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1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS

1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS

Published March 15, 2019 by Carter

Do you ever wonder ‘What if VW had decided to make the Golf platform develop from the Beetle rather than the Audi 50?‘

Me either. But it’s an interesting thought exercise, and what’s interesting is that we actually have an example of what could have been. That’s because Volkswagen do Brasil did produce a hatchback successor to the Beetle, and here it is – the Brasilia. The Brazilian branch of VW utilized a Karmann Ghia floor, a 1600 cc Beetle motor and borrowed the styling from the Type 4s to create a small 3- and 5-door hatchback.

It was reasonably successful, too – Volkswagen do Brasil reportedly sold somewhere north of 1,000,000 of them over a ten year production cycle from 1973-1982. They were sold primarily in Central and South America, never making it past the Rio Grande officially, but kits of the Brasilia were also sent to Africa. The Brasilia remains the only mass-produced air-cooled rival to the Beetle, amazingly. Today, an absolutely pristine example is up on eBay:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS on eBay

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1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34

1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34

Published November 5, 2018 by Carter

I don’t spend a lot of time talking about air-cooled models on these pages, and that’s a huge gap in Volkswagen’s history. It’s also not so long ago that VW continued to crank out brand new Beetles alongside their water-cooled replacements. The proliferation paved the way not only for the water-cooled replacement models I tend to favor, but some pretty awesome air-cooled examples, too.

Of those my favorite certainly must be the Type 34. I dissected Volkswagen’s first attempt to move upscale in an article on The Truth About Cars last year:

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/01/volkswagens-other-karmann-ghia-the-type-34/

Basically, like the Phaeton, the Type 34 was a sales failure. It was too expensive – costing about 50% more than a normal Type 14 Ghia. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t a very good looking failure. While the underpinnings were shared with its less exotic 1500 cousins, the upscale Karmann Ghia was aimed squarely at making peasants feel like landed gentry and certainly looked the part. Sweeping character lines ran the length of the car, giving it its signature “razor” nickname. Added to the upscale look in terms of desirability today is rarity. Never imported to the United States, the Type 34 only achieved about 42,500 units – less than 10% of the total number of the more popular and familiar Type 14 Karmann Ghia. But we’re lucky to find one today in Michigan:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 on eBay

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1969 Volkswagen Beetle

1969 Volkswagen Beetle

Published August 21, 2016 by Paul

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This 1969 Volkswagen Beetle for sale in California is one of those cars from my youth. For the first few years of my life, my father drove a 1967 Beetle in this same shade of Java Green. It wasn’t in particularly good shape or all that exciting, but it was certainly more reliable than the Fiat 131 2-door that shared the garage at the time. That was a car which drove my parents into the arms of reliable Hondas for almost two decades. The 1967 Beetle which my father drove was one of the last classic Beetles, albeit upgraded with a 12 volt electrical system and larger 1.5 liter engine along with safety items such as reversing lamps and sealed beam headlights. The following year would transform the Beetle closer to its final form from the 1970s era. For 1968, there were many improvements, such as an electronic fuel gauge, ventilation system and improved shifter, along with new safety features such as larger bumpers and integrated front seat head restraints. This 1968 Beetle for sale in California is coming off a fresh restoration.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1969 Volkswagen Beetle on eBay

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1972 Volkswagen Type 2 Tandem Axle Flatbed

1972 Volkswagen Type 2 Tandem Axle Flatbed

Published July 24, 2016 by Andrew

 

VW1

Custom conversions can either go really well, or really poorly. Most of the time it is really poorly. But not today. What started life as a Volkswagen Type 2 factory single cab dropside pick-up is now a flatbed hauler with an extra axle thrown on there for good measure. Now before you get excited about that extra axle, it’s only along for the ride as it looks like only the second axle is functional. Once I started digging into the (sparse) information on this T2,  it was built and used to be a working car hauler — save for one big problem. So let’s check out this once Californian T2 that now resides in the Netherlands.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1972 Volkswagen T2 Tandem Axle Flatbed on Classic Trader

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1980 Volkswagen Brasilia

1980 Volkswagen Brasilia

Published February 7, 2016 by Nate

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Paul has featured a couple of Brasilias here before, but its small original market means we almost never see them in the US. This one has made its way to Florida and looks to be in great shape after just 66k miles. The ones Paul featured were 2-door shooting brakes, while this one is the slightly less elegant 4-door. Interior and exterior look extremely nice, even in the frunk. It’s pretty much a Beetle but with a lot more practicality and a bit less cuteness. Who needs cute when you can be funky and rare?

Click for details: 1980 Volkswagen Brasilia on eBay

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