#type3notchback

A recent commission, and an ideal birthday (or Christmas) present! Swipe to see the individual pieces. VW Type 3 Notchback, Mercedes W108, VW Type 3 Squareback and a Bug. #volkswagen #vw #type3notchback #type3squareback #type3variant #mercedes #w108 #vwbeetle #vwtype1 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp75N4BlBOY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1o8prtsitxyh3

By the late 1950s #Volkswagen was keen to expand beyond the Beetle but not eclipse it, so it developed a new car as quietly as it could - even denying as late as 1960 that it was working on a new and different car. That new car, furtively tooling around the Black Forest in prototype form, was the #VWType3. It bowed at the 1961 Frankfurt show as the Volkswagen 1500. At first the 1500 came as only a 2-door sedan, a 2-door Variant (wagon), and the razor-edged, Sergio Sartorelli-styled Type 34 Karmann-Ghia. A fastback Type 3 arrived in 1965. The trademark rear-engined VW platform was matched with a reworked, 1,493-cc version of VW’s basic air-cooled four, designed now to fit under the trunk floor. Much more of a family car than the Beetle, these middle-class cars were meant to do battle with mid-priced cars like the Ford Taunus P1 and newly-launched Opel Rekord P2. They were a cut above the familiar Beetle and also new territory for VW, which was the whole point. In the the early days of the #Type3, the cars were produced for European consumption only (Canada and other international markets were added in 1962) - and it wasn't the fall of 1965 that the ever-mercurial Volkswagen of America began importing the Type 3 - and then only the #Squareback (aka the Variant) and the Fastback, with either the 1500 or the even larger 1,584-cc 1600, eventually with Bosch D-Jetronic electronic fuel injection, the first true volume car with such a system. VW had noticed that many American Servicemen stationed in Europe were buying Type 3s and shipping them back and belatedly began importing the cars. The Type 3s were fair sellers but never managed to capture the appeal of the Beetle for Americans. The Type 3s remained on the market into 1973, but the #Type3Notchback and Type 34 Karmann-Ghia (dropped in 1969) were never imported at all, making them very desirable cars to American Type 3 Cognoscenti - in particular the Notch, which is easier to find than the rare (and rust-prone) KG but nearly as uncommon in the U.S. Being close relatives of other air-cooled VWs, performance parts abound for the Type 3, and many have been lowered or sped up (both in the case of this '65 Notch). https://www.instagram.com/p/B97AHO4FxKh/?igshid=bx1kjahtjtv3