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Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:16 pm

A couple more pics of my marathon. Front cover of ultra vw and a shot from before i had bought it so sorry for pinching someone elses pics of the car before it came into my hands

Sun Aug 23, 2009 3:43 pm

Nice car, But it is not a Super and therefore not a Marathon or Baja Champion!

Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:06 am

Northstate Trev wrote: Nice car, But it is not a Super and therefore not a Marathon or Baja Champion!

Taken from SEBeetles.com
5000 'Marathon Beetles' where produced to celebrate the Beetles world record production figure of 15,007,034 - that car (a 1302 Super Beetle) subsequently named the 'World Champion'. 'Marathon Beetles' were offered as 1300cc Standard model and as a 1302 Super with special Marathon Metallic (metallic silver/blue, L96M) paint and unique silver and black sports wheels (Lemmertz made, part no. 000 071 475B - called 'Baja' wheel in US), with silver wheel nut covers and octagonal VW alloy centre caps.Produced also in Australia as the '15 Millionth'.

I think (to the best of my knowledge) that the marathon in the Uk was a standard 1300 (like mine) and the US was a super. I dont know why but i am sure someone will.

Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:32 pm

My mistake! And thanks for the rebuttal info! I hadn't heard of the Standard Marathon. I guess we Americans didn't qualify for those!!!
Trev
P.S. Beautiful car!

Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:59 am

philkvw wrote: A couple more pics of my marathon. Front cover of ultra vw and a shot from before i had bought it so sorry for pinching someone elses pics of the car before it came into my hands

one of best mates built that car!

needs slamming back how it used to be ;)

glad its in good hands phil 8)

Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:37 am

Ok, so other than the paint colour (which can be re-sprayed) and the distinct wheels (which can be removed) is there a clear way to identity a Marathon Beetle?

Did they all have the gold medalion fixed to the glove box? Or is that just what some owners chose to do?

Were they manufactured will sequential chassis numbers?

Other than applying to the VW museum in Germay and paying for a birth certificate, how can I tell that a Beetle is a Marathon Beetle?

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:51 am

The birth certificate would be the best way.

M

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:55 am

Thanks for the reply. I thought that might be the only way.

I've seen a Beetle advertised for sale as a Marathon Beetle. It looks a tidy car but I'm not convinced that it IS a Marathon Beetle. It seems to have the right colour paintwork and it has the wheels (but so does my red 1300 - so that proves nothing).

Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:36 am

Does anyone know if the (usually) black hub area of the Marathon wheels were painted black or was it an plastic insert?

Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:00 am

The center section was painted black.

You can see the Baja Champion SE (the USA market Weltmeister) at the West Coast Metric museum. The vehicle was bought new right off the truck, even without the dealer prep, taken directly to the museum where it has been ever since. http://1302super.com/page20.html

I have got to get Harbor City, CA and get reference photos of this car. It's the closest thing you'll ever see to 'exactly how it was then.'

Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:38 am

webwalker wrote: The center section was painted black.

Many thanks - I thought that might be the case. I guess there's a trick to achieving a nice crisp edge to the black paint. The last time I tried it, my edges were awful so I just sprayed the whole wheel silver.

Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:11 am

I'd love to know what the trick was at the factory. It seems like it would take a REEALLY steady hand to do it manually.

M