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Can o' worms on this one. Here I go, watch my back... VW stopped the air cooled engine, in my humble opinion, because it wanted to make a buck. VW sold out to the man. VW started out making econo-cars- although incredbily function, well built ones. Once the visionaries at VW had died the young brass saw that there wasn't money in the 'people's car'. So pooof, out with the same drippy boxes that everyone had. I own, and have owned, almost every type of VW you'll find- I drive a Bus to work, have a type 3 I'm sanding every day, and a 412 in my back yard trying to find a new home, and its odd- through the progression of the different types you can chart the conversion of VW from the people's friend to being an agent of THE MAN. Find a Type 4, if you can. Compared to other VWs, its a bear to fix. Weird, one year parts you can't begin to find. Engine's that need diagnostics and proprietary tools (as designed- it had that nutzo tester plug. Mine uses card 18) . Expensive when new, so much so that no one would by a car that much from VW, the cheapo car people of 1973. Right after it died, came the water cooled. VW had sold out. There was still bucks in beetles, so that went on for a while, and the Bus was such a utilitarian masterpeice that ITS continued in one form or another, but the heart of the matter is that they wanted a different image, an image with $$$$$. And there was money in making a car that you had to bring back to the shop to fix..... Of course, just my opinion. Beteles now aday are crazy in terms of cost. They got popular, and therefore expensive. Luckily the type 3's are still cheap- incredible bargains, especially compared to bugs. You can find a mint 3 for 1/4 the price of a mint same-year bug. Notches will cost you more (the gleaming eye of popularity has turned toward them) and square's are getting on the 'super cool to have list'. Fastback sáÔ¨% e the only ones you can reliably hope to be hideously underpriced. ( my 3 fastbacks have been $20, $50, and $50- 2 of them drivable, one almost perfect) The 'which one is best' debate was a fun one- the cool part about all of them is that they are SO utilitarian. They all have more cargo room than can be believed- when I first got one I couldn't FIND the engine for all of the cargo space (its under the floor in the back, by the way. Crazy.) No matter which one you'll end up with more room and a better ride than the beetle. I think Type Is were just practice for the Type 3s..... I've taken a swipe at the sacred VW pi–ata. I'm hiding under my desk now. Flame on, my brothers and sisters..... -rj >---------- >From: Tim Manwell[SMTP:tmanwell@fwi.com] >Sent: Monday, May 10, 1999 1:58 PM >To: type3@vwtype3.org >Subject: [T3] newbie questions > >Greetings: >I'm a newbie with lots of questions... >Saw the many pics of VW type IIIs on the website. Looks great. I know >zip/zero/nadda about old VWs.........including type IIIs. What prompted me >to seek out the website on them (you just know there has to be a website on >EVERYTHING) is that I recently saw a type III squareback on the campus >where I attend school. It looked to be in mint condition. No idea of year, >etc., all I knew is that it was an old VW. >This kindled an interest in me, however, so I started doing some looking on >the 'net. So first of all, super dumb question, *where* is the engine in >these things? I don't see how it could be in the rear, especially in the >squareback, but with VW you never can tell... Second, why in y'alls >opinions, >did VW dump the air-cooled engine after so many years of dedication to it? >I'm not mechanically inclined at all, so don't know, but are they harder to >work on? less reliable? poorly designed? As to these cars in general, >what's the scoop on the type III? Do you have to be a hobbyist/mechanical >genius in order to own one or are they nice reliable little cars? What >about price? If I wanted to bÍN9¤ hat was in excellent condition (not >necessarily "mint" but excellent interior, body & mechanics) how much would >it set me back? Specifically, $ for fastback and $ for squareback? In >comparison, do type IIIs go for more or less than comparable Bugs? Any >reason to own one over the other besides personal preference? Well, that >should do it. Thanks for your time, everyone. > >God bless, > >Tim Manwell........tmanwell@fwi.com >Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN > > >------------------------------------------------------------------- >Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/ > >