Your very first memories of a Type 3

[Critter1]

When I was in high school (circa late 80's) I had a 63 ragtop. I thought I was cool being into VW's and all, but really didn't know $hit about them. One day I was at Tom Coddingtons place outside Lakeport, CA buying an all metal roof rack for $15. (If you don't know Tom, he's one of those old school guys who has barns full of good NOS & used parts. Also a field full of VWs.) Anyway, after I paid him for the roof rack, I took a look towards the back of his property and see a green car and a red car poking their noses out of an overgrown bush/tree. I asked about them... I think I asked him if they were VWs. He said, "oh yea those are Fastbacks, one 66 and the other 67. It was my first look at a Type 3. I was impressed! Up until then I only thought VW made bugs and busses in the 60s. I remember thinking to myself, "wow! I'd trade my ragtop for one of these in a heartbeat". So every time I would go to him for misc parts, I would look at them disappear more and more under that overgrown tree. I eventually sold my ragtop and moved on before getting back into VWs around 2001.
The story gets better.... One day a couple years ago, I was surfing the forums here on The Samba when a new thread popped up. I can't recall the title. It was about a kid (18ish I guess) who just bought his first Type 3. I read on as he explained where he got it and that it was a green 66 Fastback. Well it turned out that the car he bought from under an overgrown tree was the exact same car sitting in the exact same spot, that got me interested in Type 3s almost twenty years earlier.

It would be cool to find that thread and post it up into this one, but we'll see if its owner still hangs out here and chimes in.
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Justin

[Godsbug]

My grandmother had a white late model fastback when I was a little kid. One of my earliest memories is sitting in the back seat of her car listening to the engine putter along. It's one of the reasons I love VW's to this day. Another early memory was sitting on my dads lap helping him drive his baywindow bus, back before the police cared much about any of that.
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2017 Golf Alltrack
2011 Fit
1968 Fastback

[grimace007]

when i was growing up 8-12 years old my aunt owned a carbed auto square, that was the tan/beige color we named it noodle

we droive that thing everywhere.
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Brian
68 sedan

Dallas Air Coolers

[KTPhil]

My first T3 memory was riding home in its back seat when my dad bought his (now my) '71 fastback from the dealer. I was almost 13.

[jays58s]

A buddy of mine had a nice early notch back in the early 90's and I got to drive it and ever since then I wanted one, just never came across the right deal til now!

[flyinglow94]

My first memory of Wanting a VW was when I was walking to High school back around 83 and seeing a 68 Squareback. It was red primered and slammed (beet to hell). I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen. I ended up buying a 73 super (like my dad's) that was beat but I painted it in auto body class. I had it for 3 months. One week to the day after it was painted it was hit and totaled. So then my Dad had seen a Squareback driving around with a for sale sign on it, we tracked it down and bought it from the original owner for $600. It was in excellent condition by today's standards. I fixed it and drove it till 89. Then it and my Notchback were sold to the Japanese. My Girl friend(wife now) cried when it left. I can always build my cars better but I would love to get that car back.

[FASTBACKDON]

My love for the type 3 began in 1978 I was a gear head guy like the rest of my family. I had a friend that was into bugs and I found them interesting helped him work on his 5 nights a week. I kept telling myself what a great car easy to do anything on them. In 1979 I started working at Best Products cataloge showroom and was talking to my boss who was trying to get into the movies he was actauly in one of the Airplane movies. We started talking about cars told him I needed one to get to work in he said he was buying a new car and he wanted to sell his VW. I thought ok maybe a 67 bug or later. He told me it was a Fastback I had never seen or heard of a Fastback so after work I went to the parking lot and checked out the car. It was instant love at 1st sight. I had driven bugs and busses but this car was awsome. I asked him how much? he said well I need to get 50 bucks for it. 5 seconds later I handed him the cash. I drove that poor thing home parked it and spent Saturday and Sunday rebuilding the Carb tuning it up sanding the nasty paint off and primering it. I sold that car after 5 years I miss it to this day. Now I have my 69 Fastback and have NO plans to ever get rid of this one.
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FUCK CANCER FUCK CANCER FUCK CANCER!!
Mom 25 months of standing up to Cancer R.I.P I miss you so much.

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(21:10:42) Jennepher: Russell is our proudest achievment. I feel like Samba created him from a little nugget of crap into a full blown adult.

[Nedbob]

The first Type 3 I remember seeing was owned by my Webelos den mother, Mrs. Todd. She had an orange or yellow squareback. I can't remember the color now. Never rode in it, but it sure was different from the GM products I was used to in our family.

[ALLWAGONS]

My first type 3 encounter happened in 1980, my brother bought a '66 sunroof fasty. I was 12. i thought how cool it was that it had two trunks.
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I'd be UNSTOPPABLE if not for Law Enforcement and PHYSICS.

I recycle old cars and parts, other than when I rot, that's as Green as I am going to get.

Thanks to my Tesla driving neighbors, I feel more relaxed driving my SUBURBAN and old VW's.

NON INFLUENCER APPROVED

[Stefan T]

I rember that my frends grand parents have a notch and i were about 6 years old. That were in 1970.

[Tram]

My grandparents brought a Type 3 back from Germany in 1962 or 63. I remember riding around in the back of it, over the engine. I also remember sitting in it and playing with the pushbuttons on the dash in the garage. I killed the battery that way.
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[localboy]

Wow, Critter our lives are parllel in many ways.

Late 70's. I was a high school kid earning money as a parking valet for large private parties. Cash money in tips that Uncle Sam needn't know about. The owner of said company drives up one day in a blue Notch, mid 60's. Seems his late dad somehow imported it to Hawai'i and he just got it running again after sitting idle for yrs in his mom's yard. Now I had a Cal-Looker and my brother had a '68 SB so I had some knowledge of the pancake vs the upright...but I had NEVER seen a Notch before anywhere. Hell I didn't even know the made such a car. [I don't think Oah'u even had a half dozen of them EVER.]

I check it out and that was it. I told myself; Cool car...one day. Of course I graduated, went to college, got married, had a son...blah, blah, blah...fast forward to about 2001-2. I'm now living in the PNW, working and drive by a local business in my patrol area. What do I see? A ('65) Notch. I stop in check it out and the owner comes out. We talk and he introduces me to this website called TheSamba...the rest is history.
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One man's "patina" is another man's cancer...

Black '65 Resto-Custom S Notch 2110 cc powered
original paint Pearl White '66 Westy SO-42
Allstate single-wheel trailer project

[notchback]

The first Type 3 I can really remember seeing was back in 1982 when I was in the Army over in Germany. One of the guys in my company bought a squareback that had all four fenders and both doors different colors. Sort of like a Harlequin Golf, but predating that by quite a few years. Fast forward 2 years later and I bought a '66 square only because it was the cheapest thing on the lot.
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[Russ Wolfe]

Back in 1964, (I was 21) my wife and I bought a New MG Midget. I then got laid off from my job and was having trouble making payments. Went to the VW dealers used car lot to see about trading it for something with lower payments. The general manager would not trade me cars, but he did give me a job as a mechanic. The rest is history.
My first T-3 that I bought was in 1969. It was a 68 Fastback, Regatta Blue. 18K miles on it.
The original owner brought it back from germany. It would just die for no known reason. He decided to trade it for a Pontiac. I saw it sitting on the back row of the Pontiac dealers used car lot. Stopped to see about it, and they told me it would not run, and gave me a good price, "AS IS". I decided to buy it and got the money from my bank.
Went back to the lot, bought it. When they gave me the key, I went to start it, and did not hear the double click. Raised the rear seat, and here was the FI power relay about ready to fall off the bulkhead. Tighted the screw with my pocket knife, and fired the car up and drove it off the lot. The dealer was pissed to say the least.
I never had another problem with that car. Sold it a couple years later, and have not looked back. I have probably owned several hundred VW, in the last 45 years. I was a big flipper, back in the '60s '70s, and '80s.
I got out of VW's during the '90s, and then got back in in 2000 with my 71 fastback that has been in the family since 1979. A good friend was the original owner, and I even did the pre-delivery on the car. The years and rust have not been kind to it, and I retired it last year. It has become an organ donor.
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Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you end up with a lot of scum on the top!--Edward Abbey

Gary: OK. Ima poop.

[MOCHABILL]

Been along time since I heard about this store

Best Products catalog showroom



The ones ariund here had funky and original store fronts!

[FASTBACKDON]

[56TIMOTEO]

My family was living in Germany, and in 1967, my dad bought a new Squareback from the factory (I was . We were driving on a very rough road (I was in the rear, driver's side) and the left pop-out fell out of the body, shattering against the body!! There it was, hanging from the latch, as we were bouncing down the road. Well, the dealer fixed it, and we weren't allowed to open the pop-outs anymore. This was a great memory for me, as my dad loved to smoke big stinking cigars with the windows rolled up (wish he would of bought a sunroof!!).

[cdgvw1]

The first time I saw a Notch was when I was about 5 years old. So that would make it around 1980 or so. My neighbor across the street (Joe) had a bucket of a Notch. It was oxidized red. It went fron being on jack stands with a big sheet of plastic over it to slammed on smoothies and painted a nice deep fire engine red. I believe he had an 1835 with dual QP's.. then one day he brought a regtop bug home and it had his red engine in it.. Yes, he had an upright type 1 engine in the Notch. My mom had a superbeetle right before that.

-Chris

[jmarkha1]

First memory was sitting in the back of a square over the engine cover wondering what was underneath. Dad worked for Volkswagen as an architect, designing their European showrooms and offices so got a new VW each 3 months. He had just about every model from early bugs and type 3s through Karmanns, 411s, 412s, bays - It was just a matter of time until I was old enough to buy my own vdub - albeit a little used...

[Critter1]