variant being something which varied, Deviant meaning something which differed, not a child molester. He is departed to the great beyond, so I can’t check with him. Or, maybe, it was not a factory label, but a prankster, knowing how uncouth it would be in the US. And, it was great around town, two adults, two kids, rusted to death at an early age.
Squarebacks were labeled Variants.
Had one way back in the day. I was fuel injected. Turn the key and the darn thing floods. Even the dealer couldn’t find the problem. Traded in on a 69 Chevelle. Even trade. Great deal for me.
Many VWs in my youth and the TypeIII fastback and manual shift was reliable transportation with more interior space and increased power over the ‘Bug’.Our ‘69 was very solid dark blue and chrome trim,would still drive it today!