411L info

[jbaker]

Hello,
I have a 1971 LHD 411L 2 door coupe. Anybody have any idea how rare this car is in the UK.
I would appreciate any info.

[broady_6]

www.howmanyleft.com

[Editor]

Type 4 fairly rare, LHD very rare in the UK but more common elsewhere, 2-door sedan Type 4 rarer than 4-door sedan.

Howmanyleft isn't going to say anything about LHD and RHD, and is far from accurate anyway, but probably a bit more closer to the truth for something named 411. There are still barn finds to be had. I'd guess maybe 2 or 3 in the country.

Looking at the stats it doesn't look as if there are more than half a dozen 411 sedans at all, so it's probably unique in the UK.

[jbaker]

http://www.howmanyleft.com

Thanks for the website info. Had a look last night, no coupe's only variant's. Seems very rare.

[jbaker]

Type 4 fairly rare, LHD very rare in the UK but more common elsewhere, 2-door sedan Type 4 rarer than 4-door sedan.

Howmanyleft isn't going to say anything about LHD and RHD, and is far from accurate anyway, but probably a bit more closer to the truth for something named 411. There are still barn finds to be had. I'd guess maybe 2 or 3 in the country.

Looking at the stats it doesn't look as if there are more than half a dozen 411 sedans at all, so it's probably unique in the UK.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Unique sounds impressive. Don't think it should go to the scrap yard just yet.
Interesting choice of words "something named 411"?

[purplepeter]

In the recent Club poll,we had 1 roadworthy 411 sedan & 2 Project cars,though unfortunately no way of telling if Your car was the Roadworthy one!
As with the "How many" website,you have to take these figures with a pinch of salt,there are still,amazingly, owners of types 3 & 4 Who arent aware of the club

[Editor]

I assume with the website, they don't include vehicles described more specifically - eg 411 category wouldn't also include 411L and 411 LE and 411LE Variant etc.

I think it was Mike Typ3 who says his is described as 2-axle rigid body, though I would have said it is (they are) more distinctive than that!

To follow up Peter's point, I am amazed that there are over 100 licensed 1600A Variants, manual and auto - not including SORN-ed ones, unless I've got the wrong end of the stick. We've probably only got a third of those known to us.

[jbaker]

In the recent Club poll,we had 1 roadworthy 411 sedan & 2 Project cars,though unfortunately no way of telling if Your car was the Roadworthy one!
As with the "How many" website,you have to take these figures with a pinch of salt,there are still,amazingly, owners of types 3 & 4 Who arent aware of the club

Thanks for the response.You can see from my date of joining I was one of those people mentioned in the last sentence.

[jbaker]

I assume with the website, they don't include vehicles described more specifically - eg 411 category wouldn't also include 411L and 411 LE and 411LE Variant etc.

I think it was Mike Typ3 who says his is described as 2-axle rigid body, though I would have said it is (they are) more distinctive than that!

To follow up Peter's point, I am amazed that there are over 100 licensed 1600A Variants, manual and auto - not including SORN-ed ones, unless I've got the wrong end of the stick. We've probably only got a third of those known to us.

Little bit of history.
I bought the car in 1974/75 in germany. It was my everyday car. Registered with BFG as I was in the forces then. Imported into the UK 1976 (reg ofl996r). Unfortunatly I blew the engine up in 1978 (poor air cooling was I believe a known problem) and put a reconditioned short engine into it in 1979. I left the forces in 1979 and got a job with a company car. LHD nobody wanted it. Parked it up and it has not turned a wheel in anger since 1979. 34 years, most of that time it's been stored under cover but has deteriated with time. Removed from use long before the sorn requirements, always told the family it was my retirement gift to myself "get it working again".
From the chassis info on this site it was made in early 1970 and has the fuel injection system of the earlier models. This system was a nightmare in 1975 as it was made before the addition of the diagnostic socket.
This would definitely be classed as a project, but at least it's now in the club's records.

[937carrera]

Great news, another barn find, except yours was in your own barn.

I've had my current 412LS for a month or so, it's now taxed & tested and taking to the UK roads for the first time in 22 years tomorrow. In my case it was known to the club, but not known to DVLA as like yours was not in use when SORN came in.

Do you have any pictures for us ?

[Editor]

There was a guy near me with a LHD 411 sedan, but I can't recall if it was 2-door. He was trying to sell it, probably about 10 years ago. I think he bought it from a Belgian lorry driver. It was in very tidy condition, so there's a chance it's still in existence, but he may have sold it back into mainland Europe, as he was talking about that.

My first car, a '59 Beetle is pre-SORN. Now that doesn't require an MoT, I'm not sure what the system in getting it back into circulation, but it's academic at the moment as it needs quite a bit of time to get it good enough to want it to be seen in public!

[shawn71]

I have a 411LE 2 door sedan made in 69/70 that is currently being restored and should be roadworthy by the end of the year, I've set Brighton Breeze as a target date to work towards but..........

[Wireless]

I think you still need to put it through its first MoT to put the Beetle back on the road, but after then you don't need to bother again. I know this because someone has promised me a 1958 LandRover Series 1 109 Diesel Truck Cab, and that is what was explained to me.

[Editor]

Thanks Wayne - that sounds fair.