Volkswagen Type 3 1600 Fastback Tested - Just a Bigger Beetle? 

I love all of the air cooled VW's, they're vehicles to relax and enjoy the view in, not to be rushed as there's no point, 55-60mph is more than enough. This unmolested Fastback is a stunning car, way better than the lowered stuff IMO.

In my opinion one of the most beautiful cars ever. The proportions are just perfect.

Out neighbors used to have one of those. They managed to go on holiday with it from the Netherlands to lake Balaton in Hungary pulling a Alpenkreuzer trailertent, roofrack on top, packed boots and a family of 6. They always made it back without problems. Great cars!

Proper trendy. A type 3 in Williamstown! Nice. Old VW factory was in Clayton, my Granddad worked at Bosch next door.

"The unmistakable clatter of an aircooled engine".

These were known in Germany as the 'Neckermann Ferrari'. Neckermann used to be a middle of the road catalogue firm back in the days.

Cool. I had a fastback auto, facelifted version. It worked really well with the auto box. You could quite happily trundle along at 65 all day. As usual the rot got the better of it. Shame, I really liked that old thing. A very good friend had a square back too. We parked it in town one day and walked away. A guy stopped us to let my friend know that he had forgetton to lock the doors. "Oh, thanks" said my friend "but it's OK. Go and put your hand on the door handle". Man dutifully followed this instruction. As he touched the car my friend's very large and hairy German Sheppard raised its head from the back seat and growled. The man turned very white and agreed that door locks were a little superfluous.

Fun fact the Volkswagen and HSV Maloo share something in common. They were both assembled in the same factory in Clayton Victoria. Well the HSV started life in Adelaide as a Holden but became a Maloo in the same factory!

VW had a lasting affect on the Australian car industry, it wasn't their cars in the long term, rather they introduced Bosch electrics as a local manufacturer supplier, eventually Bosch replaced Lucas as the key supplier to the big three in Oz, in time.

Hubnut just when I thought you had raised the bar on fascinating road tests to an impossibly high level, you have managed to surpass yourself with this test. As subscribers I believe we would be prepared to crowdfund a follow-up trip to either South Africa or Australia for more undiscovered locally adapted European workhorses. Thanks for the most interesting 24 mins of my day!

I remember when my dad had the front and back open , some kids saw it and said “ there’s a boot at back and a boot at front, aye but where’s t’ bloody engine “ all said in the broadest Yorkshire accent ! I think they thought it was Candid Camera.

Memories are kindled of the summer I turned 16, when I joined a couple of cousins and a friend (later my wife, though neither of us suspected at the time) for a drive in a Squareback from St. Louis to Denver... 800 miles with that little engine mumbling away in the back. That was 1970, and I still recall what a delight the Squareback was on the road. A few years later when I needed a car for college, I picked a used ‘71 Super Beetle. I still have a soft spot for the old VWs. Thanks, this was a good one!

wonderful looking car, much preferable to a beetle inmho, didn't know they had a boot area! Quite a practical car.... thanks once again for the variety of classic cars you serve up to us Ian, your usual highly interesting dialogue of facts and history, much appreciated 👍👍

That engine note takes me back..my Dad had one of them in the 70's..I'd love to have one now..thanks for the memory

I have a notchback that is now 3.5 years into restoration, since I have not driven it for so long it was so nice to drive with you and listen to that.

Thanks for the ride. Nice memories. My dad had one, a lovely blue color it was. Great car.

Great videos Ian. We have a ‘69 1500 Beetle, fully registered in NSW Australia, survivor condition, no mods or “slammage”. Everything works, and we love it!

Love it! My dad had an orange facelift fastback in the early seventies and it's my favourite of all our childhood family cars. Great memories of driving all the way down through France to Portugal via the hovercraft with a tent on the roof and every inch of space stuffed with tins of food, pillows and Tupperware with me and my brother wedged between it all in the back seat. Amazing how much you can cram into a Type 3! Fuel economy was not great, however, and we stopped at an awful lot of petrol stations on the way there and back as the tank capacity is not huge. Thanks for the video - I really enjoyed it!

Probably one of the best car reviews I have ever seen!

What a nice roadtest. My father bought the 1600 Variant in 1967, exactly the year I was born. He kept it until 1973 and sold it for a new K70. Dear Ian, I like very much to watch your videos. Greets from Germany.

Brilliant car! Love the type 3. Great exhaust note too. Thank you for a great roadtest. Very enjoyable. 👍👍👍

One of my favourite VWs. Expertly shown by the master of cockpit knob twiddling, Mr Hub Nut.

Thanks for the drive. I really enjoyed that.

Couldn't agree more about how nice it is to see one that hasn't been vandalised.

Fuel tank filler in the front boot same as the Invacar. Now I’m no expert but I’d take a bet that’s where the similarities start and finish. Thanks Ian once again for the informative and entertaining vid, pleasure to watch as always. I pressed the subscribe button at long last yesterday😀

@13:55 I have to look after my semi HubNut as I live in one. Always listening for a double entendre. Entertaining as always.

Love the fastback variant. I knew two of these intimately as a child and was on many trips in them. Nice.

Wow. I have not seen one of those, in real or on video, since the 80's. Way cool. Thanks for this

So I had a choice this lunchtime between the latest Freedom Factory video or this, and this won 👍 A very pretty car and super glamorous for Hubnut 😮

What a beautiful old car loved it brilliant video Ian

Hubnut, you brought back so many memories as I owned 2 Fastbacks, 1966 & 69 (giving away my age here). I could clarify or explain few things you encountered and werent too sure about them. But another day. Dont worry, no Crown-like comments will be forthcoming.

Love these old fastbacks. I also think the dash layout looks really good.

I always had a soft spot for these, and still do.... Mainly as they're so damn cool, unashamedly old school, and confuse the hell out of people when they see it's got 2 boots.... AND an engine somewhere! The estate was even more mental... For the exact same thing. This is also an utterly charming example as it's not been tinkered with at all... Its almost a baby, baby porsche... That dash is what made me think thereof.... Awesome review Ian.. I'm getting jel of you reviewing all these tasty and weird cars..... And while my car is far newer, even I checked for the "triangle of doom" (reports nothing to worry about captain). Keep em chugging mate!

Lovely to see you in local Williamstown and Altona. I had a university friend who lived in Williamstown and had a Type 3 facelifted notchback/wagon automatic! Her dad was VW mad with an old split window combi

Australian made! My great grandparents lived in the house behind the letterbox in that shot.... Lol

It's a treat to hear a more-or-less bog-stock VW1600 drivetrain after so many years - they have a slight whine in 2nd and 3rd that I must've listened to for hundreds of hours as a youngster in Dad's Volkswagens, and I can hear it here too. As others have said, reverse had a spring detent (push down, across and back) to prevent inadvertently getting reverse, so this car isn't typical. If I can't get a '67 or a '70 VW1500 I'll happily have a Variant instead (all offers gladly entertained). [edit] Even a VW1300 will happily sit at 60-65mph, and a 1302S/ 1303S/ Fastback/ Variant at 70+ on a motorway. Also, oil level and frequent oil changes are critical on any air-cooled VW because the lack of water cooling means that the oil has to take over some of the engine cooling [/edit]

That is definitely proper classic motoring. Thanks for sharing. Back in my hometown of Petrópolis, Brazil, we have some still going around. Main models were the "Brasilia" and the variants type 1 and 2. I also had a "Gurgel x13" which was a fiber glass body on a VW platform. Very interesting.

A jolly little car, ideal for cruising the seafront. Top quality vid , thanks.

If you had a double, and he lived in Australia then this would be his Hubnut wagon. Beautiful logo on the steering wheel, and nice instrument dials. Another top watch video Sir 👍 Tam.

Awesome find Ian, sadly I didn’t see many here (loads of variants) great find.

Another lovely VW Ian! My wife owns a 1965 1500S Notchback, again Australian assembled with 84,000 original miles. When they are stock they are lovely classic cars.

Another great review, thanks Ian. My dad had either a type 3 or type 4 fastback - sadly I don't remember which! I think it may have been a type 4. always loved the engine noise - but then, I love the noise of all air-cooled engines.

Good one Ian, love these fastbacks. 😊

Thats a beauty. Love the sound of the engine. Looks like a great car to cruise about in, avoiding too many roundabouts!

It does sound nice when you accelerate, and I like the simplicity of the interior too. Very nice.

Thanks Ian. My 1st car was the 1968 1600 square back version. £100 with 12 months MOT! I went everywhere in it. Only let me down once when the ignition barrel gave out in Weston super mare. Managed to fit a switch and starter button instead that a GPO man gave me out of the back of his GPO comma van. I then sold it for £250 when I got a works van several years later. The cars I wish I still had!!

Cool, love the Auf/Zu on engine cover 😍 nice interior

My Dad had one in the 70's. Colour was dark green. It was a 1972 model with light coloured leatherette seats. Those seats burned the legs off you in the summertime, when you got in with shorts on! My job was too switch on the wipers. The rotary switch was off toward the front seat passenger. Water got in the wet, puddles in the rear footwells. I have fond memories of my Dad driving that car, he used to let me steer sometimes on a quiet road, sitting on his lap. I was about 7 years old. He changed it for a Passat in the early 80's. Love and miss you Dad.

Beautiful classic VW . Thank You HubbNut (:

I have owned three Beetles and two Super Beetles but only one Type 3, a 1973 model with fuel injection and automatic transmission. All my Beetles were manual trans, but I found the Type 3 to be more comfortable for my long commute, 210 miles round trip. It was previously owned by a college girl who loved to drive it at 70 all day, when these engines always preferred 60 mph. It let loose one morning after 186,000 miles on the clock. Not the most miles that I ever got out of an air-cooled Volkswagen, but close. It has been thirty years, but my children still remember in fondly.

Love this, you are quite right of course , find one in this condition. Always liked these but really wanted the Type 4 , the 411LE variant, fuel injected estate, or even the saloon, they are marvellous.

Growing up in Scunthorpe in the late 70s/early 80s, there were two of these just a couple of streets away (one painted in a very fetching pale shade of blue). Very distinctive. Nice to see they still exist!

One of my brothers owned a late 1600TL in the early 90's, completely stock and same engine as this one. I recall he regularly cruised his all day long at 85+mph with no problems at all. Lovely cars and the Type 3 (razor edge) Karmann Ghias are to die for!

Such a lovely looking car. My Aunt Ruth had a '70 station wagon, which I dented, and years later a friend of mine had a '73 TLE Fastback in burnt orange. Some fond memories. Cheers

I had one of these back in the 80's, bought it as project car had the motor done up to 1695cc with a couple of Webber downdraught carbies and hot dog mufflers with 14inch hotwire mags and 205 wide tyres, it was a beast.

"You have to be a bit careful with your semis...." I watch your videos because I love cars and driving and I always look out for OEM stuff. Not who manufactures the parts, but "Oooh err, Matron!" moments!

My dad owned two of the variants … he utterly loved them ! Reliable and trusted

This brings back some memories. We had a 64 saloon (notchback) in white when I was a kid and I loved how much more "classy" the interior was and how much more quiet it was than the shonky Beetles we were always seemed to own!! For some reason, I've always also quite liked the type 4 even though it wasn't a great success :D

Very neat & honest vehicle. :D 10:20 The early (1970 model year) facelifted 'longnose' Type 3 had wipers parked on left still. They flipped to right side for 1971.

'You have to be a bit careful with your semis!' Quote of the day I feel.

These were so cool and interesting, unlike modern tedious VW rubbish. This is so nice in factory condition and just left as it is. The shape reminds me of a Tatra! Great review and drive Ian!

Wow, that brought back memories! My dad loved those air-cooled VeeDubs back in the 70's - many a summer holiday trip from London to Cornwall in the Fastback and Variants! Not the quietest way to travel haha...... Great viewing.

Very nice inded and worth some money now! Nearly bought, not a type 3 but a second hand type 4, many moons ago. Went for a brand-new Skoda S110 instead and never regretted it! Lovey car.

A friend who I helped towed his hillclimb openwheeler with a Squareback. 5 people & their luggage, all the tools % spares, plus a trailer & racecar. The engine was modified with a 94 mm piston & barrel kit, a small 22/62 cam & the jets in the Solexs were drilled to suit. We lived in Sydney, & competed in the State hillclimb championships, so we travelled to Bathurst, Parkes, down to Wollongong, up to Newcastle, Grafton & Tamworth. We also did Australian championships in Victoria, South Australia & Queensland. Plus it was his daily driver. Never missed a beat. Sadly it developed terminal rust, so he replaced it with a succession of Ford Falcons,usually wagons, which seemed to wear out very quickly & didn't do as good a job as the Squareback. His was the same colour as the Fastback & the Squareback you showed. He built Beetle motors as a business, & the openwheeler had a Beetle motor on menthanol.

Thanks for the Crowded House recommendation . First lessening and then another 3 times , now a must have.

Nice trip around Willystown, Altona and down Koroit Creek road past the oil refinery. It was the roundabout that you turned around at that I spotted the lovely Renault 16 that was recently posted on the FB page.

My father owned the facelifted fastback. We used to quite happily cruise along the motorways at 70 mph for hours and past other cars that had overheated. Beautiful memories and I learnt to drive in his Fastback too.

I once owned a 1967 TS Fastback. 6V electrics, oil bath oil filter and swing axle rear suspension were fun! Later versions with the double joint (Porsche type) rear suspension and 12V electrics were a good improvement. The TLE was the electronic fuel injected version.

I had the 1974 TLE fastback with mechanical fuel injection. Even had a tacho! Was a great fun car.

Very enjoyable review, especially in a sort of 'local habitat' near the old Clayton plant. I had a '73 TLE fastback as my first car (an Auto too, oh the power!!), and my parents had a couple of Type 3 Squareback's too. They rusted quite a bit in Australia, so I can only imagine what happened to Type 3's in the UK 😢

A Type 3 TL which stands for Touring Limousine aka Traurige Lösung (Sad Solution). My dad had a notchback in the 60s which replaced a turquoise Ford Taunus 'Badewanne'.

My Dad had a Squareback AKA Varient, when I was a kid, and it was a marvelous car, able to carry everything we needed for a two week camping/sightseeing trip. The Beetle was made to cruise at 60 mph, the Type 3s at 80.

Thank you for this Mr HubNut. Always fancied a Type 3.. Oh by the way, i've just ordered a HubNut interior sticker!

Hi, a friend of mine had one of these for many years, approx 1980 to1997 , could not kill it, it was rust free and plain mustard outside and light tan inside. After 2 or 3 years he had it resprayed and also new seat covers, it really only improved the car say 20% as it was a good starting point. It was his daily driver and he used to do about 90 k's a day return trip work Regards George

Wow such a fab condition car, always loved the Type 3's, Especially the early Notchbacks

Loving the vid as it has quite a few connections to me. My first on road driving lessons were on Williamstown roads seen here back nearly 50 years ago. Driving school car was a VW 1300 beetle. Despite my inexperience, I never selected reverse when going for second. So now proud of that now. Several problems for you, so is something out of adjustment in the gearbox you had? I remember needing to push the selector down to another plane to get reverse. That was when having reversing lessons in that very beach side car park at 22:09 at the bottom of Victoria Street. Instructor had me reversing along the parking marked lines confidently in short order with good instruction. Happy early days.

A Volkswagen fanatic mate of mine had all type 3's (except for a brief foray into Ford Escort Mk1 territory) back in the 80s. I remember them being quite pleasant to travel in. I also seem to remember having my ankles melted by the heater when sitting in the back. In the absence of appropriate Fords and Holdens, at least in NSW, the police are now using both the BMW 530d and the Chrysler 300 SRT. I suppose the Chrysler at least has the precedent of the Valiant Ranger VH and VJ cars seen wallowing through corners in episodes of Matlock Police, but a German diesel police car??? It's a brave new world.

Ah, what memories! My dad had a bright blue 1600 TL 1969 between 1972-1976. It was an upgrade from the VW beetle from 1962. My uncle had a darkblue Variant. Remember them very roomy and a fair amount of luggage space! They did though have some electrical problems that we never got sorted out, mainly because we couldn't afford a garage to fix it so my mechanically inclined uncle tried to mend it outdoors in the snow in November! Fun times with old cars.

You have finally tested a car like one I own! I have a 1969 Canadian spec Fastback with the factory fuel injection that was standard equipment by this time (along with a 1600 and disc front brakes, independent rear suspension). When in good condition, these cars drive much better than the equivalent Beetle, with a smoother ride and significant power boost over the 1600 Beetle. When in good tune, the fuel injection performs flawlessly as well. The example you drove has a faulty reverse lockout plate. These are often damaged, miss-adjusted, or just plain missing. Normally you could never accidentally hit reverse when looking for second. Damaged dashboards are pretty much standard equipment on these cars, even in countries that are not exactly hot...

One of the best looking vws in my opinion 👍👍

I had a 1972 Squareback with automatic, single Holley downdraft , and headers. It would go 80 -85 mph, but not too quickly. What a great car! I could sleep in the back.

They were nice cars. I worked at a VW dealer in the mid 70s and there were still quite a few around. If I remember correctly, rust was a problem with them in later years, and the electronic fuel injection was more sophisticated than the mechanics we had working on them.

"What's that button? Oh, I broke it" lol

My father actually owned one of these for a short amount of time. It was all in stock and in great condition, original parts and everything. He actually got it for free from out neighbour, and he was the first and only owner. Car was imported from the USA to Europe as far as I know. But unfortunately, we were forced to sell it, since we had no place to keep it.

Lovely example. Fond memories as my Mum had a 1500 notchback, same dash and sound. Doors tended to sag. Full credit to caring owner.

My first ever car was a 1972 model and i have never owned such a comfortable car since. It was also white and i am glad to have seen this vid.

Nice and original, i loved the squareback, my 61 BUG had AUTOMATIC choke, that was my 1st car

Ahh nostalgia! I grew up with one of these cars. Remember that shorts and vinyl seats were not a good combination on a hot sunny day! Supposedly they were one of the first cars to have self-cancelling wipers (?). On ours the indicators were an optional extra - surprising for early 70’s... Succumbed to Inverness climate eventually... rusty sills underneath

My father had a 1970 model (TPP185J) and I even passed my driving test in it in 1980. I also took it to Italy with friends for a camping holiday. Lots of luggage space but I seem to remember that the back seat would get extremely hot!

Nice car and nice drive along the route I use to take my car out for a quick spin. You can almost see my house in your video when you went over the bridge and round the roundabout. Williamstown and Altona.

6:07 Glad you said we are heading into autumn as all I want is this frigging year to end - along with a lot of other people, no doubt !

Beautiful car, this and a Passat are what I learnt to drive in in the late 70's, my parents let me service them, be gentle with the blinker switch arm, they were brittle, the Beetles were the same, replaced a few as my mother was heavy handed and kept breaking them

I don't think I ever rode in a Beetle, much less this vehicle. Very VW sounding engine! Someone nearby, a long time family friend, had a Squareback for years until she could no longer drive. Well done!

I had a Mettalic red and white 1600TL 40 years ago in NZ and loved it!. I had a 1835 kit in mine (big mistake actually as it kept pulling head studs. Today i have a 73 squareback again with a few engine mods. The gear lever needs a new tunnel bush because the lever shouldn't be that loose. Later type threes had a little red light under the dash,which you could press to illuminate ,which was brake fluid wearning light ,you could test it by pushing it. There was no park brake warning light but there was parklight warning light in the speedo and they had hazard lights too. Four seasons in One day was about Auckland and they mention the domain by the war memorial museum.

Very good review Ian and it's nice to see such an original car, but the lasting memory will be you saying Porsche nine one one I don't think I have heard anyone say that before.

I’ve always admired the type 3 1600! The classic and elegant fastback shape and HUGE rear side glass! As a kid I thought the side glass were massive and ever intriguing!! A close second VW I admired was the 1500 two door sedan type 3 of the same era!

Dad had a red fuel injected automatic Variant in the late 70's , called Heinz, XPM 439J. Many a happy camping trip was had in him. He didn't like the damp and much Rocket Fuel (WD-40) was employed to rouse him into life. The flat 4 sound track I remember. Nice vlog.

A very lovely car and a credit to its owner,as a former beetle owner its very similar, but i was told that i wouldn't have any problems with engine[ don't believe it}, and rust also attacks the beetle around the headlamps and anywhere where water sits.... i think the car from the rear is gorgeous....farewell and take care..😀

Lovely review

Very nice Type 3. Not seen one for over 30 years. From the rear, it looks quite similar to my old mk1 Austin 1100 (minus the four polished exhaust tips of course). As is the colour scheme with its cream bodywork and red seats. And I love all cars with stainless full wheel covers. VW designs always look clean in their early, original forms.