1974 Volkswagen Beetle 'L' (1303/Super) review from Australia and New Zealand
"I miss my battered Bug badly"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Cracked the first case when it was bored out to 94mm, but had no trouble with the second one.
Rear end hops a bit when the clutch is dumped at over 3500rpm.
Rust in c-pillars and floorpan under battery.
Noise from hot-dog only exhaust too much on along trip.
Skinny standard tires are dangerous.
General comments?
People expected it to be painfully slow away from the lights, but a 1915cc engine fed by a pair of Webers and some other goodies made it easier to live with.
Fuel economy was great if driven gently, but when pushed it needed refilling a lot!
Gearbox was sweet and notchy, but third was a tad too tall.
Best time over the quarter mile was 14.3 seconds and top speed somewhere around 200kmh (the speedometer only read to 160).
It was a rough looking car with the rust repairs still in red oxide primer and steel wheels, but was a lot quicker than it looked.
Handling was awesome after suspension upgrades, but it could still snap into nasty oversteer on the limit.
Reliability was great considering the treatment it received!
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| Can you tell I was in love once? |
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| My first car: definitely not the best candidate, but I learned a lot about cars! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1974 |
| First year of ownership | 1997 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2000 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.9L petrol Manual |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 7 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 3 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 240000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 310000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Beetle |
| Date of Entry | 28th May, 2003 |