1973 Volkswagen 1302 S #36
Pilots: H. Grünsteidl / G. Hopf
Team: Porsche Austria
Race: DNF (Group 2) at the TAP Rally 1973
Ixo - RAC360C (diecast)
Published 05/29/26
Because of all the imbroglio that came in the aftermath of World War II, Porsche had two divisions. When Ferdinand Porsche died in 1951, his children, Ferry Porsche and Louise Piëch, inherited the company. The couple Louise and Anton Piëch received the Austrian division and Ferry the Stuttgart division. Though production was only in Germany, the Salzburg branch was the sole Porsche and Volkswagen importer and distributor in Austria. Shortly after, Anton Piëch died, and Louise became the director of Porsche Austria. Louise was a car enthusiast since young, and to promote the Volkswagen Limousine, in 1965 she created a racing department. This in-house motorsport division had Gertiard Strasser as director and Paul Schwarz responsible for engine development. Together with eight carefully selected employees, they would prepare 1302 Käfer (and 1303 later) for circuit and rally racing. These Beetles became known as the Salzburg Käfer.
Though essentially light and with good handling, the 1302 needed a lot of work to be competitive. Located on Alpenstrasse, in Salzburg, the motorsport department worked on a total of 11 Beetles. To make them FIA-compliant, the chassis received strengthening and lightning. However, the engine received the blunt of the modifications. Paul Schwarz, using oversized pistons, enlarged the engine to 1599 cm³. He also used ported cylinder heads and bigger intake valves, increasing the compression ratio, with carburetors from the Porsche 904. All those modifications ramped the power output to 88-94 kW (120-128 hp). Moreover, Schwarz identified the Beetle’s Achilles’ heel: engine lubrication. At high cornering speeds and during load changes, the standard 2.5-liters lubrication system was not enough. So, he switched to a dry-sump lubrication system with a seven-liter oil reservoir. The cars also received an 80-liter aluminum fuel tank, up front.
With the cars ready, it was time to find drivers. Team director Strasser had only two requisites for his pilots: they had to be Austrian and had to be fast. However, with the evolution of the program he relaxed the nationality requirement 😋. And his team delivered: the Porsche Salzburg team achieved an impressive 15 overall victories. In fact, the Salzburg Käfer won the Austrian National Championship in 1971 and 1972. However, the most successful year for the Salzburg team was 1973, and unfortunately, their last. In January, at the 1973 Austrian Jänner Rally, the rally Beetles came in the first five places. And in May, one of them managed to finish fifth at the Acropolis Rally. Yet, the greatest success of a Salzburg Käfer was overall victory at the Rally dell’Isola d’Elba, in April 1973.
Sponsored by TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses), the 1973 Portugal Rally was the third race in the inaugural WRC. Porsche Salzburg arrived with a fleet of five Salzburg Käfer – two 1303 S and three 1302 S models. Unfortunately, their luck was rotten, with only car #39 finishing the race, in 19th overall. Käfer #36 here (1302 S), suffered an accident in Stage 9, and was out. The Porsche Salzburg team would persist for barely another year. Without more concrete results in the WRC, there wasn’t much reason to keep a rally team. Besides, because of the oil crisis, Volkswagen was betting its future on water-cooled engines. With that, the last Käfer built in Wolfsburg left the factory on July 1st, 1974.
Despite the rich history, the success tally of the Salzburg Käfer was quite thin. They did make somewhat of an impression in the European rally scene, but, in general, their WRC success was really modest. Nonetheless, being the automotive icon that the Beetle is, the little car’s rally history is very interesting for the fans. Fans like me 😁. Ixo offers quite a few of the Salzburg Käfer, and though not great, they’re “honest” models. In fact, I think Ixo used the same molds from the 1302 LS Limousine. Up until some years ago, the Salzburg Beetles were easily found. Right now, unfortunately, they’re getting very scarce. So, if you’re into rally or the Käfer, this one is a pretty neat model to have.
PS: I found a VERY cool short video of the Käfer in action here.