1500 N Variant, 1964
Volkswagen 1500 N, type 365 70, Seeblau L360
Extras: M119 gasoline heater
VIN: 0 464 648
Engine: 0 604628
The Story: (as told by Jörg Fischer)
In 2001 I received a letter from a man that his father stills
owns his first car, a 1500 N Squareback from 1964. The car was sitting since
1982, and somewhat useless to the family. The first owner always wanted to
restore it, but never did.
When I visited the family I found a very original 1500 N Squareback with all the unique details of the 1964 model year (the front bonnet rod, the missing clock and missing passenger sunblind) in quite poor condition. Every outside part was rusty or dented, brakes and muffler were long gone, and it was not sure if the engine was running. It was partially dismantled with parts all over the place. The interior was dirty but in fair condition. The Squareback has never been used as a utility vehicle, so this was an advantage. The only extras the first owner ordered were an Eberspächer gasoline heater and a special anti noise undercoating (I would have preferred a sunroof instead…) Since the first owner was a physics teacher, he retrofitted a headlight flasher and a 6 Volt wiper interval (which and is quite useful and I never saw before).
Since the color was seablue L360, my favorite type 3 color, I could not resist buying it. That time I owned three seablue 1500 S notchbacks, so the square would fit pretty well in between. I had to promise to the family to restore the car and come back for a visit when this was done.
With the car I received all papers, starting with the new car order, the original sales bill from June 1964 and every receipt for the work that has been done from 1964 until 1982, when the car has been shut down by the owner.
I collect type 3 parts for quite a while, and I remembered buying two NOS 1500 N doors and NOS rear fenders many years ago for little money. The squareback owner already bought two new front fenders back in 1982, so the parts are no major issue.
I decided to restore the 1500 N in 2 steps: Step 1 is to get it running again, and Step 2 is to put on all the new sheet metal and give it a new paintjob. To do it right I knew that was necessary to separate the body from the chassis.
Since there were many other things to do I put the square away until autumn 2005. That time we had two little kids (born 2003 and 2005), and I figured out how to put two children seats in a notchback. The day I explained her how that works and that this way we could attend the annual German type 3-meeting she answered: “we have two kids, and we will travel with a squareback, or I will stay at home with the kids.”
That day I knew it was time to start Step 1 of the restoration. From now on I spent my evenings in my garage to work on the square. After ups and downs it was a “spot landing”. The last welding and the installation of a trailer hitch (since as always we wanted to carry our 850kg trailer with us) was done the day before we left to the type 3 meeting. With 2 grown-ups, 2 kids, the trailer and a lot of spare parts the trip to Wolfsburg (450km one way) was quite an adventure, since the square has not been running distances for almost 25 years. And I had only driven it for minor test drives around my hometown.
We made it to Wolfsburg and back home with only three stops to do some minor repairs (exchange of generator coals, an overheated fuel pump membrane and a gasoline problem). But we realized that the 45 PS of the 1500 N engine is not too good for trailer towing, since uphill we had to travel in 2nd gear at 40 km/h, which was dangerous especially at night since many people do not think about someone going so slow on the Autobahn.
In 2006 – as promised – I visited the first owner again. We had a nice evening, his wife served cake and coffee, and of course we went for a long trip around the Taunus mountains with the square. The first owner was really happy to be able to drive in the car again that he bought new in 1964. A year later he died, but the family still talks about that exciting day for the old man when I returned with his beloved square.
Since the Squareback is running and other projects were (and are) still waiting to be finished I will wait another one or two years to start restoration Step 2 (and of course will install the correct 1500 N parts which are still stored). Having it done in 2014 when the square turns 50 would be a nice goal…
Jörg Fischer
