GTi Beater - '72 Marathon Beetle

Late model Bugs seem to get the raw end of the deal. Everyone likes or wants an early model. But when you see this gorgeous car you may just change your mind...

“I always liked the later cars,” says Tom Varkala, owner and builder of this '72 Marathon. “Everyone is so obsessed with the pre-’67 stuff, but I really like late models when they’re done nicely.” And before any of you think Tom’s only saying that because he has one, he’s been through the usual process of owning several VWs - a '75 1303, a '73, a couple of Buses and a '56 rag top Oval. 

So what made you go all out on this one, we asked? “It belonged to a close friend of my mum,” he explains, “as kids we all grew up and played together, then when her kids turned 16, they used the car to drive around the fields, so I’ve always known the car.” When it was put up for sale Tom didn’t have the money to buy it, but had just started working for Dave Ward at VW Heritage so told him about it and he bought it straight away.

One of Tom’s jobs in his new role in the VW Heritage warehouse was to move the car in and out during the day, so he retained his close affinity with the car until such time as he could approach the boss about buying it. “Dave’s such a nice guy, he had to sell it to me really, and he let me have it for the same price he paid for it!” says Tom with a grin.

From there, the car was moved into Tom’s workshop (read: a dilapidated ex-granary on a farm that belongs to a friend of the family). What I wanted was a car that was going to be quick and good fun to drive and would go round corners. The fact that it was a Marathon Beetle as well, with that brilliant factory colour, I just felt it had to be put back to how it was, but with my own little touches.”

Whilst not exactly rare, the Marathon Beetle is still a special edition, and Tom was intent on retaining the colour and the car’s distinctive ‘sports’ wheels – officially the heaviest wheel ever produced by any car manufacturer, but so much part of the car’s identity. 

Look inside and you’ll see there’s a subtle, colour-coded, six-point rollcage with driver’s door bar setting the tone. Nestled between this are a pair of Scat Pro Car seats, which came in the rag top Oval we mentioned earlier. We’re so used to seeing stock seats in VWs these days that these come as a nice surprise, and they hold Tom safely and securely in place when giving it some into a corner. 

With something more than the stock 1300 definitely called for out back, Tom ditched the stock drum brakes, replaced with Tarox six-pot ali calipers and cross drilled discs up front, backed up with Golf discs and GM calipers on the rear, all worked by a Mk1 Golf GTi master cylinder. These are bolted up to a fully seam welded and narrowed adjustable balljoint beam - only narrowed enough to just place the wheels where Tom wanted them in the arches, not to make it look like a wheelbarrow. CB drop spindles and adjustable rear spring plates make fine tuning ride height all round a doddle, while a combination of KYB GR2s and Gaz coilovers help soak up the inevitable bumps, and a modified CB Performance bolt-on ‘truss bar’ eliminates any flex in the rear frame horns.

Rather than remove them for ground clearance or simplicity, Tom took note of VW’s lead and decided there was a good reason they fitted anti-roll bars to Beetles, but decided he could go one step better, so picked a pair of thicker 19mm anti-roll bars – the rear an IRS version, even though his car is still swing axle. “I looked at both of them, and realised the swing axle one was going to foul on the gearbox mid-mount I had fitted, so figured I could make an IRS one fit better, and in such a way that it wouldn’t compromise the ride height. In my opinion, it’s a much better solution, and has really helped make the car handle and control body roll.”

The one thing Tom has yet to fabricate and fit is an engine brace at the rear.

The vast majority of the work Tom has thought carefully about and then done himself, with few exceptions. He even considered spraying it himself in the barn at one point, having done just that with one of his previous cars, but decided he would never be happy with the end result so entrusted that job to Roger Masters at RW Masters in Littlehampton, having done all the pre work himself, with the help of his trusty sidekick, Stu Giles.

Although much of the gorgeous L96M Metallic Silver / Blue paint was burnt off the car when he got it, and the front valance had been punched in on a tree stump (pesky kids!), the car had only done 78,000 miles from new and the body was in remarkably good condition. Tom welded on a new valance himself, replaced the rear bumper hangers and stripped the thick layer of underseal off the inner wings - which had really done its job, as there was still fresh factory paint underneath, so the only other repairs were just small localised ones. The only modifications that have been done are to fit some carb access panels in the inner wings and make the rear valance removable – a part of the car Tom gave a lot of thought to and is very pleased with how it has turned out.

When it came to an engine, again Tom was prepared to give it a go, collecting the parts he wanted through his buddies Ben and James at VW Heritage and assembling it himself? “It started out as a 1776, “ he laughs, “but then I realised that it wasn’t going to cost much more in machining costs to build a much bigger engine, so went for an 82mm crank instead of a 78mm one. Then 94mm pistons instead of 90.5s...” Tom reckons the package he has put together has the makings of about 160bhp at the flywheel, though is looking forward to getting the car properly tuned to find out for definite – and that’s coming soon as his dad has just bought him a day on the rollers as a birthday pressie.