Chris Palomba's Type 3 Squareback

Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Jon Gilbert
2 Comments

Chris Palomba's Kandy Apple Squareback

Chris Palomba lives in Wales and his car is painted Kandy Apple Red, so what could be more appropriate for the title than that?

It wasn't that many years ago that Type 3s were the unloved and forgotten members of the VW family. A few people, including our illustrious Editor, Ivan, championed their cause here in the UK in the early days but thanks probably more than anything to their more mainstream looks, the Type 3 was always overlooked in favour of the Beetle or Bus. However, as people started to catch on to the possibilities offered by VW's more unusual models, a small but hardcore following emerged, helped in no little part by Paul Medhurst and the Type 3 Detectives making parts and advice readily available.
Of the four models available, while the Fastback remains the unloved stepchild of the trio, Squarebacks have become the most sought-after model. If you drive a good one, you'll quickly see why: they offer modern estate car carrying capacity, great Sixties looks and a fabulous drive. In terms of an air-cooled VW for those that need a little more luxury than a Beetle, there's really no comparison.
Someone who has fallen under the spell of the Type 3 models is Chris Palomba from Wales. Now you may well remember that name, because in October last year we featured his wife Sam's Type 3 Ghia ? a beauty of a car that was restored by Chris under a large tent nailed to the family driveway!
"I decided on an early Type 3 at Deva [Dubs 'n' Rods] last year after Sam's Razor Edge was parked up next to a lovely brown square," he told us. (That would be my old car. SG). "I sold my Split Bus to fund the project and, after a conversation with Paul at T3D (Type 3 Detectives), he put me on to this Square [a first-year '62 1500 model, incidentally]. It was a Panel Van at the time, but having kids meant I didn't want the panels as it's not much fun in the back for them, so I put in windows instead," he continued. Now this fact alone will be enough to raise the hackles on any die-hard Type 3 buffer as those factory panels are very sought-after indeed, but it's Chris's car and, of course, he can do what he likes with it.

For the full story on Chris' Sqareback check out the November 2007 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale 5th October 07 to 2 November and then available through back issues.