Hey guys (:

I'm new to this forum, and i shall confess i am not a huge fan of 914's as of yet..
but before you click Back or slate me, i'm just wondering if any of you can help me with a query i have.

I own a VW Beetle and as i understand relations between the VW and Porsche communities arent too bad! So here goes..

I recently purchased my 1975 Bug, and with it only having 63k miles on the clock, and with only two previous owners i thought this was a pretty good find. the second owners told me that it was all stock and it had never been modified or restored. They had owned it for 5 years, and were under the impression that the first owner (having owned it for the other many years of its life from new) had not restored/resprayed or modified it either.
Upon my purchase of it, my uncle - a professional car painter dude who specialises with vdubs said that all panels look original and the paint does too..

So i did some research into my car, am now thinking she's a real gem of a find for only 2k.. and find out that she is a "sunbug". im hoping some of you who read this will know a fair amount about beetle's too.. basically she has a sunroof and came with the GT wheels as stock.. but my impression was that all sunbugs were a golden/brownish colour? My issue now is that the car is actually painted in L20C Nepal Orange.

I've not heard of any other sunbugs being produced by VW in this colour, and then i found out that Porsche 914's were made stock in this colour (i think..).
So basically i am wondering if VW actually made "sunbugs" with this colour too from the factory, or whether it was exclusive to the P914..

I'm essentially trying to find out whether i have a sunbug that was reprayed very early on in its life (very well!), or whether my bug is actually not a sunbug, but does have its original Nepal Orange paint. I hope i explained my situation well enough!

I any of you guys here can shed some light I would be very grateful. If i'm allowed to (?) and if i figure out how I could get a pic up on here too..

Cheers..

CWA

Sunbug ad

sunbug tag. Should also hace side stripes with the sun bug logo and I think the interior was a special color combo

Went through my fav's and found the site I snagged these pics from. Paint code IS 98C Hellas metallic beige

http://www.sebeetles.com/sun.htm


Main page kinda cool site ALL special edition VW's listed

http://www.sebeetles.com/contents.htm

what makes you think it's a sunbug? sunroofs were used through the years and GT wheels are not exclusive to the sunbugs either.

i had a turquoise metallic '72 1302-S sport-o-matic with a factory sunroof ...
Andy

Mainly going on what my uncle said to be honest. Although looking at the links Scott has jus posted, i now feel mislead! My bug had no vinyl stripes or other graphics and although these may have been taken off I have no custom gearknob, no custom dash or interior..

The guys down the club had a good look over it too, and are puzzled as to why she has no louvres at the top of the boot lid by the windscreen. My Dad also had an old '75 and it had these louvres and a VW badge there too, but there seems to be no sign of them on mine.. so i guess i just got confused by that.

Thanks for the responses anyway, I guess this means that she is not a sunbug, so I'm assuming that the Nepal Orange paint is original? Does anyone know about VW painting bugs this colour from the factory? Or was it just exclusive to the P914.. ?

Thanks Again

CWA (love these emoticons )

75-76 VW's and the 914's were painted this color orange probably to save money!

Why are you SURE it's nepal orange? Is that what the color sticker says?

Here's a site in the UK that says that Nepal Orange was, in fact, used on bugs in that era.
This image shows Nepal Orange as a 75 color, but doesn't explicitly say what model it's for (bug, bus, ghia).
This is (German) lists Nepal Orange as a 75 1303 color.

It seems as though your car could be original L20C Nepal Orange. The final bit of evidence I would like to see is the color chip pages as AutoColorLibrary.com (which was down right now).

CWA,

Welcome to the World of 914 whackos! Don't have one yet, right? Oh, you will. Why would you come here for verification rather than a VW site. Yeah, we know your type - lusting & busting for a 914. We all know that you'll have one.....don't we?

Regardless, we have many common interests & we welcome you to our sick world!

Thanks again for the responses guys..

McMark thanks for the links. The original VW Paint info plate thing had been removed from behind the spare wheel when i bought the car, possible due to damage or neglect or what not.. but the code was written on some masking tape and stuck on the glove box lid which is why i wasnt sure as to whether the paint was original etc..
I have made an attempt to upload a photo of her.. i hope it worked lol

I went to the VolksWorld VW show yesterday and had a look around the car park and actually saw a fair few beetles painted in the same colour (a couple of 1303's too) so i guess it wasnt as rare as i thought..
there were a few late '60s bugs painted in it which confused me slightly but no matter.

And thanks for the warm welcome Pat. To cover my tracks, in actual fact the reason i posted on this forum was because this was all that popped up whenever I typed "Nepal Orange" into google! But i am very chuffed with the amount of help and guidance i have had from you guys so thanks again!
And i have no doubt that at some point in my life I shall be tempted towards the way of the Porsche..

CWA

Oh, you should be tempted right now! Prices are rising, even on the lowliest of four banger 914's. You like the Beetle because of its simplicity & ease of maintenance - right? OK, you like its styling too. This is a great time to consider a 914-4, or a a 912 (sorry guys). They will never be less expensive than they are right now. Yet, like Beetles, they are simple & easy to maintain. And, by the way, they handle better than 911's. You don't have to spend a fortune on a daily driver (yet). Think about it.
Pat

ps: regardless, you're always welcome here.