Department 'S' - 1964 Type 3 Notchback


 


The 1500S Saloon, or Type 3 Notchback as it’s better known, is one of the most desirable Type 3s because VW only produced them for a brief period. Today, good ones like this are seriously hard to find


 


When Volkswagen introduced the Type 3 in February 1961, it was aimed at a different target audience than the Beetle, being pitched at those who needed a bigger car with more luggage carrying capacity. The Type 3 range included the Saloon and Karmann Ghia. The following year, the Variant or Squareback estate was added to the range. In August 1965, a fourth body style, the sporty-looking Fastback, was released.


Although the VW 1500 shared many basic components with the Beetle, it was more advanced in areas such as the front suspension. The Beetle had always relied on separate torsion leaves running through the front beam; the Type 3 had a torsion bar in the lower tube and an anti-roll bar in the upper tube that tied in the upper trailing arms. Anyone who has driven a Beetle and Type 3 will tell you which gives the better ride quality!


To give the Type 3 more luggage carrying capacity, the air-cooled flat-four engine was reworked to dispense with the upright fan system used in the Beetle. Instead, the fan was added to the front of the engine, which kept the height of the engine basically level, hence the engine picked up the nicknames Suitcase and Pancake. 


Initially, the VW 1500 came with a 45bhp 1493cc engine with single side-draft Solex carb. 1493cc engines would later become standard in the Type 2 and, later still, in 1967, in the Beetle.


Having the pancake motor meant the Type 3 had a luggage boot above the engine. But having a rear engine meant it also had a ‘boot’ at the front – a great selling point, especially as it also had plenty of room in the cabin. There was no doubt about it, the new Type 3 VW was a very well packaged car that found favour with many owners new to the marque, alongside many already loyal customers who had owned and outgrown Beetles but enjoyed the reliability and low running costs of a Volkswagen and, let’s not forget, the great service and parts back-up provided by the company.


Given the company’s ethos, it’s no surprise that VW was known for frugal, basic cars rather than sports or GT models. However, that was all about to change when in August 1963 Volkswagen launched the new 1500S Saloon! By fitting higher compression pistons and twin Solex carbs, the motor’s output rose to 54bhp and VW had a winner on its hands. 


The Notchback you see here is a stunning example and is owned by Wayne Coley and his long-term partner Caroline Boorman. The car was built in April 1964 and is a Type 312, which means it’s a factory-built Right-Hand Drive car, and that makes it even rarer and more desirable as very few survive today, especially in this sort of condition. The car should really be in a museum! However, it couldn’t be in better hands. 


How they came to own it was down to a very sad incident as previously they owned a 1970 Notchback that was written off after being smashed into.


Wayne put the feelers out to friends he’d met in the VW scene who were also into Type 3s. He soon got a call from fellow Notchback fan Danny Lord telling them of Mike Dempster's 1500S for sale. "We went down to Northampton to view the car and that was that. It was a hundred million miles better than I expected!”


A few weeks later, in February 2008, Wayne was driving it home, but having had his last Notchback destroyed in an accident, he is first to admit he was really scared about driving the car back. But before long Wayne got over his nerves and started to enjoy the car.  


Mike Dempster put his heart and soul into a four-year long restoration of the car in the late 90s and sourced a pile of New Old Stock parts to fit to it. The body and paintwork was handled by Bughaus in Nottingham  and is a testament to the quality of work Robert Pyart and Andy Cooper and the team do, as it’s still perfect 12 years after being completed! 


The main body colour is L575 Nutria brown, a Type 3-specific colour with a L87 Pearl White roof. Nutria is an unusual colour, but at the same time a cool one – Wayne tells us it changes colour depending on the light, and said he can be at a show sitting near the car and he’ll suddenly think, ‘It’s changed colour again!’ 


The underside and running gear was restored to be just as it would have been in 1964, hence it’s on drum brakes front and rear. It still runs on 6-volt electrics with its original engine, which has less than 80,000 miles on the clock.


During Mike’s ownership the car won numerous awards and since Wayne and Caroline have owned it the car has won 2nd in class at Stanford Hall 2008, Best in Show at All Types, Best non-Bus at The Bus Stopover, the class win and Best in Show at Dubstock, Winner in class and Classic Car of the Show at VWNW and highly commended at Run to the Hills. In 2009 it won 2nd at Stanford Hall again, runner-up at All Types, Best Stock Car at Summerfest, Best in Class at VWNW, Best Other and Best in Show at the Shoe County September Sleepover and Best Other at Beetle Drive at the Tramway Museum. And so far this year it has claimed Best in Class at Stanford Hall – not bad for a car that was restored so long ago!


 

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