Volkswagen Beetle 1303 Cabriolet

History

VW Beetle 1303 Cabrio: Anyone who has the history of the VW Beetle in mind understands why connoisseurs of the 1303 model rave that it was the only classic car that could ever be bought as a new car. The 1303 was, writes contemporary car connoisseur Clauspeter Becker in "Motor Klassik," "the natural inhabitant of posh residential neighborhoods and the hip second car in the exclusive villa district." The color palette is fully in line with the trend of the late seventies, with the emphasis on metallic colors: in addition to the popular brasil brown, these include diamond silver, colibri green, river blue, indian red, platinum and pearl metallic. If the madam or higher daughter prefers pastel, lemon yellow and mars red, florida blue and alpine white are available. Despite a base price of around DM 13,000, the open Beetle variant sells best in the autumn of its life. According to "auto motor und sport" 16/1977, "even in refined circles it is not considered a faux pas to drive to the theater in this car." At the end of the seventies, the open VW Beetle was one of the very few convertibles with four full seats. Ob das Kofferraumvolumen von knapp 400 l, aufgeteilt auf den Raum hinter den Rücksitzen und den Kofferraum vorne, tatsächlich für einen mehrwöchigen Toskana-Urlaub mit Familie reicht wie Clauspeter Becker schreibt, kommt darauf an, wie spartanisch das Urlaubsgepäck ausfällt. The chassis is so good that Porsche will use the same suspension later for the models 924 and 944, and the rack and pinion steering corresponds to that of the VW Golf I and is 1974 state-of-the-art.
All in all, 30 years of development and 300. 000 cabriolets built made the 1303 model the most sophisticated cabriolet in the world at the time: striking differences from its predecessors include the curved windshield, the 1.6-liter engine, the new dashboard, standard front disc brakes, high-quality plastic soft top, large three-chamber taillights and many small details. On January 10, 1980, the last example of the VW 1303 Cabriolet with chassis number 152 044 140 is built at Karmann in Osnabrück and placed in the museum. With the iconic VW Beetle 1303 Cabriolet, you can now explore the Munich area and experience the many magnificent castles, influential monasteries, crystal-clear lakes and unique cultural landscape: in the footsteps of King Ludwig, around the Zugspitze, in the Berchtesgadener Land.

Engineering Information