El Dub's Nostalgia corner.
Meetings, cars...
Treasures from the past.
Memories, people, meets.
H/Gas, I/Gas...
EMPI, Auto-Haus, R/S...
Back to Main Page...
|
| 1- EMPI GTV - '66 & '67 page 1 | 1- EMPI GTV - '66 & '67 page 2 | 3- EMPI GTV - '68 & later (soon) | |
 EMPI GTV... The first years... 1966 & & 1967...Simply called GTV standing for GRAN TOURING VOLKSWAGENS, those bugs were called Mini Porsche, Small Wonder, Muscle beetle or whatever the name, they were considered as very special cars... "HAPPINESS IS AN EMPI GTV" as they said back in the days... And they were right, believe me... Most important, these improved bugs were delivered with a full Volkswagen warranty... The four declinaison of the '67 GTV were of course detailed in period EMPI literature with always great cutout by Heinz JUNG.
The '67 MKIV was of course the best equipped of the range and only costed (believe it or not...) 1.240$... Yes, 1.240$ with all four BRM's rims... Here's the complete listing for your convenience : - BRM Hag wheels, - Chrome fender shields front & rear, - Chrome outside bumper bars, - Deluxe chrome bumper guards with rubber, - Inside bumper stiffeners, - Chrome tail garnish strips, Chrome tail lights, - Chrome door & hood handle shields, - Aerial mirror set, - Deluxe steering wheel, - Cigarette lighter, - Brake warning light, - Chrome glove box pull, - Add a dash simulated walnut, - Walnut wood knob set, - Twin air vents, - Day night mirror, - Front parcel tray, - Chrome inside door pulls, - Safety padded dash, - Chrome map light, - Custom cocoa floor mat, - Seat recliners, - EZR shifter, 
- Rear parcel shelf, - Door sill guards, - Chrome door edge & post guards, - Custom window crank, - Chrome door corner guards, - Oil temperature & oil pressure gauge, - Ammeter & Tachometer - Camber compensator rear stabilizer bar, - Track thru anti sway bar, - Front & rear heavy duty shock absorbers, - Chrome fan belt guard, - RAM induction carburation kit, - Extractor exhaust system, - EMPI GTV emblems. Wow what a list... 
This black GTV simply looks gorgeous... Ok, the lovely EMPI lady as well... Sure black is a cool color with those Sprintstars wheels... 
'67 GTVs are a very very rare sight today... This bright orange example was spotted at Bug-in 32... The car looked quite complete... The roofrack and the racing mirror was not part of the EMPI pack... |
|
E-mail : eldub@cal-look.com
TO THE PIONNEERS OF VW DRAG RACING
---
SMALL WONDER. By Eric Dahlquist.
Hot Rod July 1967.
The car just whisks along at or above freeway speed without difficulty and doesn't bog much in high, even or rather long steep hills. Although the Wolfsburg gang has incorporated about a jillion improvements into the car, increased displacement is probably the greatest factor in the 1500's popularity and the reason why they can't build enough to go around. Admittedly, when you stuff in three or four well-heeled adults, the air-cooled powerplant starts to exhibit labor pains, but not like bygone days when even the merest swell in the road loomed like Everest. No, it's an all-new game from the old world-beater engine, but without shortening its life cycle because cubic inches don't wear out much. Especially on these little jobs. Along with the power increase, and to reform one longstanding VW trait that bugged people (excessive oversteer), the 1500's suspension has been recalibrated to induce a measure of understeer by de-rating the rear springs and adding a transverse torsion-cum-anti-sway-bar to help carry the load.
Engine bay shot... A rare sight... Note the Valvoline sticker...
The anti-sway bar connects to the half axles by means of a vertical link with a rubber biscuit molded at the center. This deal helps to absorb bump energy, or when the car is fully loaded, provides a transition phase from initial to final stiffness. Just what the technicalities of these changes are will probably be lost to the average beetler, except now he knows that he can drive the thing into a sharp corner without that crazy "lurch," when the rear wheels used to get jacked up. Oh yes, understeer is still there but it's very gradual, and the only clue that understeer has been built in, is a very slight stiffness in the steering.
Updated dashboard...A pleasure for the eyes...
It takes a couple of days to get mentally and physically programmed into a Volkswagen, but when you do, you start noticing all those things that make the car what it is. Like headroom; there is something you don't hear much about anymore because of ever-lowering roof profiles, yet in the VW even tall drivers have six to eight inches atmosphere above. And the seats are softer in the center than on the outsides so you have quite a bit of lateral support, along with backs that are adjustable for rake. In traffic the car is an absolute dream to maneuver. The shift is almost impossible to louse up and parking spots, that heretofore were seemingly intentional frustrations for ordinary land barges, are all fair game. No matter where you go, there's always a slot up by the front door.
We all knows of EMPI catalogs, right... All of us are collecting them hard... But how many of us are aware of that HONEST CHARLEY Bug Book full of EMPI goodies... I'm lucky enough to own one in my personal collection. It's packed with '67 GTVs just like in the original EMPI catalogs... How rare?
Out of town, the VW assumes another of its many guises, the long-legged Tom Ryan-type miler. Since maximum and cruising speeds just happen to be identical (high gear is overdriven slightly), you can run flat-out all day without stabbing the engine or your pocketbook. In the ordinary foreign box, extended turnpike touring usually reduces the occupant to the level of mixed paint in one of those automatic shakers, but in the beetle this condition has been mostly bypassed by a combination of the excellent torsion-bar suspension and large tires. How street it is can be at least superficially gauged by the number of bugs you see ambling across the country. The only problem with driving one of these darned cars is that once you get used to it, you don't want to give it back, it's just so neat. At least until that little temptress the GTV IV (Grand Touring Volkswagen, already) slides into view. Here mixed into one package of steel seduction is the beetle owner's dream in the flesh - Super-Bug. Driven in the door of the EMPI telephone booth, a mild-mannered transporter becomes a glistening, pin-striped, wide-ovaled, mag-wheeled, wood-dashed, stereo-radio taped-decked, power-mad Mr. Terrific, who can foil mean old Porsches in a single bound, or something like that.
On paper this looked good; on the road it was fantastic. Both test cars were 67's, but that's about where the comparison stopped. The GTV IV was equipped with a front anti-sway bar and rear compensator which, combined with the new factory suspension, competition shocks and Goodyear Grand Prix tires, makes the thing handle like it was on the Lake Placid bobsled run. Then too, with the new pieces, the front end alignment can be changed so steering becomes unbelievably better than the lightest you've ever tried. And how about the "Slick-Shift" conversion unit for the linkage that works as the name implies - instant gears. The big bag, though, is that surprise for Santa under the deck lid... (...).
Download the complete story in Word format thanks to Magali's work.
Hot Rod July 1967.
The car just whisks along at or above freeway speed without difficulty and doesn't bog much in high, even or rather long steep hills. Although the Wolfsburg gang has incorporated about a jillion improvements into the car, increased displacement is probably the greatest factor in the 1500's popularity and the reason why they can't build enough to go around. Admittedly, when you stuff in three or four well-heeled adults, the air-cooled powerplant starts to exhibit labor pains, but not like bygone days when even the merest swell in the road loomed like Everest. No, it's an all-new game from the old world-beater engine, but without shortening its life cycle because cubic inches don't wear out much. Especially on these little jobs. Along with the power increase, and to reform one longstanding VW trait that bugged people (excessive oversteer), the 1500's suspension has been recalibrated to induce a measure of understeer by de-rating the rear springs and adding a transverse torsion-cum-anti-sway-bar to help carry the load.
Engine bay shot... A rare sight... Note the Valvoline sticker...
The anti-sway bar connects to the half axles by means of a vertical link with a rubber biscuit molded at the center. This deal helps to absorb bump energy, or when the car is fully loaded, provides a transition phase from initial to final stiffness. Just what the technicalities of these changes are will probably be lost to the average beetler, except now he knows that he can drive the thing into a sharp corner without that crazy "lurch," when the rear wheels used to get jacked up. Oh yes, understeer is still there but it's very gradual, and the only clue that understeer has been built in, is a very slight stiffness in the steering.
Updated dashboard...A pleasure for the eyes...
It takes a couple of days to get mentally and physically programmed into a Volkswagen, but when you do, you start noticing all those things that make the car what it is. Like headroom; there is something you don't hear much about anymore because of ever-lowering roof profiles, yet in the VW even tall drivers have six to eight inches atmosphere above. And the seats are softer in the center than on the outsides so you have quite a bit of lateral support, along with backs that are adjustable for rake. In traffic the car is an absolute dream to maneuver. The shift is almost impossible to louse up and parking spots, that heretofore were seemingly intentional frustrations for ordinary land barges, are all fair game. No matter where you go, there's always a slot up by the front door.
We all knows of EMPI catalogs, right... All of us are collecting them hard... But how many of us are aware of that HONEST CHARLEY Bug Book full of EMPI goodies... I'm lucky enough to own one in my personal collection. It's packed with '67 GTVs just like in the original EMPI catalogs... How rare?
Out of town, the VW assumes another of its many guises, the long-legged Tom Ryan-type miler. Since maximum and cruising speeds just happen to be identical (high gear is overdriven slightly), you can run flat-out all day without stabbing the engine or your pocketbook. In the ordinary foreign box, extended turnpike touring usually reduces the occupant to the level of mixed paint in one of those automatic shakers, but in the beetle this condition has been mostly bypassed by a combination of the excellent torsion-bar suspension and large tires. How street it is can be at least superficially gauged by the number of bugs you see ambling across the country. The only problem with driving one of these darned cars is that once you get used to it, you don't want to give it back, it's just so neat. At least until that little temptress the GTV IV (Grand Touring Volkswagen, already) slides into view. Here mixed into one package of steel seduction is the beetle owner's dream in the flesh - Super-Bug. Driven in the door of the EMPI telephone booth, a mild-mannered transporter becomes a glistening, pin-striped, wide-ovaled, mag-wheeled, wood-dashed, stereo-radio taped-decked, power-mad Mr. Terrific, who can foil mean old Porsches in a single bound, or something like that.
On paper this looked good; on the road it was fantastic. Both test cars were 67's, but that's about where the comparison stopped. The GTV IV was equipped with a front anti-sway bar and rear compensator which, combined with the new factory suspension, competition shocks and Goodyear Grand Prix tires, makes the thing handle like it was on the Lake Placid bobsled run. Then too, with the new pieces, the front end alignment can be changed so steering becomes unbelievably better than the lightest you've ever tried. And how about the "Slick-Shift" conversion unit for the linkage that works as the name implies - instant gears. The big bag, though, is that surprise for Santa under the deck lid... (...).
Download the complete story in Word format thanks to Magali's work.