Vehicle Description
1969 Volkswagen Squareback Custom Wagon ?Custom finish and custom
from mono Air Ride Tech suspension ?Recent full nut and bolt
restoration with all new parts ?Show winning olive exterior and
gorgeous red interior ?1.6L flat, air-cooled, 54 HP four-cylinder
engine #TO905885 with upgraded dual Weber carbs ?Four-speed manual
transmission ?Stainless-steel A1 exhaust system ?Front track
narrowed by four inches ?Front disc brakes with 4 lug to 5 lug
conversion with genuine 15? Fuchs Porsche wheels ?Stunning
undercarriage, a must see! If a classic Volkswagen sounds appealing
but you prefer not to buy a Beetle or a Bus, consider this
Squareback Custom Wagon from MotoeXotica Classic Cars. It has a
Porsche performance stance along with an air-ride front suspension
and it offers room for four people plus lots of cargo space. This
rad Squareback was recently restored to amazing quality standards!
The undercarriage is stunning and really tells the story of the
overall restoration quality of this custom Type 3. Finished in show
winning Olive paint with a black roof, the finish and trim on this
wagon are in excellent order overall with only some very minor
imperfections. The body panels are straight and solid, the engine
bay is extremely tidy and the chrome bumpers are in very good
order. The rear cargo area above the engine is well-finished and
the rear window has an electric defroster. As any observer will
notice, the car?s front track is narrower than factory specs; it is
four inches narrower and has upgraded a 4 lug to 5 lug conversion
with front disk brakes and Porsche Fuch wheels. To set the stance
just perfectly, the front has been upgraded with a custom mono air
suspension from Ride Tech. This Squareback wears Bravuris radials
at every corner. Each one is mounted on a fantastic Porsche Fuch
chrome wheels with black painted inserts. The wheels and tires are
all in very good condition and the Fuchs look very appealing on
this VW. Out back is a Type 3 1.6L flat, air-cooled, 54HP,
four-cylinder engine (#TO905885) with upgraded dual Weber
carburetors and backed by a four-speed manual transmission. The
engine breathes via a stainless-steel A1 exhaust system and sounds
very Porsche 912 like. Inside, the red front bucket and rear bench
seats are in excellent condition. The black carpet is in very good
order while the white headliner is in similar condition and offers
great contrast to the carpet and seats. A factory, two-spoke
steering wheel faces the driver while the red inner door panels and
instrument panel are all in very good shape but the fuel gauge and
horn are inoperable. The car has VDO gauges as well but does not
have wiper blades. A floor-mounted shift lever resides between the
front seats. Controls for the air ride system are hidden in the
glovebox. The Type 3 was initially equipped with a 1.5L engine
based on the air-cooled 1192 cc flat-4 found in the Type 1. While
the long block remained the same as the Type 1, the engine cooling
was redesigned by putting the fan on the end of the crankshaft
instead of on the generator. This reduced the height of the engine
profile, allowing greater cargo volume and earning its nicknames:
the pancake or suitcase engine. It used a similar transmission to
the Beetle but with higher ratios and longer axles. Unlike the
Beetle (Type 1), the Type 3 engine and transmission unit was
mounted into a subframe (which contained the complete rear
suspension), in turn rubber-mounted to the floorpan and body,
thereby isolating vibration and road noise from the passenger
space. A notable advance from the Type 1 to the Type 3 was the
front suspension ? although similar to the Type 1, it was the first
Volkswagen front suspension to incorporate transverse round torsion
bars, as opposed to the Type 1?s torsion leaves. The Type 3?s
torsion bars are cross-mounted in the lower tube, so that each
individual torsion bar spans the full width of the car, the upper
tube containing an anti-roll bar that connects the upper trailing
links to each other. The complete front suspension unit is
rubber-mounted to the car's floorpan. In 1968, the rear suspension
was upgraded to double jointed CV joint semi trailing arm
suspension (sometimes called IRS by VW enthusiasts to differentiate
it from the previous (IRS) swing-axle type), a design feature that
previously appeared on the VW Type 2 in 1967. The Type 3 offered
both front and rear enclosed luggage areas, with greater volume and
cargo accessibility via both the boot (trunk) and the bonnet
(hood). In each of the 3 variants (Notchback, Squareback and
Fastback) as well as the Type 2?s from 1968 on, the engine was
located under a panel in the rear trunk. This unusual placement was
highlighted in a period Volkswagen television commercial for the
American market. It featured actor Dustin Hoffman showing the
interior of the Fastback model and explaining the car's technical
features but unable to locate the engine. The ad closed with the
copy, ?Your VW dealer will show you where the motor is.? In August
?65 (the ?66 model year) these were replaced by disc brakes,
coinciding with the introduction of the Fastback and 1600 engine
(Australian built models retained drum front brakes until August
1967). These have 4-stud wheels (4 x 130 mm PCD) with eight cooling
slots. Rear brakes were always leading/trailing shoe drums. The
Type 3 followed the Type 1 Beetle, utilizing a low-profile version
of Volkswagen?s rear-engined, four-cylinder air-cooled engine, as
well as body-on-chassis construction (the body bolts to a frame
that includes the floor pan), retaining the same wheelbase ? but
featuring ponton (slab sided) styling, in contrast to the Type 1?s
articulated fenders and running boards. VW finalized the design by
1959 with prototypes ready for testing by 1960. Secrecy was such
that even at the 1960 Geneva Auto Show, VW denied they were
readying a new design. In 1961 VW announced the new line as the ?VW
1500.? The Fastback, or TL version, a fastback coup?, arrived in
August 1965, at the same time the 1600 engine was introduced.
Volkswagen?s intention was that this model should replace the
Notchback, which is what happened in the UK market, but in other
markets, including the German domestic market, the number of
customers preferring the older Notchback shaped car was higher than
foreseen, and in the end both Notchback and Fastback body shapes
remained in production until July 1973. The Type 3 also featured
wall-to-wall carpeting, and was available with air conditioning in
the US. Volkswagen of America began importing the Type 3 in 1966 in
the ?Squareback? and ?Fastback? but not the Notchback
configurations. The Type 3 was competing in the market with the
Chevrolet Corvair that had been previously introduced in the United
States in 1960, which incorporated a six-cylinder, rear-mounted,
air-cooled engine in notchback and station wagon body style, as
well as a compact van derived from the platform. In 1968, the Type
3 ?E? (Einspritzung) became the first German automobile in series
production with electronic fuel injection (Bosch D-Jetronic) as
standard equipment. For the 1968 model year, 1969 in the USA, a
three-speed fully automatic transaxle became available, noted for
extremely low internal friction. With the automatic came CV-jointed
independent rear suspension (IRS), replacing the swing axle (also
IRS) set-up. For 1969, the CV-jointed rear axle was standard with
both automatic and manual transmissions. Competition to this VW
Squareback in 1969 included Chevrolet?s Corvair, Datsun?s Sunny
wagon, Ford?s Falcon wagon and Toyota?s Corolla wagon. This car has
all the ingredients of a classic vehicle ? looks that would turn
heads, rarely seen at car shows and cruise events yet it has
special elements that set it apart, like the stance from the air
suspension and Porsche Fuch wheels. Stop by MotoeXotica Classic
Cars today and check out this high quality Squareback
