Squareback Sedan

Introduced at the 1961 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Type 3 was marketed as the Volkswagen 1500 and later the Volkswagen 1600, in three body styles: two-door Notchback, Fastback and station wagon, the latter marketed as the 'Squareback.' Volkswagen of American began importing the Type 3 in 1966 in the Squareback and Fastback but not the Notchback configurations. For the 1968 model year, a three-speed fully automatic transaxle became available (as equipped on this particular car), noted for extremely low internal friction. With the automatic came completely independent rear suspension (IRS), replacing the previous swing axle set-up.

While the Type 3 was a more modern design, it never reached the same level of popularity as the Type 1 Beetle. As Volkswagen started to produce front-wheel drive water-cooled design, production ended in 1973 at the Wolfsburg plant, with production moving to Volkswagen's new Emden plant, which was later retooled in 1973 to build the first generation Passat (Dasher in US). The Wolfsburg plant was retooled to build the Golf/Rabbit, which eventually replaced the Type 1 as Volkswagen's best-selling sedan.

by AACA Museum