Did any air-cooled VW's have AC?

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As title. I thought some of the late Super Beetles and buses had air conditioning, but I could be wrong.
 
I've seen a couple dealer installed AC's in bugs. Don't think they were available from the factory. Gotta vent the hood and put fans on the condenser so you basically lose the front trunk.
 
Example of 1974 Super Beetle that came with factory AC... ( AC on engine at 1:56 )
 
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My neighbor had a super beetle with AC. I always thought it was a factory install, but maybe not.

I recall the engine compartment being crammed full of stuff and not being pleased with the look of it. But, I never liked VW's much anyway.
 
In the early '80's we had a '74 VW van (Type 2b) with a very rare combination: it was a Westphalia Camper but had R12 A/C on the roof, so no "pop-up". It would flat freeze you out on high.

Had been converted to a single 2 barrel Weber carb (no more synchronization worries!) and ran very good, decent gas mileage, but certainly was not very QUICK...

Fine on the highway @ 65-70 mph in 4th, had to shift down to 3rd going up really steep grades or hills at lower speeds.

Wish we still had it.

Cheers!

p.s. Noticed that it had very little heat and no defrost the 1st Fall we owned it. Got underneath and saw that both (approximately 4") heat tubes running from the engine shroud in back to the heater box in front were almost totally rusted out. Replacement ductwork from VW of A was $O fricken EXPEN$IVE I was almost ready to sell the van when I noticed they were very close in diameter to 4" PVC pipe. Discussed this with the old German mechanics at Peace It Together (another long Old PDX story) and we ended up replacing almost the entire runs back to front with PVC. Used a couple 45's and 90's but mostly a straight run. Took the normal "3 trips to the hardware store" (by me).

It worked so well they didn't even charge me for labor, saying the very idea would let them offer this repair to all their customers with Type 2b's, and there still used to be a lot of those running around in the Pac NW in those days.

Windshield would defrost in about 2-3 minutes from a cold start. Lots of warm air available from a 2.0L flat 4 once it got going. Used to have to open some of the louvered windows if you had the heat and the fan on: too hot!
 
I had a VW wagon, I think late 60's that had A/C. Don't know if it was factory, doubt it. A/C didn't work when I bought the car and I wasn't that worried about it.

Forgot owned that car, don't remember selling it.
 
Yes, I had a 73 super beetle with working ac, problem was the car only made 57 hp, ac took 5 or 10 of that and the car would barely get out of its own way with ac on.
 
Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
"4"-60, I guess if you count the door vent windows....


+1 Mt 72 Superbeetle had 2/60 ac.....
lol.gif
 
Years ago, I saw a Mexican built Beetle with factory aircon and fuel injection. It was the last series ( I think they called it the Champagne edition) before the whole aircooled Beetle line was discontinued.
 
Originally Posted By: notech47
It's hard to make AC or defrost work with an air cooled rear engine anything...Were Corvairs offered with factory A/C?

Heat and defrost isn't the best that's true but A/C could care less where the compressor is mounted or if the engine is air cooled or not.

As long as the condenser has decent air flow the system will work as efficiently as with a front mounted engine, maybe even better as the condenser is not in front of a hot radiator.
The plumbing will be longer though like a modern SUV with rear A/C.
 
'73 bus, but I never got the a/c running. I was surprised it even had it--- and yes was factory. Original owners had purchased it in south america and driven it up to the states on their honeymoon. I tried to resurrect it on a college freshman's budget... ended up catching fire and literally burning a hole in my street.
frown.gif
 
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