South African 1600s VW: Meet The Super Bug!

As Volkswagen popularity grew, production expanded to different countries. The U.S. and Brazil have been well-known as VW manufacturers, and since the mid-1960s, South Africa has also been in on the VW craze. While they currently produce water-cooled models, they once merged features of the Standard and Super Beetle, creating what was known as the Super Bug.

The Best of Two Words

VW lovers in the U.S. typically refer to Beetles as either Standard or Super, depending on the style they have. However, the Super Beetle had a few other names in the rest of the world. The 1302 referred to a Super with a flat windshield, while 1303 referred to the curved windshield. South Africa took cues from the Standard and the Super for their creation.

Concept

In the 1970s, the Technical Director of VW South Africa, Tucker Lockhead, imported a VW 1303 for analysis. Together with the head of product engineering, Tucker decided to integrate features of the 1303 into the South African models. The result was the 1600S, known affectionately as the Super Bug.

Graphic Representation From Jalopnik Article

A Change Will Do You Good

While VWSA was able to incorporate these production changes at a cost of just 1 million Rands ($1 USD equals 12 Rands, on average), the result was anything but minimal. The Super Bug features a larger, curved windshield, as well as a larger rear window. The larger windshield allowed for a redesigned fascia, giving the dash a sloped design that added space between the occupants and the glass. It was neatly styled and included padding, along with a wood veneer insert.

The Super Bug also featured front fenders used on the Standard Beetle and elephant-style taillights mounted to old-style fenders with an extra cuff. It included the torsion bar suspension and front fenders used on Standard Beetles, bringing the Standard's power to the Super's looks.

Because the cost to update equipment and tooling was minimal, the Super Bug was South Africa's answer to a new design with minimal investment. There is little information about these VWs available, including numbers on how many were produced. Still the fact remains, the Super Bug makes up another super chapter in Volkswagen's long history.