TheSamba.com :: View topic - The VW 411 at IAA 1969....check out our boy!

Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:12 pm

The VW 411 review (and i think a couple of type 3's) starts at 2:44 in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrJlyPoc3Ls

Ray

Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:21 am

Nice find Ray! I especially like the hat the test driver is wearing! :D

Also at 28:20 another Type4 engined car is tested: the then brand new 914/4.

/Lars S

Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:16 am

It's interesting to see real footage of these cars. Thanks for sharing Ray.

This might seem like a simple question but, were the headlight surrounds on the 411 chromed or painted? there might be a difference between the saloon and the wagon, but I thought that was interesting,
cheers,
Abel

Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:29 am

The headlight surroundings were painted but chromed were to buy as an accessory...dont know if it was at the VW dealership or where.
In some factory shots you may see chromed but I dont think there was an M-code for it

/Lars S

Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:25 am

Good question Abel.

I have often wondered why the cars that appeared in the brochures and owners manual, had chrome headlight surrounds and yet every 411 or 412 car I have ever seen had metallic silver painted surrounds. I don’t think I have ever seen any chrome surrounds on a car or up for sale etc.

BR,

Rob

Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:55 am

Love it! In the 60’s and 70’s I spent summer vacations as an american kid in Miltenberg a/Main just about 45 mins southeast of Frankfurt. Grew up looking at these cars all the time. Never saw a 411 with chrome bezels though. If you look closely at the 914 being driven it sports wheel covers. They were Fuchs styled covers of all things. I bought that exact set in summer of 1970 and brought them back to Seattle on the plane. Put them on our ‘67 Westy and thought it was a Porsche :D! Think I still have them stored away somewhere. Memories...

Bill

Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:01 pm

I have never seen a chrome headlight bezel set either. But....I am sure it was a dealer option.

You can see chrome vent/gill covers for the vents behind teh quarter window on sedans and you can find chrome bezels for the rear engine hood vents...I have a set.

By the way.....if memory serves....all of the bezels on 411's were a zinc type pot metal. Most of the headlight bezels on 412....not sure when it changed....were the same pot metal. Somewhere in late 1973 they changed to plastic.

While you "could" have either chrome plated...the metal ones could be very easily chrome plated. Ray

Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:01 pm

You mean these, Ray.

BR,

Rob

Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:28 pm

Thanks guys for the answers. It's interesting to see how you can add some bling to the T4. That makes me think, what other accessories were available at the time?
cheers,
Abel

Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:58 pm

Just found this n the same YouTube feed! :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMyJ8GM1ip0

and....Oh my!...production line video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af70Lht97qY
Ray

Mon Mar 04, 2024 9:16 am

Lars S wrote: The headlight surroundings were painted but chromed were to buy as an accessory...dont know if it was at the VW dealership or where.
In some factory shots you may see chromed but I dont think there was an M-code for it

/Lars S

Hi Lars, the chrome brezel is an one year only fit-out for MY 70.

Mon Mar 04, 2024 9:24 am

kgarchivinusa wrote: Lars S wrote: The headlight surroundings were painted but chromed were to buy as an accessory...dont know if it was at the VW dealership or where.
In some factory shots you may see chromed but I dont think there was an M-code for it

/Lars S

Hi Lars, the chrome brezel is an one year only fit-out for MY 70.

Nice, very nice! =D>
So why would theese not fit 71 and 72 model years?

/Lars S

Mon Mar 04, 2024 12:16 pm

On the other hand....I have been learning how to paint/airbrush new metallic paints that are a 90% dead ringer for chrome or stainless steel. I may do a set of my plastic 412 bezels and post the method. Very easy to do. Ray

Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:48 pm

raygreenwood wrote: On the other hand....I have been learning how to paint/airbrush new metallic paints that are a 90% dead ringer for chrome or stainless steel. I may do a set of my plastic 412 bezels and post the method. Very easy to do. Ray

Do tell!

Mon Mar 04, 2024 5:57 pm

KTPhil wrote: raygreenwood wrote: On the other hand....I have been learning how to paint/airbrush new metallic paints that are a 90% dead ringer for chrome or stainless steel. I may do a set of my plastic 412 bezels and post the method. Very easy to do. Ray

Do tell!

I will provide a link to a demo from a freaking genius airbrush guy online. I watch his channel religiously. Superb skills and major product tester for the industry.

The types of paints....acrylics, lacquers and enamels that are produced for the fine precision hobby modeling industry as well as the improvements to quality and much lower prices for EXCELLENT equipment.....the improvements are just staggering.

Just five years ago to put a real world aluminum or stainless steel look on a model of something like a Lockheed F104 starlight resin model.....and these aircraft were really only built of natural aluminum and titanium and stainless.....was almost impossible. You had to spray on your basic aluminum flake enamels. Then you literally had to wet sand them. Then Clear coat them then wet sand them....3000 grit or finer. Then silver again....clear....wet sand....then burnish....and then it still looked just only "decent".

The trick is part technique.....it's all about the primer. To do metal...real metal paints....it MUST have a jet black primer....and it must be incredibly high gloss. You might even need to polish it if you do not have the right black base (but these exist now for cheap).

Then the new metallic paints.....also cheap comparatively.....are nano particle products with leveling agents and flow agents. One coat and chrome looks 90%+ like real chrome. Stainless looks even more realistic than chrome.

I think faux polished stainless front bezels would look kick ass! Ray

Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:11 pm

Here is the technique. The guy calls himself "Barbatos Rex".

Here is the "technique". This video he is just using a basic silver. I reccomend watching the entire 16 minutes but you can see what you need to from 5:38 to 9:40 in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrB-JTcQAN0

He taught a great lessen in his videos for testing paints with airbrush. Just use cheap plastic molded spoons from the grpcery store. They come in black and white, are disposible/recycleable and are smooth and glossy with a nice repeatable curve.

This next video is the good stuff. The Alclad brand are in about the top 3 metallic airbrush paints in the industry. He will be spraying chrome and black chrome.
These are acrylic "laquers".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqcTG0JGnkc

From right at 4:30 to 9:00 he is putting the gloss black primer on a bright white spoon and part of a model.

The chrome paint starts at 9:39 . The result around 1 minute later is just stupid fine.

I have other videos where he lists super crystal clear clearcoats that go over the top to protect the chrome paint without dulling the shine.

Be sure to look at about 13:14 to 16:00 at the finished dried paijnted parts. Awesome!

Ray

Mon Oct 06, 2025 9:43 pm

The chromed brezels for VW411 were never offered as a M-Option. They were only used for Marketing (brochures) and for some markets, e.g. Italy (is known) to support the sales. Also they were never serial part of delivery in Germany, even not in MY 1970. VW412 were never equipped with these chromed brezels.