1971 VW Beetle
1302 S Rally-
Year of manufacture1971
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Car typeCoupé
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Competition carYes
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FIA PapersYes
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DriveLHD
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ConditionOriginal Condition
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Interior colourBlack
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Number of doors2
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Number of seats2
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Location
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Exterior colourGreen
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GearboxManual
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Performance120 PS / 89 kW / 119 BHP
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Drivetrain2wd
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Fuel typePetrol
Description
The Finnish Volkswagen importer Wihuri offered ready-to-drive rally cars to its customers at the time. One of these customers was the racing driver Leo Kinnunen.
After various successes in national sports car races, the Finn became a works driver for Porsche. From there he went to work for the British John Wyer, a successful team boss in sports car racing, for whom he drove in 1970 together with Pedro Rodríguez. The team became the dominant pair in the 1970 World Championship with their Porsche 917. Kinnunen and Rodríguez won the Daytona 24-hour race, the Brands Hatch 1000-km race, the Monza 1000-km race and the Watkins Glen 1000-km rally.
Kinnunen also gained some notoriety for his daredevil drive at the Targa Florio, also in 1970, in a Porsche 908, turning by far the fastest lap ever on the Sicilian circuit at 33 minutes and 36 seconds. Leo Kinnunen was also the first Finn to compete in a Formula 1 World Championship race.
This VW 1302 S Rally was driven by Leo Kinnunen for Wihuri in the Pohjola Rally (Northern Lights Rally) on Nov. 28, 1971. He took first place with his co-driver Atso Aho. Shortly after, he bought the car, registered it in his name with the new license plate TCT - 193 and drove it in several rallies until he sold it in 1978. The car then changed hands several times and was in use until 2014 and has a continuous racing history. It has FIA papers and is equipped with Weber 48 IDA carburetors, ZF transmission, bucket seats, roll cage and Eberspächer auxiliary heater.
This Rallybeetle is one of the few original Rallybeetles from that time. It still wears its original paint under some other layers of Rallypainting. It has the original Chassis and the original Body, which is very rare for a heavy raced Rallycar