Volkswagen guy knew what he wanted
Type 3 notchback had much in common with its world-famous predecessor, the Beetle
It would be fair to say that Arthur Bachmann is a Volkswagen guy. He’s driven a VW Type 2 van, two 1960s vintage Type 3s and he even owns a rare, VW-powered sports car.
The funny thing is, he’s never driven a Type 1 — better known as a Beetle — the car that built VW into a global automotive powerhouse.
“I have owned a Beetle, but I used it for parts,” he notes.
In the early winter of 1986, Bachmann was looking for a replacement for the VW Type 3 squareback that he had been driving.
“I really liked it,” he says. “They’re easy to work on and quite unique.”
Duty as a daily driver had used up the squareback, though, and he needed a new ride. He knew what he wanted — a ’69 or earlier Type 3 with the Ghia-designed nose. When he found one, he didn’t hesitate.
“For $600, I thought it was a great deal, so I bought it.”
The Volkswagen Type 3 came about because VW wanted to diversify its product line. Creating the Type 2 van using many components of the Type 1 Beetle had been a big success. In 1958, VW began looking at branching out even more. The result, which appeared in 1962, was the Type 3, also called the 1500.
The Type 3 was a long way from being a rebodied Beetle. The cabin was enlarged by 80 millimetres and the front suspension was redesigned. The Beetle platform was altered to make the rear track wider. A newer, more compact version of the Beetle’s air-cooled four-cylinder engine offered increased horsepower. It also made it possible for luggage to be carried behind the passenger compartment as well as in the front trunk.
Three bodies were offered: a notchback, a fastback and a squareback, or wagon.
All three had much more contemporary styling than the 1930s-vintage Beetle.
Bachmann knows his car was sold originally in Burnaby, but doesn’t know how it came to Calgary or what it was doing in the 17 years or so before he bought it.
“It was in reasonably OK shape with not a large amount of rust,” he says. “The engine ran, but it didn’t run really well. I thought I’d take the engine out and rebuild it, put it back in the car and drive it.
“I took body panels off and took the interior out and took the windows out. Then there was no turning back. It turned into almost a pan-off restoration. It was definitely a slippery slope. For an initial small investment at the time, as it always does, it got bigger and bigger.”
To repair the rust damage, Bachmann employed a body shop but did not put them on a timetable. Over the next nine months, they worked on it whenever they had time.
“I wanted metal, not fibreglass,” Bachmann says, and that’s why he was willing to be patient
A local upholstery shop redid the seats in the correct material, while Bachmann worked on the mechanicals. He checked everything over, rebuilding the suspension and brakes. Fortunately the automatic transmission needed very little done to it.
Once the engine was done and the car put back together, there was still more to do. Changing the engine’s induction system and installing slightly wider than stock wheels to accommodate modern radial tires are about the only alterations that Bachmann has done to the VW.
The Type 3 was finished by the spring of 1989. These days, the car sits out the winters and only comes out when the weather gets mild.
In season, though, Bachmann drives it quite a bit and gets a lot of attention when he does.
“It really is a nice car to drive,” he says. “It has a really nice ride.”