The Volkswagen Type 3 is a compact car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 1961 to 1973 introduced at the 1961 frankfurt motor show internationale automobil ausstellung the type 3 was marketed as the Volkswagen 1500 and later the Volkswagen 1600 in three body styles to doorknock back fastback and station wagon the latter marketed as the variant in most markets and Squar back in the USA the type 3 diversified Volkswagens product range beyond the existing models a euro the type 1 type 14 karmann ghia type 2 euro while retaining their engineering principles notably the air-cooled engine all-round torsion bar suspension and the rear engine rear-wheel drive layout history the type 3 followed the type 1 utilizing a low-profile version of Volkswagens rear-engined 4-cylinder air-cooled engine as well as body on chassis construction while featuring Ponton styling in contrast to the type ones articulated fender and running board 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 production began in august 1961 a month before launch of the Volkswagen 1500 notchback encompassing three box styling in a notch back saloon body production of the Karmann Ghia 1500 with a cooper copyright body commenced in november 1961 and deliveries started in January 1962 the estate bodied variant followed with the first cars produced in February 1962 to convertibles based on the 1500 notchback were also announced with the original models but did not enter production the fastback or TL version a fastback cooper copyright 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 volkswagen of america began importing the type three in 1966 in the square back and fast back 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 3e became the first german automobile in series production with electronic fuel injection as standard equipment the larger Volkswagen Type four was introduced in 1969 which had a similar mechanical layout with further engineering refinements 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 completely independent rear suspension replacing the swing axle set up for 1969 the IRS rear axle was standard with both automatic and manual transmissions the model received a facelift in 1970 when a 115 millimeters nose lengthening added 1.5 cubic feet to the luggage capacity Volkswagen offered the type 3 in a lower trim level in Europe marketed as the 1608 trim level in the US and for 1973 only Volkswagen offered two trim levels of the type 3 fast back in the USA marketed as the type 3 sedan and type 3 basic compact the basic compact featured reduced content including limited color and upholstery availability and without beltline chrome clock electric rear window defogger euro and with painted frames around the vent windows a black cardboard front trunk liner over the gas tank without a liner on the sides of the trunk or over the firewall plain vinyl door panels without door pockets and rubber mats in lieu of interior carpet while the type 3 was a more modern design it never reached the same level of popularity as the beetle volkswagen started to produce front-wheel-drive water-cooled designs production ended in 1973 at the wolfsburg plant with production moving to vw’s new emden plant which was later retooled in 1973 to build the first generation Passat the wolfsburg plant was retooled to build the golf which eventually replaced the type 1 as Volkswagens best-selling sedan engine and drivetrain the type 3 was initially equipped with a 1.5 l engine based on the air-cooled 1192 cc’s flat for found in the type 1 but given a 69 millimeters stroke it became the basis for the thirteen hundred CCS and 1600 CC engines that followed in the later beetle and Volkswagen Type 2 t1 and t2 while the longblock 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 allowed greater cargo volume and earned the
nicknames of pancake or suitcase engine the engines displacement would eventually increase to 1.6 l it used a similar transmission to the beetle but with higher ratios and longer axles unlike the beetle the type 3 engine and transmission unit was mounted into a subframe in turn rubber mounted to the floor pan and body thereby isolating vibration and road noise from the passenger space the original Volkswagen 1500 used a single side draft 32 millimeters solex phn carburetor in August 1963 VW introduced single and twin carburetor versions respectively the Volkswagen 1500 n rated at forty five picoseconds and the 1500 s 54 picoseconds which had high compression donde t 3 millimetres pistons and twin Down draught 32 millimeters so Lex PDS IT carburetors for more power the type 3 engine received a larger displacement for 1966 and in 1968 became the world’s first volume production car to feature electronic fuel injection a gyro pioneered by Bosh the bosch DJ tronic system was offered on the Volkswagen 1600 te and le version a similar bosch injection system was used in the later type for VW 411 some models of the Porsche 914 opel Admiral diplomat and Commodore and available for the Volvo p1800 also introduced for 1968 was a fully automatic transmission a notable advance from the type 1 to the type 3 was the front suspension a gyro although similar to the type 1 it was the first Volkswagen front suspension to incorporate transverse round torsion bars as opposed to the type ones torsion leaves the type 3 store shin 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 in 1968 the rear suspension was upgraded to double jointed cv joint semi trailing arm suspension a design feature that previously appeared on the VW type 2 in 1967 like the type 1 the type 3 offered both front and rear luggage areas with greater volume and easier rear cargo accessibility via a rear opening boot lid in all four variants the engine was located under a panel in the rear trunk the type 3 also featured wall-to-wall carpeting and was available with air conditioning in the US the original type 3 with 5 stud wheels used twin leading shoe drum brakes at the front in August 65 these were replaced by disc brakes coinciding with the introduction of the fastback and 1600 engine these have for stud wheels with
eight cooling slots rear brakes were always leading / trailing shoe drums production figures German production type 31 and 1500 1600 it’s not back fast back 1 million 330 9124 type 36 and 1500 1600 this variant 1 million two hundred 2935 type 351 and 1500 1600 s convertible 12 and 1500 1600 chassis and works prototypes 311 brazilian production notchback 24,000 475 fastback 100 9515 variant 250 6760 variant to 41,000 2 equals australian production equals the type 3 was manufactured at clayton in Victoria Australia from 1963 in sedan station wagon and sedan delivery body styles in 1965 the fastback was introduced fully imported from Germany panel van versions feature a marine plywood loading area with zinc plated steel protector strips 1x Sun Visor a clock dilip panel and no side windows all australian assembled panel vans were fitted with a metal ID tag behind the spare wheel with a prefix of pv then the number hand stamped in there are approximately 20 known surviving panel vans from the estimated original production run of 150 following the cessation of all local manufacturing by Volkswagen Australasia in 1968 the type 3 was assembled from CKD kits by motor producers limited at the same Clayton facility through to 1973 related models equals type 34 karmann ghia launched as the VW 1500 karmann ghia cooper copyright but informally known as dare grew or common in germany the type 34 karmann ghia was a larger restyled development of the original type 14 karmann ghia based on the type 3 platform equals brazilian type 3 equals the three box type 3 was launched in brazil in 1968 with unique styling and four doors it met with little success nicknamed za copyright do cakes a pound Oh for its boxy shape it was discontinued by 1970 the fastback version the Volkswagen TL fared somewhat better remaining in production from 1972 1976 originally as a two-door and later as a four-door version as in Germany the original Carmen gaya was replaced with the type 3 based karmann ghia TC but with a distinct look from the german karmann ghia type 34 neither enjoyed as much success as its estate bodied sibling the variant the three-door variant was produced from nineteen sixty nine to nineteen seventy-seven followed by an updated successor with squarer body the variant to which was produced from 1977 to 1980 unrelated Argentinian Volkswagen 1500 in 1980 Volkswagen bought the Argentinian company Chrysler ferve Argentina saic inheriting some
dodge chrysler models and renaming the company volkswagen argentina sa one of the models was the dodge 1500 which the newly taken over company rebadged as volkswagen 1500 for the argentinian market the estate was known as the Volkswagen 1500 rural both variants continued to be sold until 1988 the car which was based on chrysler Avenger had also been sold in brazil where it was known as the dodge polara euro this version ceased in 1981 shortly after Volkswagens purchase of the tooling in Argentina the same car was available earlier in the 1970s in North America as the Plymouth cricket these cars have no parts related to any other vehicles in the Volkswagen range including the Volkswagen Type three known by the same Volkswagen 1500 name advertising the placement of the engine under the rear trunk of the type 3 was highlighted in an American television commercial for Volkswagen in the 1960s the commercial featured Dustin Hoffman showing the interior of the fastback model and explaining the car’s technical features but unable to locate engine the commercial closes with a title reading your view dealer will show you where the motor is references Oswald Werner deutsche autos 1945 to nineteen ninety band three motor butch verlag ISBN 313 Oh 2116 dash one external links Volkswagen Type three at da mozi view Brazil history with pics unique cars and parts Volkswagen Type three type 3 registry for Volkswagen Type three vehicles type 3 wiki for Volkswagen Type three vehicles
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