TheSamba.com :: View topic - how can i tell if its a standard or a super

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:25 pm

Ive been going to look at a few bugs lately and how can i tell if its a standard or super. Some of the owners dont even seem to know.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:26 pm

Supers have capes and a secret identity.

They also have McPherson struts in the front end, instead of a torsion bar front end. That's the biggest give away. :wink:

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:27 pm

front suspension, standard has a beam, super has struts and a arms, but the most dead give away is the front apron, super is slotted and standard isnt.. if you go in the "sticky's read before posting" section there is a whole thread about this.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:30 pm

Struts up front , and spare lays down in trunk , standars spare is up right....

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:31 pm

Curved windshield for 72 and up, different sized luggage compartment (that is why people call them fat chicks because the front is fatter compared to the standards), Struts in the front end w/ control arms + sway bar. There have been many many posts on this there will be more information somewhere else if you do a search.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:41 pm

Alex, for some reason people refer to my '68 as a fat chick too. Go figure.

With the '71 and '72 Supers, they look very much like standard Bugs due to the flat windshield, so you have to be careful. But as others have said, look for Mac struts up front and open the trunk to see if the spare is lying flat (SB) or at about a 70-degree angle (Standard). I've owned both, and they're both nice, but the bigger trunk was a plus.

However, Supers can develop front-end shimmy which can be difficult and expensive to cure, but folks say the ride is a little better (after the shimmy is gone, that is). But it's a Beetle, it's never going to ride like a Town Car.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:53 pm

ive been looking at pictures on CL is there much difference in hood?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:57 pm

It's a longer hood, not easy to tell in a tiny picture though. Really it's not all that easy to tell in person.

Just ask them if the spare tire lies flat or stands upright. This is the simplest and easiest way to tell. (flat is super, upright is standard)

EDIT: And the 72 supers had a flat windshield, it wasn't until 73 that they started curving them.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:59 pm

Mowgli25 wrote: Ive been going to look at a few bugs lately and how can i tell if its a standard or super. Some of the owners dont even seem to know.

How do you tell?
by reading this

This is a Beetle and that is a Super Beetle

Roostalee wrote: Alex, for some reason people refer to my '68 as a fat chick too. Go figure.

The term fatchick doens't refer to just Supers, its all late model air cooleds including bus, Karmann ghia and type 3

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:03 pm

super or standard?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:04 pm

74 Super.

With the PCV connected to the charcoal canister :shock:

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:05 pm

:( ok thats sad

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:12 pm

Why would they do that? I can't think of any good reason...
At least we have a picture of the culprit.

There's also rust bubbles under the crescent!

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:20 pm

Relyt wrote: Why would they do that? I can't think of any good reason...
At least we have a picture of the culprit.

Guess they took the old saying running on fumes literally.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:31 pm

Have a look at the front suspension for struts or pop the hood to see if the wheel lay flat. If it has a curve windshield you are looking at a 73 onward super beetle.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:32 pm

im confused. did i miss something?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:43 pm

Joel wrote: The term fatchick doens't refer to just Supers, its all late model air cooleds including bus, Karmann ghia and type 3

HUH? How does that make sense? Well, it makes sense when you refer to a SB, which has a noticeably more bulbous front end. But how can a late-model Bus be a fat chick? Or a Ghia? How did '67 become the cutoff point for Bugs? The VW community can be downright odd sometimes.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:48 pm

It would make more sense to only mean Supers but then again put a 67 split next to a 68 bay window or early ghia/type 3 next to late ones and the bigger bumpers, lights etc do make them look fatter.

Just for the record TheSamba dictionary has this to say:

Quote: Fat Chick

Slang term for most air-cooled VWs that use 4-bolt wheels, such as 68 and newer Standard Beetles, Super Beetles, Bay Window Buses, 1970 and later Ghias, 1970 and later Type 3s, etc.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:50 pm

Mowgli25 wrote: im confused. did i miss something?

If you look under the front wheel it should have strut suspension on it or open the hood the should be a hollow circle in the middle for the spare to lay flat.It should look like this.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:58 pm

Joel wrote: It would make more sense to only mean Supers but then again put a 67 split next to a 68 bay window or early ghia/type 3 next to late ones and the bigger bumpers, lights etc do make them look fatter.

Just for the record TheSamba dictionary has this to say:

Quote: Fat Chick

Slang term for most air-cooled VWs that use 4-bolt wheels, such as 68 and newer Standard Beetles, Super Beetles, Bay Window Buses, 1970 and later Ghias, 1970 and later Type 3s, etc.

Yeah I saw the definition, although I know some folks say fat chicks start with Supers. I just don't get the distinction from a '67 Bug to a '68 Bug. Yes, there are changes but was it a paradigm shift for the Bug between those two years? I'd say no because I've been in both many times, they're extremely similar. Now a '77 Super with FI, curved windshield and modern dash, etc. That I can see as different.