My 72 convertible was a flat windshield, they began in 73 with curved dash, so
you must get a 73 pan. Do you have the pan number for us to check?
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:34:21 -0500
> Subject: [vintagvw] Weird Super Beetle
>
> Hey gang. Been a long time since I've posted, but I had to share this story.
> My wife and I found a $200 5/73 Super Beetle. It looked pretty decent
> except it was hit really hard in the side. It has just over 86,000 original
> miles and was a running driver at the time it was hit. It was parked in a
> shed and then a tornado came and lifted the house, machine shed, and trees
> and threw them 2 miles away. The beetle just stayed behind as if nothing had
> happened. There is typical Nebraska rust, but for $200, I figured the engine
> (it's a runner) is worth at least that! :)
>
> Now my wife suggested we flat tow it back home and I'm not a big advocate of
> that, but you gotta do what you gotta do. We flat-towed a beetle from Kansas
> City back home last October so I figured this 40+ mile run was nothing
> compared to the 200 miler we did. We towed with a 1999 Ford Contour with a 4
> cylinder engine. As long as you turn the overdrive off, it goes quite well.
> We drove to Hartington, NE to attend the Firehouse rock concert yesterday and
> so today on the way back, in 100 degree heat, we drove to the farm that held
> the beetle. One tire was off the bead, but my wife helped me put a strap
> around the tire after I removed it and we hit it with air from the air bubble
> and we beheld a minor miracle as the tire took air with little effort! It
> took almost all 35 psi to get it to snap into place on the rim, but it held.
> We did have to drive 10 miles one way to buy longer bolts so I could get the
> adapter plate bolted up underneath to hook the towbar to, but hey - !
90!
> minutes later, we managed to get it 45 miles back home via gravel and
> black-top road in the heat.
>
> Now here is the weird thing about the beetle. I was underneath the front,
> mounting the adapter plate, and I thought - gee this is 71/72 Super Beetle
> suspension under here. I know because it's a solid cast lower arm and not
> the little double I-beam of stamped metal like my 74 has. The bumpers have
> the solid brackets like the 71 and 72 Super Beetles have (not the
> energy-absorbing ones). What makes this weird though is that even though
> everything underneath is 71/72 Super Beetle, it has the curved windshield and
> larger dash. Now that is weird for sure. Since the date code on the door
> jamb is 5/73, that would mean they put a new body on an old pan. The only
> thing I didn't check is if someone took a later model super and mounted it on
> an earlier pan. The car has been repainted orange, but it was orange over
> orange but the story goes that it was a 1-owner car before the kid had it for
> 2 weeks and got t-boned. Anyway, I believe the seats are 71/72 style as
> well. So it's!
m!
> y guess, that maybe the factory ran out of 71/72 bodies, but still had
> existing rolling pans to use up before the changeover so they just bolted it
> on and kept rolling them. Technically, this would have a been a 1972 Model
> year beetle, but with the curved windshield, it really is a bastard Super
> Beetle.
>
> Has anyone ever run across anything like this before?
>
> NQ
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