1961 Volkswagen Squareback Type 3 – The Difficult Second Album | Season 4 – Episode 11
Wheels Feb 23, 2024
Seen recently in Dublin this stylish Volkswagen Type 3 was the difficult second album for the Volkswagen company especially as they were aiming to boost their car sales in the USA.
The “difficult second album syndrome” occurs in the music industry when a musician achieves fame and success with their debut album, only to experience a significant decline either in commercial success or critical acclaim upon the release of their second album.
And so it was the case in 1961 when the car designers in Volkswagen were trying to come up with the natural big brother for the globe-conquering Type 1 Beetle (the Type 2 vehicles were the vans and minibus) and were all too aware of the commercial pressures that were facing their successor car as did the American motor industry.
Writing in January 1966 following a road test of the American-spec Type 3 (known as the 1600) Road & Track Magazine stated: “The raison d’etre for the 1600, advertising campaigns and manufacturer’s protestations aside, was to attempt to capture (or recapture) some of those buyers who had owned one or more Beetles but were ready now for something not quite so humble in the way of family transportation.”
Launching in 1961 the Type 3 was available in three distinct body styles. It debuted with a notchback coupe, followed by subsequent models such as a fastback coupe and a “Squareback/Variant” estate (wagon). Each of the three body designs featured only two side doors, and these identical doors were used across all three body styles.
Forced by production economies the Volkswagen engineers used components and engines from the Beetle, such as the 94.5-inch wheelbase, central tube platform frame, torsion bar suspension and air-cooled flat-four engine. Despite these Beetle-derived components, the engineers effectively manipulated their design to provide increased internal space, accessible from the rear, along with a front trunk (“frunk”) beneath the bonnet.
Innovative engineering techniques were employed in adapting the Type 3 engine borrowed from the Beetle to position the unit beneath the rear floor area, significantly increasing the available internal space. To make the USA spec 65 hp, 1600cc engine more compact, (the 1500cc engine was for European market) the engineers relocated the cooling fan of the flat-four engine to sit atop the cylinders like a dinner plate.
While not as successful as the Type 1 Beetle with 21,529,464 built, the Type 3 Squareback as a “difficult second album” acquitted itself well for Volkswagen with more than 2.6 million units produced between 1961 – 1973.
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Information sources and photo credits:
Far Out Magazine
Osborn Tramain
Periscope Film
Road and Track
The book of the Volkswagen Type 3: Concept, Design, International Production Models & Development – Simon Glen
Volkswagen Newsroom
Volkswagen TYP 3 – Heel Verlag GmgH
