VW Type III: Other Models
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Type III Karmann Ghia
When Volkswagen designed its 1500, it asked the Italian design house Carrozeria Ghia to design a sportier skin for the new chassis. The lines are strikingly different from the notch/square/fastback lineup.
VW Type 34 Karmann Ghia Registry c/o Lee Thomas Hedges 11410 Belshire Lane San Diego, CA 92126-5553 (USA) Telephone: 619 578-1189 Fax: 619 578-1506
(Much of the info and many of the pictures of T34s on this page came from Lee's article in 11/94 VWTrends!)
Proud owners of Type 34 Karmann Ghias like to get together once in a while and hang out. You guessed it, this shot could only happen in southern California! Only about 2,000 of the 42,432 built are known to exist today.
Yes, Type 34 convertibles were made. Unfortunately, only two were made. Both prototypes. The rumor is that the chassis couldn't be suitibly strengthened once the roof was chopped off.
Australian Type III panel
This 1965 Australian N (standard, not deluxe) Type III delivery panel "van" is owned by Aaron Britcher (abritcher@ezinet.com.au). It's somewhat reminiscent of the Type II panel van, with sheetmetal where the rear side windows would normally be. The cargo area extends forward right over where the rear seat would be, and there's extra storage space in the seat bottom and foot well area. This car (and another example known to Mr. Britcher) was originally painted Ruby Red with a white roof, and it seems they all had a Kombi Grey interior. They were built to be practical, with lots of the bells and whistles left off: less chrome, no clock, one sun visor, etc. They have their own body serial numbers welded just behind the spare tire; the one pictured here is number 33. Cool!
Brazillian SP1 & SP2
An SP2 in the U.S.
Fabio Cereda of Brazil reports on this slick VW:
----------------------------------------------------------------- The VW SP-1 and SP-2 (named SP after "Sport Prototype") were launched in June 1972. The SP-1 had a 1600 cc engine, and the SP-2 a 1700 cc one. But performance was so poor that the SP-1 was never sold. I think that the SP was a really beautiful car. The following is quoted from Quatro Rodas magazine, July 1972 issue: "It's a car whose design is so elegant and beautiful that has even caused agglomeration in some dealers. One of them had to call the police in order to push people that surrounded the car, since it was past 10 p.m. and the dealer couldn't close its doors." This car was almost totally different from everything that VW Brasil had ever done, and the car had equipments that would be present in other models only in the '80s. The interior was clothed with leather (only the Dodge Charger R/T, Brazil's most expensive car at the time, had leather in its interior). The seats had support for the head (an equipment that even Passats would have only in 1978). VW made wide use of plastic in this car, to increase safety. And, of course, it had disc brakes, in a time when the rest of its line used drum brakes. Price: SP-2 cost Cr$ 29,700.00, while the Karmann Ghia cost Cr$ 22,042 and the 1300 Beetle cost Cr$ 14,989. (July 1972) -----------------------------------------------------------------
Want specifications on the SP-2? Sure! Fabio's got 'em.
James Barbour (9339193@arran.sms.ed.ac.uk) offers the following insight gleaned from a Volksworld article:
The SP2 followed on from the short-lived SP1. They had similar body styles but the SP1 had less power, which is presumably why it was ditched. 10,193 SPs were built, mostly SP2s, between June 1972 and December 1975. Only 681 were officially exported from Brazil, mostly to Nigeria and the Middle East.
The SP2 had a 1679 (69x88) type 3 engine with a compression ratio of 7.5:1 and dual solex 34 PDSIT carbs. It produced 75 bhp @ 5000 rpm.
SP2 owner Matthew Slattery (sera@lynx.org) adds some more specs and the following tidbits...
Some information that I have been able to gather says that the SP2 uses a standard production Variant platform with a Z-bar compensating spring to reduce the roll rate and the stock front suspension. The car was introduced in 72 with two models available, the SP1 and SP2. The SP1 was a stripped down version which didn't make it past the first year. The SP2 had only 75hp so acceleration is not quick, around 19 seconds for 0-60mph, and a top speed of 100mph.
Vince Petrie (vgpetri@pacbell.com) adds:
I learned that the pan is the same (almost) as the Type III. The shape is the same but there are some detail differences. For example, the T III has reinforcements welded to the pan bottom. Also, the seat rails are different.Vince is running a bit of an informal SP2 registry, and would like to make contact with other SP2 owners. Got an SP2? Drop him a line!
The SP2 trivia keeps coming... I was recently poking around the web and learned that the SP2 shares its headlights and front windscreen with the VW 412. Have a look at http://www.algonet.se/~linkan/SP2.htm for specifics.
Brazillian Karmann Ghia TC
Here are a number of shots of a quite curious beast: the Brazillian Karmann Ghia TC. It's Brazillian, it's Type III based, and says "Karmann Ghia" on the deck lid. If anybody has any more information on this design, let me know! (Pictures contributed by James Barbour.)
James has added a few more details about the KGTC...
A bit of info about the T3 Ghia which I forgot to tell you: When VW in Germany set about designing the Type 34 they commissioned several designs, most of which have prototypes in the Wolfsburg museum. The Karmann Ghia TC draws quite heavily on some of these, as well as the obvious Type 14 influence at the front - although some less-than-VW-friendly people have been known to compare them to the Ford Pinto!...and Fabio Cereda adds:
The KG TC was launched in 1970 in an attempt to provide a "sports" car which could also carry 2 people in the back seat. VW said its design was based in 911's, but, well, just look at it and you'll realize they failed. This is one of the ugliest cars ever made in Brazil, and this alone explains its failure. This car was a big flop indeed.
Fabio also provides us with specs on the KGTC.
Brazillian Type III Sedan
Here's yet another Brazilian reworking of a popular VW model. This time, a notchback sedan.
VW 1600, VW 1600 TL and VW 1600 Variant These cars were based in the Type 3 cars built in Germany, but weren't the same cars. I think these were Brazilian designs. We had a 4-door "notchback" (the VW 1600), and then a station-wagon (Variant). Later (in 1969, in think) VW launched the VW TL, the fastback model. In 1970 VW dropped the notchback, and created the 4-door TL (as you show in one of the photos). In 1974, VW dropped the TL line when it launched the Passat. (My father bought one 2-door red TL a few weeks before VW terminated its production!) The Variant continued to be produced until 1978. Then, VW created the Variant II, based in another original Brazilian design called the Brasilia. The main difference between the Variant II and the Brasilia was in the engine's position, since Brasilia's was placed as in the Beetle and Karmann-Ghia (Type 1, I think), and Variant II remained with the pancake one.