Volkswagen introduced the Super Beetle to offer better trunk space, improved braking, and better handling. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe flat windshield edition is presented in an artistic form, but is its price also pretty as a picture?
Just like Robert Downey Jr or bacon-flavored edible undies, yesterday’s 5.0-powered Ford Ranger proved hard not to love despite its potential character flaws. Not only that but its seemingly cheap asking price was embraced by fully 86% of you, giving it a Nice Price win. I just love happy endings, especially after a relaxing massage.
If yesterday’s Ford was somewhat rough and tumble, today’s Volkswagen is, in contrast, an artistic expression of automotive allure. At least that’s the impression given by the hipstastic pictures in its Craigslist ad.
Consider if you will history’s greatest cars for the common man- Ford’s Tin Lizzy, Citroën’s two horse, Fiat’s little mouse, etc. Possibly the best known and most revered of cars for the people is the one named the People’s Car, the Volkswagen Type 1, which is exemplified here today in one of its last permutations sold in the U.S., you know, to the people.
This 1971 Super Beetle is a transition car. Coded by VW the 1302, these possess the revamped nose that offered greater trunk capacity and improved handling, both made possible by way of a new McPherson Strut front suspension used in place of the transverse torsion bar/trailing arm setup that had been previously employed for decades.
Offered only from ’71 through ’72, these Super Beetles do not have the later more sticky-outie dashboard or curved windscreen, both features added to meet U.S. Government safety standards at the time.
Instead, both the dash and the windshield are as flat as day old beer, and the tail lamps are the older, less in-yo-face jobs. The front turn signals did grow with the Super, only that’s not the case on this one. Perhaps that change came after its build date? This being a ’71, it does make use of the 1,584-cc dual port engine with a Solex carb, a set up good for 60-bhp.
One of the features of the original Beetle that always seemed an afterthought was the brakes. The Super Beetle ups the ante with discs in front making stopping a more normal affair and not something that has to be planned the night before.
This orange juliet has been dropped, the ad noting the addition of a Topline lowering kit. That has resulted in its ride height hovering somewhere in between stock and absurdly stanced, but remains a love it or leave it look. That results in an out of whack speedo from the comically tiny meats up front required to prevent chaffing like a fat kid in corduroy.
There’s also a side-shooter exhaust and louvers in the backlight that look like they were stolen from the office of a dime store novel detective. No interior shots are among the cloyingly artistic collection in the ad, but rumor has it that the shift knob for the 4-speed has been upgraded.
Beetles that either haven’t been irrevocably screwed up, or are in such dire shape that just looking at them requires a tetanus booster are hard to come by. This one, being a transitional Super is kind of cool, and looks pretty good in spite of its stance. That’s probably undoable, and the rest of the car looks reasonably good, but of course that could just be the high school art class pictures.
Regardless, we still need to weigh in on just how artistically positioned is this Super Beetle’s price. The seller is asking $6,500, and notes that the car runs and drives great. What do you think about that price, does that make this Beetle especially Super? Or, does this Beetle’s price just super bug you?
You decide!
Two pickets to Tittsburgh Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Skif6996 for the hookup!
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