So I was gassing up at a local station and an orange Squareback pulls up at the next pump. It looked to be in unmolested original condition, including the paint. Started talking to the owner and after chatting about the car for a bit I asked if she ever considered selling it. She said yes, she is thinking about it but hadn't put it on the market yet. She said she'd like to get $4K.

She has some original documentation, including orig. owners manual. Also has the factory roof rack, radio and other bits tucked away. Appears to be rust free, I know; I did see the front floors and they are very solid. Anyway, I don't need to find another car, but sometimes they find you. What is the market for a '71 in very solid, restorable shape?

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seems like anything rust free is a heck of a lot better than anything with rust...
Check it over really good
I would say 4 is reasonable, if not a little high
but then if it is truly rust free you are laughing
throw some polished 2.0 fuchs and away you go

how much rust repair does 4k get you?

buy it!!!!

The 67 model year would be the best. Better body style. Dual port engine with dual carbs. 12 volt. I would prefer the fastback or notchback body. The squareback never got any respect. That particular year looks to much like a 411 to me. That one is FI and those parts may be hard to come by.

my neighbor had a fully restored one he recently sold for $3600 but i dont remember the year. 1 year old paint and new full interior. Woulda bought it if I didnt have too many cars already. In this economy I think the market is soft on all recreation cars. A few years ago maybe, but now I would think that may be priced at double the going rate in my area anyway.

Jim

Seems kinda high for a late one.

golly the FI is d-jet, some parts interchangable with the 1.7 914 runs better than carbs ones if sorted out. orange is a cway cool ness color. but the paint does look a bit worn is thta bare spot on teh hood?
how many miles?

if it needs paint, Id subtract that cost from the $4000. maybe a $1000 repaint if it is truely orignal piant so as not much to take down, and no hiden damage to repair when painting. if that bare spot is just a reflection int eh photos then never mind

these are not super colledctable yet, but prime example of orignal cars are th best bet to be colectable. many left today have been molested.

actually i like the square back the best of the type III,, can haul a lot in them, camp in them, grew up with close freinds that owned several back int eh day when they was new found memory of them

I'd pay about 3500 at the most if it is what you / she says it is. If you look on The Samba you'll see the Square's and Notch's are going for more than the Fastbacks. Even Late models are going for good money these days. Parts are not as hard to find as you may think. Certain FI D-jet parts can be swapped from 914 to Type III and back. Hell, I say go for it.

This one looks pretty nice for the same price.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/1872638617.html

I had a 70 that i put the early fenders and lights on. It was a good little car actually. Think I paid 500 bucks for it at the time.

Thanks for the input guys. Given comparable cars on the Samba, I probably wouldn't go more than $3K. Primarily because of how soft the overall market is. The paint is mostly original, but typically thin in spots. Don't know if it still has FI, but it is being used as a DD. From what I saw, it would be an easy project requiring a paint job. I probably won't go after it but I'll make that decision after I get back from vacation. If anyone else is interested in it, let me know.

add whatever a paint job will cost. might as well replace lots of seals. djet. put some nice 914 wheels on it. a $7k+ volkswagon project. if you really want a T3, spend 6k+ on one that someone has dumped way more into. same as the formula for 914s.

I would find it difficult to pay that much for a late square. I prefer the '69 and earlier cars. A type-4 plugs right in and wakes them up!!

If she looks like that? ....she's about right

I'd say $3,000 would be plenty fair given the original documentation and apparant condition of the car... but boy that white/cream colored squareback on Craigslist is very appealing at $4K!

Don't let the wiggle stop the haggle!

$3500 sounds like a correct price for a nice SB.

I looked at 4-5 before I found mine.

I think a Type IV in a square would be awesome... but what would you do for exhaust? Heat?

72-74 Bus he's and exhaust work fine...need the 412 bellows and tin to hook it up but thats doable.

Easy!! Bus heater boxes and associated heater tubes fit and work like stock. Here's mine in mock-up with a stock early 70s bus muffler and tip. I ended up switching to a Thunderbird 4 into 1 header with a Summit Racing 2.5" Flowmaster-clone. Fits like a glove and allowed me to weld in a WBO2 sensor bung for the MS2 EFI.

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This is about the simplest T-4 conversion you can ever do in a VW. When I finally get my EFI tuned tuned properly, my '67 Squareback shop car will spank my 914 in a straight line (until about 90mph then it will run out of gears). It's got a low mileage GA 2.0L running MS2 w/ EDIS ignition. Future plans call for an IRS conversion (only takes about 3 hours since it just un-bolts on a T-3), 914 rear brakes and conversion to a 911 trans.

An added bonus is you can carry two 55 gallon drums of oil in the back. BTDT.

The Cap'n

Awesome!

Exactly, fastback and notchback, waste. SB is the way to go when you have something like a 914 as your other car.

WANT!

2275, it pulls harder than my 2.0 914.

....Personal fav....Fasty
reminds me of the time I could have gotten a 64' fasty in primo shape
black...off the model little old lady,,who only drove the car back and forth
to the store to buy cat food for her dog......$400...somebody kick me!!
(don't everybody kick me in the booty at once!LOL)

high school english teacher had a baby blue fastback back in the 70's, several of us at lucnh time got bored and deciced to make a joke and picked up her fastback and carried it up the stairs,a dn put it in teh school lobby, had to remove the side view mirrors to fit it thru the doors, but we bolted them back on for her.

lot of fun.

to make her feel better no hard feelings, a few days latter we gave it a free tune up for her

everyone had VW back then.

My brother had a rag top notch, it was a cool little car. And a vert 64 Ghia, and a rag 56 bug, and rag top bus, and a speedster, and a newer 911.