1975 Basic Bug 110

[janerick3]

Now that this thread has been revived after some period of dormancy, here are a few questions I would like to throw out for debate:

How many batches of 110s were produced for the U.S. market? All of the 110s I've seen have chassis numbers in the 1152143XXX range and engine numbers in the AJ0058XXX range. I believe these were produced in December '74 or January '75.

I would assume a batch was produced early in the model year as the "bait" to draw potential customers into VW showrooms, but I have never seen any of these cars.

My 110 had '75-only leatherette seats, stainless steel door handles and chrome hubcaps, not the black center caps shown in the period literature. Other cars pictured in this thread have these same three details. It makes me start to wonder if the leatherette was a legitimate option on later 110s (or simply switched at the dealer) and if the plastic caps and black door handles were only found on very early 110s.

I have never seen a 110 with the small, black center caps, so I don't know whether they were steel or plastic.
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Thanks,
Jan K.

[Mos6502]

From what I have seen of loss-leader models in other line-ups, it's not uncommon for dealers to sneak on some "Accessories" to boost their profit margin. They still advertise the cheap car, but when you come to look at it - there's some "options" already installed. I'd think hubcaps would be an extremely easy "mandatory" upsell for dealers to pull off.

Also if these are the same plastic caps used on other beetles in the 70's, it's probable they were easy to break - and thus got thrown away. I'll have to dig out my copy of R&T that features this model and see if I can tell if they're the same.

[HFOAIE]

No one has come up with any info on Basic 110 production.
The center caps were plastic, and they were much larger than the center caps on sport wheels. Unlike other center caps on Basic Rabbits and south American Bugs, these clipped on from the outside. There is a comparison picture in the technical dictionary. Somewhere in this thread, I mentioned the ease with which they fell off.
If a door handle isn't chrome, the black paint must have worn off.
Seats and hubcaps are a wild card. If you didn't buy it new with those parts, you may never know, but I doubt it came from the factory that way. . . . . . . Wait! Cars with chrome hubcaps did not have silver paint under the hubcap; it was left black. Only original Basic 110 wheels were fully covered in silver. Well unless someone has repainted the wheel, but that would not likely be with the original correct shade of silver.

[mrmdls]

I just bought a Basic Bug that I'm going to be going thru and I'm wondering about the houndstooth seat fabric. I have a tear in the fabric on the back of the front seat, and underneath the fabric is vinyl. is the vinyl under all the fabric or just parts of the seat?

Also, I took a picture of the door card with the plastic fasteners in case anyone might want to see what the fasteners would look like. I don't know for certain if the door panel is original, as a prior owner added speakers and a board for a door card to mount the speakers.

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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[janerick3]

[HFOAIE]

I'm not sure that the cloth is correct houndstooth. It has to be a reupholstery job with the basketweave underneath. From the factory, it was either or; not one on top of the other. Even the basketweave is incorrect for 1975, so that must be a reupholstery job as well.

[mrmdls]

A couple questions while I'm waiting for warmer weather to return to the norther plains to continue working on my model 110

Is there a source for the original style houndstooth fabric? Was black vinyl an option when new?

I do have the original black plastic front turn signal housings however they are quite faded. Does anyone know if the black was a dull black or a shiny black when new?

My driver's side mirror has a reduced viewing area with markings that are under the bottom of the glass that I'm assuming are distance markings (I'll grab some pictures,when I'm able to get out to the garage). Was this a factory mirror (I'll also look for a parts number when I'm able to get pics), or some kind of after market mirror.

What were the original rims that came from the factory? Mine has sports rims (missing center caps of course).
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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[HFOAIE]

While you wait for warmer weather, you might like to try reading this post, where you'll find answers to most of your questions, and lot's more info too.

The last I heard, Sewfine had original houndstooth. There was probably no reason the factory couldn't add accessories to a Basic 110, BUT with the loss leader concept in mind, I wonder if it was even possible to order one. Maybe they were all built stock, and shipped out. Of course, any dealer could switch out some parts with other cars.

My turn signal housings are pot metal. The paint is flat black. All black on a Basic 110 is flat.

I've never heard of a mirror like yours. Are you sure those marks aren't where the silver has come off? My original mirror has a flat black arm with an aluminum body.

Original rims were 4&1/2x15 J, exactly like other '73 and up Type ones, with one difference. On other VW's, the section under the hubcap was left black, but Basic 110 wheels were all silver, naturally.

While I'm here, the door panel buttons in your picture look concave. Maybe it's an optical illusion. Convex is the correct shape. Same pieces used in a Double Cab, by the way.

[mrmdls]

Thank you for your info! I have previously read this entire post but truth be told, I had forgotten some of the info previously posted.

I am going to check my turn signal housing again, as I assumed that they were plastic due to the extremely faded black paint to the point of being almost a gray color. I would think if they were metal after all this time I would there would be scrapes or chips that would expose the pot metal.

My driver mirror has an all aluminum back arm and aluminum body. The reduced area has black below the mirror with markings. The mirror itself doesn't come close to filling in the housing assembly. I'm going to try to head out to the garage tomorrow and grab some pictures of it.

A couple of other things that I find interesting, and they very well might be the work of one of the PO's. My running boards have no chrome trim on them just the black rubber. In addition, my headlight rims are chrome and not painted flat black. I also have a softer grip steering wheel versus hard plastic.

I would like to see a picture of the stock dash to ensure that it would be the same as a 73 - 74 bug. On my dash the previous owner removed the stock speedometer and dash grills and installed a set of VDO gauges. Does the basic bug use the seat belt interlock that was used on the 74 bugs?
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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[alex857]

Hello,
btw European market Basic Beetles had metal turn signal housings as Long as they were mounted on the Fender (until July 1974). These were the smaller blinkers used in the US/Canada from 1964 to 1970. They were painted silver but the silver faded over the years and left a tan-grey-beige basic paint to look at. Maybe that is what you are looking at? Black blinker housings were used on the European market on Special Editions only. From August 1974 on the blinkers moved into the bumper on European market cars.

[mrmdls]

Did a quick trip out to the garage in some crazy cold to grab a picture of my driver's side mirror. you can see the markings that I'm talking about. I'll get a better picture when it warms up a bit.

I also tapped on my front directional housing, and I still think it might be plastic. I'll be taking one off when it's a bit warmer to see.

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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[glutamodo]

I wonder if that is some stick on thermometer actually.
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Andy T.

"What is Glutamodo, Horror of Toyko, besides total, fiendish, quality-a-you brain!"

[mrmdls]

That would make perfect sense, something to look at when it's warmer! Never know what people will put on for decor.
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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[HFOAIE]

I blew up the mirror, and I can see those are numbers from 0 to 100. Thermometer, alright.

Considering all the other (incorrect) chrome in the picture, I wouldn't even expect those turn signals to be original. And I've never seen that gray on any chrome or black. I'm guessing they really are plastic, with all the original chrome worn off. The black plastic around the mirror makes it aftermarket anyway.

Starting in '71, only Super Beetles had chrome on the running boards.

PO has obviously replaced the headlight rims and the steering wheel.

As you missed in this post, the dash pad is one year one model only. If you have holes for ventilation knobs under the radio, you're screwed. As far as the speedo and grills, 1975 began an EGR light on the speedo, and the horizontal strip between the vertical grills was wider. In the dictionary post that leads to this post, there's a partial picture of the important features of the dash pad.

Seatbelt interlock was only tried in '74.

[19super73]

[mrmdls]

Thanks for the info guy's! I missed your posts when you first replied. I'll be having some more fun searching for correct pieces for this car.

My dash is going to be a challenge to bring back to stock. It's fitted with a set of VDO gauges and has a BMW radio installed. I don't have a picture that shows my full dash. I'll be grabbing some pics in the next couple of weeks now that the weather is warming up. Here's a pics of my partial dash.

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75 model 110 (Basic Bug) - Project Daily Driver

[cjsuner]

Might just be best to get a new instrument panel instead.
But if you aren't going to use those VDO gauges, i'd be interested in some of them for sure!
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71 Super Convertible (Orange)
74 Standard Beetle (Light Blue)

[Billyp7999]

How come I can’t find the trim piece for my oem radio? I have looked everywhere.

[HFOAIE]

I've been noticing that there are a lot of people who don't know all the things I take for granted. Here's a big one. In 1971, when the Super Beetle got extra deluxe trim, and the regular beetle got sub-deluxe trim, sub-deluxe included no passenger foot rest, felt carpet on the firewall and inner fenders and tunnel, no insulation on the floor, and rubber floormats. It's the exact same setup that the Basic 110 has. . . . . . . . . . No wait; what I say is completely true for '73 and later because '73 was the advent of the new seat frames, but I'm unsure of how sub-deluxe looked in '71 and '72.

[Prosdn]

I have a 18,000 mile red 1975 110 , the gentleman upgraded wheels when bought , it has original German tires on it . He did change headliner to a full one , I have 3 door panels missing one rear one and seats need redone they stored stuff on them , sewfine has houndstooth but not exact size . Has anyone ever found matching interior. Most of the car is original paint . Any help would be appreciated was there very many sold.