By the end of the 1950s, the Beetle was a well-established car. It was hailed at the time as one of the greatest cars of all time by everyone. Everyone that is, except for the ‘family man’. While the Beetle worked well for younger people with no kids, or very small kids, people with families also wanted a slice of the affordable German engineering pie.
Volkswagen was more than happy to fill this gap in the market. As such, they asked a team of engineers and designers to come up with a 2-door saloon car, which was something completely different from the hatchback Beetle and the Type 2 and the Karmann Ghia, the only other cars in Volkswagen’s line-up at the time. The type 3 was based on the Beetle’s chassis, and it also borrowed the Beetle’s air-cooled typrear-based engine, but the engine was made larger and more powerful to accommodate the larger size of the Type 3.
When it was launched, the Type 3 didn’t sell as well as the Beetle. However, what it did do was provide families with a car that had more room for passengers and luggage compared not only to the Beetle, but also other similar-sized saloon cars on the market. The car sold particularly well in the US, where the only other choices at the time for smaller saloon cars were lacking in practicality. The car seemed to be popular amongst the target market, while also forcing many of VW’s rival brands back to the drawing board. Slowly but surely, the Type 3 began to sell well.
Buoyed by the rise in sales, VW created many different body types over the car’s lifetime. This included an estate version, a van version and a 4-door saloon and estate sold exclusively in Brazil. In 1968, the Type 3 ‘E’ became the first German automobile in series production with electronic fuel injection as standard equipment. Volkswagen sold the car for 12 years, ending production in 1973. Over 2.5 million cars were built, averaging sales of around 212,000 cars a year.
The relative success of the Type 3 led to a full-scale redesign of Volkswagen’s saloon car, at a time of immense change in the company. The resulting product was called the Passat, which at this time is one of the bestselling cars, with over 30 million units produced over 48 years. The Type 3 was further proof of the fact that Volkswagen could quickly adapt to the demands of the market and create a top-notch car while doing so.
Comments