The Marathon Beetle Register

The Marathon Beetle was introduced in 1972 by VW to celebrate surpassing the Ford Model T’s world record breaking production figures. Marathon Beetles are instantly recognisable by their Marathon Blue metallic paint (number L96M for the techies!), 10 spoke wheels and bumpers with rubber inserts along the middle. Each car produced came with a certificate and an inset gold coloured medallion with the inscription DER WELTMEISTER 1972 WOLFSBURG GERMANY. All the cars destined for the UK had 1300cc AB engines.

Vic Kaye and Ted Goodliffe set up The Marathon Beetle Register to locate and unite all the owners of these special edition VW’s and currently have 160 cars on their books. The aims of the register are to maintain and circulate a list of cars and owners, encourage the preservation of the Marathon beetle, give advice on sourcing spares and servicing, organise displays at national and local rallies and exchange technical information. They are meeting up at Stanford Hall on Sunday 30th April, a convoy from Avoncroft museum to Gaydon motor museum on Saturday 22nd July, meeting at Avoncroft museum VW Show on Sunday 23rd July and at the Volkswagen Northwest show at Tatton Park on Sunday 13th August. If you own a Marathon Beetle why not drop them a line?

Contact either Vic Kaye at 20 Staniwell Rise, Scunthorpe, North Lincs, DN17 1TF or Ted Goodliffe at 12 Glebe Street, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1BZ.