If I remember right, that was a sop to the US bumper requirements for 5 MPH crashes. It was just the fronts.
In '74, maybe, and for sure '75, they put in actual bumper shocks with completely different mounts, fender openings, and bumper bars. The bumper rules applied to everything that year. My '73 Ghia has a monstrous round U-shaped tube behind the bumper and between "normal" looking brackets, that runs through the body and rests on the lower axle beam tube. The rear bumper looks like it never had a reinforcement, but I can't swear that there wasn't something there when it shipped. Trivia: Some older Beetle (pre-'68) trailer hitches had a similar beam behind the bumper blade to support the hitch ball - the tow load was taken by bars that reached forward to the frame horns and were held on there with U-bolts. Chuck Kuecker Robert Knupp wrote: > Volks, > > I've found the front bumpers of 1973 USA-model beetles have a front bumper > bracket that includes an I-beam-like reinforcing bar tying together the two > bolt-on tines. It looks sort of like two old-type brackets with a crossbar > welded between them. > > Questions: > > 1. Did this setup also exist for REAR bumpers, or only the front? > > 2. Did only USA models have this reinforcer bar, or did they sell them in > other markets also? Europe? > > 3. Which models had them? USA SuperBeetles (Model 1302) only, or also the > standard beetles (there weren't many of them seen here in 1973). > > I know they changed over to the fancy shock-absorbed bumpers in 1974, so I > guess this "crossbar bracket" was a one-year-only feature, right? > > Enquiring mids want to know. > > Thanks, > > Bert Knupp in Music City USA > > |__n__ > (_____)º > (Ô\_|_/Ô) > ü ° ° ü > > > _______________________________________________ > vintagvw site list > [email protected] > http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw > > _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
