Itinerant Air-Cooled

Hello all,

I'm going to be looking at a 71 Square back this weekend. He says it runs. All I need to do is bring a battery.

I was looking for a junker I could run to the parts store and back while I work on my bus. I ran across this and figured why the hell not for only 350 and it runs. I already have a 73 auto trans from a bus. Will they swap out in case I need to?

Any suggestions would be helpful as I know nothing about square backs other than I really like them.



http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/1672561539.html

The no title thing skeers me a bit.

sped372 wrote:The no title thing skeers me a bit.

Why? It's probably not stolen, just lost. Not hard to get a new title.

That '73 bus (Type IV) autotrans isn't going to work with a Type III (that is, Type I) engine. Different beasts.

If all you're looking for is a beater, then it seems okay assuming it actually runs and all the gears work. However, after you begin to love it (which you will), you'll be looking at a lot of resto work. Type IIIs are usually rusty and $350 Type IIIs all the more so. Typical areas are at the trailing edges of the front quarter panels, under the headlight buckets, rockers, and rearward on the pan. Unless it's been molested, it's a fuelie which may tax your patience unless it already works properly (not likely).

That said, our '71 Squareback got 24.99 mpg on our last roadtrip, and my 1970 Squareback, an automatic, got over 35 mpg on an extended roadtrip long ago. And I'm not at all confident either car was dialed in perfectly or anything. They are great spirited little cars, fun to drive, and, uh...(better than Beetles in every way.)

When you're done with it, I'll buy some parts off you though.

whc03grady wrote:That '73 bus (Type IV) autotrans isn't going to work with a Type III (that is, Type I) engine. Different beasts.

When you're done with it, I'll buy some parts off you though.

Thanks for the info. Well, I hope the trans is good. Those things are expensive to rebuilt. I don't see the point in a complete restore. If it's worth keeping, I'll do what I'm doing with my bus and make it a daily driver.

My grandmother had one when I was a kid. I loved riding in it.

My thinking is I can't go wrong for 350. It's worth more than that in parts. I just want it to get me to the parts store and back a few hundred times. I don't do a lot of driving as it is.

No go. The car wouldn't start. I asked him, hey I thought you said this thing would run. He said it did run two years ago. He didn't seem to think he mislead anyone. It was also a manual and not at automatic. He had no idea it was fuel injected. Maybe next time. It would have been a sweet beater.