My 1974 Sunbug

Fred W. wrote:
>
> I have just read all the posts about the emblem on EBay for this car
> that Chad has. I have one of these cars also, but is is far from
> pristine condition, the heater channels are toast and there are
> other rust problems. This emblem that Chad is referring to was a
> dealer installed option on these cars, they came from Germany with
> the standard Volkswagen badge on the engine lid and it is my
> understanding that the sunbug emblem, shifter knob (also rare and
> hard to find)and door decals that you can see in some of the old
> promotional photos were all U.S. installed extras and not all the
> '74 sunbugs had them. There were three versions of this "special"
> car which was a promotional gimmick for VW who's sales of bugs was
> waning at that time. There was a standard sunbug, a super beetle
> sunbug and a 'vert model. The sedans had metal sliding sunroofs.
> Mine is a standard, the sunroof was bondo'd shut by a PO undoubtedly
> tired of getting wet in a Kansas rainstorm. There are at least
> three coats of different colored paint (the original Hellas Beige,
> or Harvest Gold survives in the interior of the car as well as
> showing through the black and RUSTOLIUM YELLOW topcoat it now
> wears.) I plan to restore this car when I am through with my '66,
> if I can find a wheel chair that I can carry the MIG welder around
> on! Read and heed John Henry's admonition about the futility of
> depending upon the amounts of time that may pass from the time you
> embark on such a project until you are either finished or taking
> harp lessons! But they were kinda neat '70 era cars although not a
> lot of them were sold compared to the earlier popularity of the V W
> beetle. Fred W.
>
hey I can relate to you the sunbug i own is a standard ...and the
sunroof is broken!..but that is because some one had tried to open
it with there hands!...also it has 53000 miles on it. as far as rust
goes the body is fine, but my floor pans are...well..gone. the is a
little dent in the right fender, as far as what i have now to
rebuild it...1 chain fall to lift the body off...1 10x20 three-sided
canopy....and when i bought it in the trunk is a window repair kit:)

P.S. could a Rocky Mountain Magazine be any help

Chad

> P.S. could a Rocky Mountain Magazine be any help
>
> Chad
>
Chad, An RMMW catalog will certainly help you out. It usually lists
correct VW part numbers, and has lots of pictures. You can also
access them online at www.motorworks.com. But be warned, they're on
the high end of the price scale, (altho the latest catalog shows
some improvements),but their parts have lifetime warranty.
I'd also suggest you subscribe to, or at least pick up a copy of one
of the mags, VWT or HOT VW. Most suppliers advertise in one or
both. In case noone else has suggested it, get over to John Henry's
site, www.thebugshop.org, and start reading. He has tons of info
that will help you with your bug. Another good website is
www.shoptalkforums.com. Lots of helpful and even funny folks there
too.
Good luck and keep posting!

RocketJ wrote:
>
> Wendyful wrote:
>>
>> Fred W. wrote:
>>>
>>> I have just read all the posts about the emblem on EBay for this car
>>> that Chad has. I have one of these cars also, but is is far from
>>> pristine condition, the heater channels are toast and there are
>>> other rust problems. This emblem that Chad is referring to was a
>>> dealer installed option on these cars, they came from Germany with
>>> the standard Volkswagen badge on the engine lid and it is my
>>> understanding that the sunbug emblem, shifter knob (also rare and
>>> hard to find)and door decals that you can see in some of the old
>>> promotional photos were all U.S. installed extras and not all the
>>> '74 sunbugs had them. There were three versions of this "special"
>>> car which was a promotional gimmick for VW who's sales of bugs was
>>> waning at that time. There was a standard sunbug, a super beetle
>>> sunbug and a 'vert model. The sedans had metal sliding sunroofs.
>>> Mine is a standard, the sunroof was bondo'd shut by a PO undoubtedly
>>> tired of getting wet in a Kansas rainstorm. There are at least
>>> three coats of different colored paint (the original Hellas Beige,
>>> or Harvest Gold survives in the interior of the car as well as
>>> showing through the black and RUSTOLIUM YELLOW topcoat it now
>>> wears.) I plan to restore this car when I am through with my '66,
>>> if I can find a wheel chair that I can carry the MIG welder around
>>> on! Read and heed John Henry's admonition about the futility of
>>> depending upon the amounts of time that may pass from the time you
>>> embark on such a project until you are either finished or taking
>>> harp lessons! But they were kinda neat '70 era cars although not a
>>> lot of them were sold compared to the earlier popularity of the V W
>>> beetle. Fred W.
>>>
>> Thanks for the history fred, I am sure Chad can use that. So?>? Did
>> you ever get the emblem>? --Wendy
>>
> I could use a little more info. What exactly makes a Sunbug? I'm
> curious because I recently aquired a 74 sb sedan for (unfortuantely)
> parts.It was a resto project for my friend's boyfriend who made an
> untimely departure, and no one can find the title. This car had a
> hard sunroof and under the primer is bright yellow paint. And
> frankly, I've never heard of a Sunbug. thanks...Rocky )
>
For Wendy, no, I did not find an emblem, I am sort of looking, right
now, as you know, I am trying to concentrate on the '66 Bahama Blue
Beetle, I really want to make some movement on that car before the
Kansas ice and snow season sets in.

For Rocket, VW started to notice the decline in sales of the VW
beetle near the end of the '60's and into the early '70's. Their
marketing folks started to emulate that old Gypsy Rose Lee line "Ya
gotta have a gimmick!". They began to offer "special edition"
versions of the car, including something called the "jeans" edition,
I think it had something to do with pants in France. But the 1974
Sunbug (and I believe this was the only year this gimmick was
offered) was offered in three versions, the standard, the super and
the convertible. They were all painted the "Hellas Beige" as VW and
Glasurite (VW"S paint supplier) called it, and the sedans had
sunroofs. They were no different than other '74 cars except the
color and the interior, a special upholstry of several brown and
beige colors on the seats and door panels. I think they also had
the special "bug" floor mats, but these have been reproduced in
aftermarket and a lot of cars have them. There were several special
articles offered with the cars sold in the U.S. that were not
installed at the factory in Germany, mainly the subject sunbug
emblem, the sunbug shifter know and decals on the door. These can
be seen in the advertising literature for this car. Somewhere I
have a link to a site that has theis brochure posted, it shows the
car as offered for sale and some really great photos of owners in
'70 leisure suits and other hiliarous garb of this era. Maybe
someone has this link or I will try to locate it. One really
negative element of these cars was the interlock system that was OEM
equipment, there was a system that required some one to be seated in
the driver seat and have the seat belt buckled or the engine would
not run. I also understand that this system was designed that if
someone was in the passenger seat, their seat belt also had to be
buckled. This was all hooked up to a series of relays on the fuse
block. I think most were quickly disabled and bypassed, I have seen
several '74's but none with any of this junk intact and functional.
I cleared a lot of old wiring out of my car including wires in the
now-deteriorated seats. I do not think VW used this system in any
other year of car, although I am not certain on this.

The sunbugs were just a gimmick, a little different paint and seat
covering, but under the skin, just another 1974 VW. Hope this
sketchy information may be of some use. Fred W.

Fred W. wrote:
>
> RocketJ wrote:
>>
>> Wendyful wrote:
>>>
>>> Fred W. wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I have just read all the posts about the emblem on EBay for this car
>>>> that Chad has. I have one of these cars also, but is is far from
>>>> pristine condition, the heater channels are toast and there are
>>>> other rust problems. This emblem that Chad is referring to was a
>>>> dealer installed option on these cars, they came from Germany with
>>>> the standard Volkswagen badge on the engine lid and it is my
>>>> understanding that the sunbug emblem, shifter knob (also rare and
>>>> hard to find)and door decals that you can see in some of the old
>>>> promotional photos were all U.S. installed extras and not all the
>>>> '74 sunbugs had them. There were three versions of this "special"
>>>> car which was a promotional gimmick for VW who's sales of bugs was
>>>> waning at that time. There was a standard sunbug, a super beetle
>>>> sunbug and a 'vert model. The sedans had metal sliding sunroofs.
>>>> Mine is a standard, the sunroof was bondo'd shut by a PO undoubtedly
>>>> tired of getting wet in a Kansas rainstorm. There are at least
>>>> three coats of different colored paint (the original Hellas Beige,
>>>> or Harvest Gold survives in the interior of the car as well as
>>>> showing through the black and RUSTOLIUM YELLOW topcoat it now
>>>> wears.) I plan to restore this car when I am through with my '66,
>>>> if I can find a wheel chair that I can carry the MIG welder around
>>>> on! Read and heed John Henry's admonition about the futility of
>>>> depending upon the amounts of time that may pass from the time you
>>>> embark on such a project until you are either finished or taking
>>>> harp lessons! But they were kinda neat '70 era cars although not a
>>>> lot of them were sold compared to the earlier popularity of the V W
>>>> beetle. Fred W.
>>>>
>>> Thanks for the history fred, I am sure Chad can use that. So?>? Did
>>> you ever get the emblem>? --Wendy
>>>
>> I could use a little more info. What exactly makes a Sunbug? I'm
>> curious because I recently aquired a 74 sb sedan for (unfortuantely)
>> parts.It was a resto project for my friend's boyfriend who made an
>> untimely departure, and no one can find the title. This car had a
>> hard sunroof and under the primer is bright yellow paint. And
>> frankly, I've never heard of a Sunbug. thanks...Rocky )
>>
> For Wendy, no, I did not find an emblem, I am sort of looking, right
> now, as you know, I am trying to concentrate on the '66 Bahama Blue
> Beetle, I really want to make some movement on that car before the
> Kansas ice and snow season sets in.
>
> For Rocket, VW started to notice the decline in sales of the VW
> beetle near the end of the '60's and into the early '70's. Their
> marketing folks started to emulate that old Gypsy Rose Lee line "Ya
> gotta have a gimmick!". They began to offer "special edition"
> versions of the car, including something called the "jeans" edition,
> I think it had something to do with pants in France. But the 1974
> Sunbug (and I believe this was the only year this gimmick was
> offered) was offered in three versions, the standard, the super and
> the convertible. They were all painted the "Hellas Beige" as VW and
> Glasurite (VW"S paint supplier) called it, and the sedans had
> sunroofs. They were no different than other '74 cars except the
> color and the interior, a special upholstry of several brown and
> beige colors on the seats and door panels. I think they also had
> the special "bug" floor mats, but these have been reproduced in
> aftermarket and a lot of cars have them. There were several special
> articles offered with the cars sold in the U.S. that were not
> installed at the factory in Germany, mainly the subject sunbug
> emblem, the sunbug shifter know and decals on the door. These can
> be seen in the advertising literature for this car. Somewhere I
> have a link to a site that has theis brochure posted, it shows the
> car as offered for sale and some really great photos of owners in
> '70 leisure suits and other hiliarous garb of this era. Maybe
> someone has this link or I will try to locate it. One really
> negative element of these cars was the interlock system that was OEM
> equipment, there was a system that required some one to be seated in
> the driver seat and have the seat belt buckled or the engine would
> not run. I also understand that this system was designed that if
> someone was in the passenger seat, their seat belt also had to be
> buckled. This was all hooked up to a series of relays on the fuse
> block. I think most were quickly disabled and bypassed, I have seen
> several '74's but none with any of this junk intact and functional.
> I cleared a lot of old wiring out of my car including wires in the
> now-deteriorated seats. I do not think VW used this system in any
> other year of car, although I am not certain on this.
>
> The sunbugs were just a gimmick, a little different paint and seat
> covering, but under the skin, just another 1974 VW. Hope this
> sketchy information may be of some use. Fred W.
>
Just out of interest, the Jeans Beetle came out in 1973. It was a
model aimed at French teenagers, based on the old 6 volt, 34
horsepower Beetles that soldiered on in Europe for years - it didn't
even have chrome. It did however have denim seat covers with
coloured stitching and pockets in the back rests, along with :
"Tunisian Yellow paintwork, 4.5Jx15 Lemmertz GT sports wheels, side
and engine cover stripes ... and a heated rear window."

To see where I got all my info and the quote from, go to
www.sebeetles.com . I'd love to see some of these weird orphan Bugs
sometime, they have as much character as any older Type 1!

Sam F