Volkswagen Type 3 1600 Fastback Tested - Just a Bigger Beetle?
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2020
- Volkswagen really did try to get the most out of the Beetle concept, and the Type 3 was an attempt to enlarge the formula. It wasn't without success - 2.4 million sold - but VW would still go on to make the leap to front-wheel drive instead. But what is this bone stock (bar exhaust) Type 3 Fastback like to drive?
Tested near Melbourne in early March 2020.
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I love all of the air cooled VW's, they're vehicles to relax and enjoy the view in, not to be rushed as there's no point, 55-60mph is more than enough. This unmolested Fastback is a stunning car, way better than the lowered stuff IMO.
That's why Ted Bundy drove a VW ...
@Graeme W my lowered, 2 litre, dynamically balanced, twin carb, hot cam stroker begs to differ ;)
Da Os Hey Da, would like to see and hear about your build, I’ve a 66 sqbk
@@daos3300 I like the sound of having that engine installed but still not a fan of the lowered look, especially since there's speed humps everywhere now.
instablaster
Out neighbors used to have one of those. They managed to go on holiday with it from the Netherlands to lake Balaton in Hungary pulling a Alpenkreuzer trailertent, roofrack on top, packed boots and a family of 6. They always made it back without problems. Great cars!
In my opinion one of the most beautiful cars ever. The proportions are just perfect.
I would say so too. I'll probably never own one , but would love to , along with maybe a Karmann Ghia 😊👌
@@shaunw9270
Yes the Karmann Ghia! Used to be fairly common in Australia, now a very rare car.
I think they had a soft top convertable?
@@blueycarlton Yeah , there were two or three incarnations , both soft top.& Coupé from what I recall. Here in late 80's England there was a "Cal Look" , "Air Kooled" VW craze and there seemed to be SO many Karmann Ghia's , in pastel shades . Fun times , I wish I had bought a 60's Beetle too, when they were still everywhere and affordable !
Good looking but the fastback was too "humped" and upset the look. Saloon and Estate version were much better looking but in spite of having two boots (trunks), the actual luggage space was severely compromised because of the shallow depth.
@@UKMike2009 My brother used to transport the band's PA equipment in his Varient every weekend 😊👌
Proper trendy. A type 3 in Williamstown! Nice. Old VW factory was in Clayton, my Granddad worked at Bosch next door.
Interesting how all the Melbournites are coming out of the woodwork to identify the locations and tell their stories; Ian has obviously touched a chord in his travels.
Melbourne is physically a big city; I obviously do too much driving but it has not taken more than a few minutes to identify the locations (as have many others)
I worked across the road at Wilke's for a year or so. It's called something different now.
Cool. I had a fastback auto, facelifted version. It worked really well with the auto box. You could quite happily trundle along at 65 all day. As usual the rot got the better of it. Shame, I really liked that old thing.
A very good friend had a square back too. We parked it in town one day and walked away. A guy stopped us to let my friend know that he had forgetton to lock the doors. "Oh, thanks" said my friend "but it's OK. Go and put your hand on the door handle". Man dutifully followed this instruction. As he touched the car my friend's very large and hairy German Sheppard raised its head from the back seat and growled. The man turned very white and agreed that door locks were a little superfluous.
"The unmistakable clatter of an aircooled engine".
Hubnut just when I thought you had raised the bar on fascinating road tests to an impossibly high level, you have managed to surpass yourself with this test. As subscribers I believe we would be prepared to crowdfund a follow-up trip to either South Africa or Australia for more undiscovered locally adapted European workhorses. Thanks for the most interesting 24 mins of my day!
That engine note takes me back..my Dad had one of them in the 70's..I'd love to have one now..thanks for the memory
These were known in Germany as the 'Neckermann Ferrari'. Neckermann used to be a middle of the road catalogue firm back in the days.
That's a funny bit of trivia , I hadn't heard before . Germans with a sense of humour lol 🤭👍
Neckermann-Ferrari... I didn't knew this nickname for the Type 3 - but it fits!
I know it as the "Tolle Lola" for TL this was Volkswagen workers irony because there was a problem with the 2 carburettors for some service shops which had to be syncronized with a little cam. They referred to the famous Lola Race Cars which was some hotter than Ferrari. They were Can Am Cars. :)
@@bennyhannover9361 I do know «TL» only as «Traurige Lösung» [unhappy solution]. But I don't know why. The form is quite cool...
@@shaunw9270 Germans are loads of fun: the very slow Merc 200D was called 'die Wanderdune' the wandering dune. And then they invaded another country
Love the fastback variant. I knew two of these intimately as a child and was on many trips in them. Nice.
Memories are kindled of the summer I turned 16, when I joined a couple of cousins and a friend (later my wife, though neither of us suspected at the time) for a drive in a Squareback from St. Louis to Denver... 800 miles with that little engine mumbling away in the back. That was 1970, and I still recall what a delight the Squareback was on the road. A few years later when I needed a car for college, I picked a used ‘71 Super Beetle. I still have a soft spot for the old VWs. Thanks, this was a good one!
Love it! My dad had an orange facelift fastback in the early seventies and it's my favourite of all our childhood family cars. Great memories of driving all the way down through France to Portugal via the hovercraft with a tent on the roof and every inch of space stuffed with tins of food, pillows and Tupperware with me and my brother wedged between it all in the back seat. Amazing how much you can cram into a Type 3! Fuel economy was not great, however, and we stopped at an awful lot of petrol stations on the way there and back as the tank capacity is not huge. Thanks for the video - I really enjoyed it!
wonderful looking car, much preferable to a beetle inmho, didn't know they had a boot area! Quite a practical car.... thanks once again for the variety of classic cars you serve up to us Ian, your usual highly interesting dialogue of facts and history, much appreciated 👍👍
Fun fact the Volkswagen and HSV Maloo share something in common. They were both assembled in the same factory in Clayton Victoria. Well the HSV started life in Adelaide as a Holden but became a Maloo in the same factory!
Love that nugget of info. Thanks.
The majority of pre 1990 Datsun/Nissan and Volvo cars in Australia were assembled there too.
Clayton - the factory you have when you don't have a factory.
@@JBofBrisbane For everyone else's reference not from the antipodes , a very savvy pun here.
www.lexico.com/definition/clayton%27s
I have a notchback that is now 3.5 years into restoration, since I have not driven it for so long it was so nice to drive with you and listen to that.
Love these old fastbacks. I also think the dash layout looks really good.
What a nice roadtest. My father bought the 1600 Variant in 1967, exactly the year I was born. He kept it until 1973 and sold it for a new K70. Dear Ian, I like very much to watch your videos. Greets from Germany.
Thanks for the ride. Nice memories. My dad had one, a lovely blue color it was. Great car.
Great videos Ian. We have a ‘69 1500 Beetle, fully registered in NSW Australia, survivor condition, no mods or “slammage”. Everything works, and we love it!
Thanks Ian. My 1st car was the 1968 1600 square back version. £100 with 12 months MOT! I went everywhere in it. Only let me down once when the ignition barrel gave out in Weston super mare. Managed to fit a switch and starter button instead that a GPO man gave me out of the back of his GPO comma van. I then sold it for £250 when I got a works van several years later.
The cars I wish I still had!!
Lovely to see you in local Williamstown and Altona. I had a university friend who lived in Williamstown and had a Type 3 facelifted notchback/wagon automatic! Her dad was VW mad with an old split window combi
Very neat & honest vehicle. :D
10:20 The early (1970 model year) facelifted 'longnose' Type 3 had wipers parked on left still. They flipped to right side for 1971.
I remember when my dad had the front and back open , some kids saw it and said “ there’s a boot at back and a boot at front, aye but where’s t’ bloody engine “ all said in the broadest Yorkshire accent ! I think they thought it was Candid Camera.
That is definitely proper classic motoring. Thanks for sharing. Back in my hometown of Petrópolis, Brazil, we have some still going around. Main models were the "Brasilia" and the variants type 1 and 2. I also had a "Gurgel x13" which was a fiber glass body on a VW platform. Very interesting.
VW had a lasting affect on the Australian car industry, it wasn't their cars in the long term, rather they introduced Bosch electrics as a local manufacturer supplier, eventually Bosch replaced Lucas as the key supplier to the big three in Oz, in time.
And then you could reliable go hunt kangaroos by night committing deliberate off- road kills.
@13:55 I have to look after my semi HubNut as I live in one. Always listening for a double entendre. Entertaining as always.
A Type 3 TL which stands for Touring Limousine aka Traurige Lösung (Sad Solution).
My dad had a notchback in the 60s which replaced a turquoise Ford Taunus 'Badewanne'.
I had the 1974 TLE fastback with mechanical fuel injection. Even had a tacho! Was a great fun car.
Couldn't agree more about how nice it is to see one that hasn't been vandalised.
Brilliant car! Love the type 3. Great exhaust note too.
Thank you for a great roadtest. Very enjoyable. 👍👍👍
Cool, love the Auf/Zu on engine cover 😍 nice interior
Probably one of the best car reviews I have ever seen!
Love this, you are quite right of course , find one in this condition. Always liked these but really wanted the Type 4 , the 411LE variant, fuel injected estate, or even the saloon, they are marvellous.
One of my favourite VWs. Expertly shown by the master of cockpit knob twiddling, Mr Hub Nut.
Wow. I have not seen one of those, in real or on video, since the 80's. Way cool. Thanks for this
Growing up in Scunthorpe in the late 70s/early 80s, there were two of these just a couple of streets away (one painted in a very fetching pale shade of blue). Very distinctive. Nice to see they still exist!
I had one of these back in the 80's, bought it as project car had the motor done up to 1695cc with a couple of Webber downdraught carbies and hot dog mufflers with 14inch hotwire mags and 205 wide tyres, it was a beast.
What a beautiful old car loved it brilliant video Ian
Such a lovely looking car. My Aunt Ruth had a '70 station wagon, which I dented, and years later a friend of mine had a '73 TLE Fastback in burnt orange. Some fond memories. Cheers
This brings back some memories. We had a 64 saloon (notchback) in white when I was a kid and I loved how much more "classy" the interior was and how much more quiet it was than the shonky Beetles we were always seemed to own!! For some reason, I've always also quite liked the type 4 even though it wasn't a great success :D
Awesome find Ian, sadly I didn’t see many here (loads of variants) great find.
Thanks for the Crowded House recommendation . First lessening and then another 3 times , now a must have.
Another lovely VW Ian! My wife owns a 1965 1500S Notchback, again Australian assembled with 84,000 original miles. When they are stock they are lovely classic cars.
So I had a choice this lunchtime between the latest Freedom Factory video or this, and this won 👍
A very pretty car and super glamorous for Hubnut 😮
...so "Hell, yeah, brother!" had to wait for "Blimey yes, Mate!"
It does sound nice when you accelerate, and I like the simplicity of the interior too. Very nice.
Thanks for the drive. I really enjoyed that.
Wow, that brought back memories! My dad loved those air-cooled VeeDubs back in the 70's - many a summer holiday trip from London to Cornwall in the Fastback and Variants! Not the quietest way to travel haha...... Great viewing.
Likewise we travelled from Weybridge to St Ives and other such destinations in our Fastback and prior to that our Beetle on many occasions.
Fuel tank filler in the front boot same as the Invacar. Now I’m no expert but I’d take a bet that’s where the similarities start and finish. Thanks Ian once again for the informative and entertaining vid, pleasure to watch as always. I pressed the subscribe button at long last yesterday😀
If you had a double, and he lived in Australia then this would be his Hubnut wagon. Beautiful logo on the steering wheel, and nice instrument dials. Another top watch video Sir 👍 Tam.
Thats a beauty. Love the sound of the engine. Looks like a great car to cruise about in, avoiding too many roundabouts!
One of my brothers owned a late 1600TL in the early 90's, completely stock and same engine as this one. I recall he regularly cruised his all day long at 85+mph with no problems at all. Lovely cars and the Type 3 (razor edge) Karmann Ghias are to die for!
Another great review, thanks Ian. My dad had either a type 3 or type 4 fastback - sadly I don't remember which! I think it may have been a type 4. always loved the engine noise - but then, I love the noise of all air-cooled engines.
I once owned a 1967 TS Fastback. 6V electrics, oil bath oil filter and swing axle rear suspension were fun! Later versions with the double joint (Porsche type) rear suspension and 12V electrics were a good improvement. The TLE was the electronic fuel injected version.
I meant oil bath air filter!
Nice car and nice drive along the route I use to take my car out for a quick spin. You can almost see my house in your video when you went over the bridge and round the roundabout. Williamstown and Altona.
Hubnut, you brought back so many memories as I owned 2 Fastbacks, 1966 & 69 (giving away my age here). I could clarify or explain few things you encountered and werent too sure about them. But another day. Dont worry, no Crown-like comments will be forthcoming.
Cool... My auntie and uncle had one in the early 70's... Always remember it..... It may have been blue 🤔. My dad worked at the factory ... he did all the electrics from what I remember being told.
Very nice inded and worth some money now! Nearly bought, not a type 3 but a second hand type 4, many moons ago. Went for a brand-new Skoda S110 instead and never regretted it! Lovey car.
Ahh nostalgia! I grew up with one of these cars. Remember that shorts and vinyl seats were not a good combination on a hot sunny day! Supposedly they were one of the first cars to have self-cancelling wipers (?). On ours the indicators were an optional extra - surprising for early 70’s... Succumbed to Inverness climate eventually... rusty sills underneath
My father owned the facelifted fastback. We used to quite happily cruise along the motorways at 70 mph for hours and past other cars that had overheated. Beautiful memories and I learnt to drive in his Fastback too.
Wow such a fab condition car, always loved the Type 3's, Especially the early Notchbacks
My dad owned two of the variants … he utterly loved them !
Reliable and trusted
the nearest i got to one of these , was the matchbox superfast version with narrow wheels in purple. of which i still have. along with the orange T2 camper with lift up roof.
Ah, what memories! My dad had a bright blue 1600 TL 1969 between 1972-1976. It was an upgrade from the VW beetle from 1962. My uncle had a darkblue Variant. Remember them very roomy and a fair amount of luggage space! They did though have some electrical problems that we never got sorted out, mainly because we couldn't afford a garage to fix it so my mechanically inclined uncle tried to mend it outdoors in the snow in November! Fun times with old cars.
My father had a 1970 model (TPP185J) and I even passed my driving test in it in 1980. I also took it to Italy with friends for a camping holiday. Lots of luggage space but I seem to remember that the back seat would get extremely hot!
Very enjoyable review, especially in a sort of 'local habitat' near the old Clayton plant. I had a '73 TLE fastback as my first car (an Auto too, oh the power!!), and my parents had a couple of Type 3 Squareback's too. They rusted quite a bit in Australia, so I can only imagine what happened to Type 3's in the UK 😢
I always had a soft spot for these, and still do.... Mainly as they're so damn cool, unashamedly old school, and confuse the hell out of people when they see it's got 2 boots.... AND an engine somewhere!
The estate was even more mental... For the exact same thing.
This is also an utterly charming example as it's not been tinkered with at all... Its almost a baby, baby porsche... That dash is what made me think thereof....
Awesome review Ian.. I'm getting jel of you reviewing all these tasty and weird cars.....
And while my car is far newer, even I checked for the "triangle of doom" (reports nothing to worry about captain).
Keep em chugging mate!
Nice trip around Willystown, Altona and down Koroit Creek road past the oil refinery.
It was the roundabout that you turned around at that I spotted the lovely Renault 16 that was recently posted on the FB page.
"Koroit Creek road" you must be from Williamstown, Altona or Newport. Everyone else calls it Kororoit Creek road, which is correct but reveals they are not from the area. LOL.
Back in the seventies my aunt and her husband drove several times from the very north of Germany to us in the very south with a Type 3 Variant in light blue... And guests of our neighbours came the same way with an VW 411 in yellow. Childhood... when everything was colorful 😀
Lovely example. Fond memories as my Mum had a 1500 notchback, same dash and sound. Doors tended to sag. Full credit to caring owner.
Good one Ian, love these fastbacks. 😊
My dad had an auto 1600 fuel injected type 3, brilliant car. I remember the washers were driven from the spare tyre.
Beautiful car, this and a Passat are what I learnt to drive in in the late 70's, my parents let me service them, be gentle with the blinker switch arm, they were brittle, the Beetles were the same, replaced a few as my mother was heavy handed and kept breaking them
a neighbour of ours in the late 60's had one, a station wagon(2 door estate). we had a shared double driveway and our peugeot 404 estate was parked next to it. this was in small town canada, a sea of north american bethemoths with our little european wagons side by side
Surprisingly good amount of trunk and frunk space. I'd love to have one of these.
My Dad had a Squareback AKA Varient, when I was a kid, and it was a marvelous car, able to carry everything we needed for a two week camping/sightseeing trip. The Beetle was made to cruise at 60 mph, the Type 3s at 80.
There's a bordeaux red one driving around here, love the looks of these. Very pretty car.
Australian made! My great grandparents lived in the house behind the letterbox in that shot.... Lol
VW T3s were a mix of years. My Aus '68 variant had 5 stud drum brakes, 1600 twin port, early body.
Windscreen wipers set up for RH drive, strong cars.
My first ever car was a 1972 model and i have never owned such a comfortable car since.
It was also white and i am glad to have seen this vid.
A jolly little car, ideal for cruising the seafront. Top quality vid , thanks.
Hi, a friend of mine had one of these for many years, approx 1980 to1997 , could not kill it, it was rust free and plain mustard outside and light tan inside.
After 2 or 3 years he had it resprayed and also new seat covers, it really only improved the car say 20% as it was a good starting point.
It was his daily driver and he used to do about 90 k's a day return trip work
Regards
George
I used to have a 1966 1600TL Fastback; on my 'should have kept it' list along with several others. I remember there being a lockout on reverse; you had to push the gear-lever straight down before reverse could be engaged. Maybe on this one it wore out. This clip also explains why the replacement wipers I bought were back to front !
I love them a lot! Especially when they are unmodified and in this "egg shell white" or grey.
My parents used to have one in the late 70’s. Great car as far as i could remember.
i had a 1973 model of this back in 1988. loved the car. came between my first car of a viva 1256, and a mark 1 cavalier 1.6 gl. would happily have one now if i had the room to park it.
"You have to be a bit careful with your semis...." I watch your videos because I love cars and driving and I always look out for OEM stuff. Not who manufactures the parts, but
"Oooh err, Matron!" moments!
Nice and original, i loved the squareback, my 61 BUG had AUTOMATIC choke, that was my 1st car
Wow what a beauty ! Always liked the fastback. In the late 70's my brother owned an E reg ('66/'67?) Varient for some time , that was cool too.
I have owned three Beetles and two Super Beetles but only one Type 3, a 1973 model with fuel injection and automatic transmission. All my Beetles were manual trans, but I found the Type 3 to be more comfortable for my long commute, 210 miles round trip. It was previously owned by a college girl who loved to drive it at 70 all day, when these engines always preferred 60 mph. It let loose one morning after 186,000 miles on the clock. Not the most miles that I ever got out of an air-cooled Volkswagen, but close. It has been thirty years, but my children still remember in fondly.
Thank you for this Mr HubNut. Always fancied a Type 3.. Oh by the way, i've just ordered a HubNut interior sticker!
They were nice cars. I worked at a VW dealer in the mid 70s and there were still quite a few around. If I remember correctly, rust was a problem with them in later years, and the electronic fuel injection was more sophisticated than the mechanics we had working on them.
My favourite air-cooled VW. I prefer the pre-facelift model although the later one is quite neat too. Love the dashboard!
6:07 Glad you said we are heading into autumn as all I want is this frigging year to end - along with a lot of other people, no doubt !
Sadly, in this hemisphere autumn is in the front half of the year. We've still got winter, spring and about a third of summer to get through.
Very good review Ian and it's nice to see such an original car, but the lasting memory will be you saying Porsche nine one one I don't think I have heard anyone say that before.
I had a 1972 Squareback with automatic, single Holley downdraft , and headers. It would go 80 -85 mph, but not too quickly. What a great car! I could sleep in the back.
This was what my mom drove when I was little, except of course ours was an American left hand drive model, and the interior was just basic black vinyl. Also, I remember the fuel filler being outside on the fender. The doors on ours wouldn't stay closed either, especially when my mom was mad and slammed them too hard. I loved crawling on to the parcel shelf in the back and taking a nap.
I had the notchback (sedan) version of the Type 3 as my third car. The pancake engine was hard to work on but was pretty reliable so never needed that much extra attention. Thanks for the memories Ian. :-)
I’ve always admired the type 3 1600! The classic and elegant fastback shape and HUGE rear side glass! As a kid I thought the side glass were massive and ever intriguing!! A close second VW I admired was the 1500 two door sedan type 3 of the same era!
I love those and like them more than the beetle. My Father had a 72 Variant (square back) we went to the polar circle and back with it on a vacation. There where still a lot of dirt roads back then in Sweden. Matchbox made a fast back just like this one, only in red but with the same fog lights.
I was brought up listening to the sounds of vw engines . Very lucky to have one of these.
Very nice Type 3. Not seen one for over 30 years. From the rear, it looks quite similar to my old mk1 Austin 1100 (minus the four polished exhaust tips of course). As is the colour scheme with its cream bodywork and red seats. And I love all cars with stainless full wheel covers. VW designs always look clean in their early, original forms.