Do I have a 70 super beetle? or..... is it really there?. maybe, I imagine I have a 70 super, or, only I can see it. If it is not real? ... what am I working on? Is it all a dream? SC
Look at the VIN . . . any air-cooled VW from the 1965 model year through the 1979 model year (which by the way, normally begins on August 1st and ends July 31st) uses the following VIN system:
The first digit tells the type. If the first digit is a -
1 - it's a Type 1 - Beetle, Super Beetle, Karmann Ghia, or Thing
2 - it's a Type 2 - Transporter (bus, single cab or crew cab)
3 - it's a Type 3 - Fastback, Squareback, Notchback, or Type 3 Karmann Ghia (the notchbacks and Ghias weren't officially sold in the US, but some have found there way into the states over the years)
4 - it's a Type 4 - 411 or 412
The second digit loosely defines the body style. For example, a VIN starting with:
11 . . . is a Beetle.
13 . . . is a Super Beetle (only in the US . . . they are known as 1302s and 1303s in the rest of the world).
15 . . . is a Super Beetle Convertible.
The third digit is the last digit of the model year.
The VIN is either a 9 digit number or 10 digit number.
All the 9 digit VINs are 196X models (X being the 3rd digit of the VIN).
If it's a 10 digit VIN, it could be a 196X or it could be a 197X model. Gott'a look at the 4th digit to figure that out. If it's 10 digits and the 4th digit is a 1, it's a 196X model and if the 4th digit is a 2 or 3, it's a 197X model.
Everything after the 3rd digit is just a serial number. The first 1965 standard beetle off the assembly line was #115000001. The second was 115000002. etc. If production went over one million in a given model year, those cars would have 10 digit VINs. The one millionth Beetle off the line in 1969 would have been #119 1000000 and the next one would have been #119 1000001. etc.
Now in 1970 they needed to devise a way to keep the decades straight. So they made all the VINs 10 digits. To keep from having some VINs from the 60's repeated they made the 4th digit a 2 . . . so the first standard Beetle off the line in 1970 would have been #110 2000001 and if production went over a million the forth digit would go to a 3.
Your VIN can't tell you much more than the type, the year, and how many had been build before it that year . . . but that's pretty basic info you REALLY need to know. It'll save you a lot of headaches when you try to get the correct parts.
The reason that they are giving you a hard time about having a 1970 Super Beetle is the 1302 didn't go into production until the 1971 model year. You may indeed have a Super Beetle that was built in August or later of 1970 . . . but it's not a 1970 model. If it's truly a 1970, it's gott'a be a regular Beetle. They are basically the same car from the front door post back, but from there to the front, they are VERY, VERY different! Supers have coil springs and struts on the front end. Regular Beetles have a twin torsion beam front suspension.
What is your VIN?
