In 1961 VW announced a car that could have been the Beetle's successor: the Type 3. It was a 2-door notchback sedan with a 1493 c.c. engine, advertised as the Volkswagen 1500. Still air-cooled and rear-mounted, thanks to repositioning of the fan and oil cooler, the engine was a mere 16" high, which meant that a station wagon and eventually a fastback version would soon be added. But the most exciting variant was a Type 3 Karmann Ghia coupe, which I hereby nominate as one of the prettiest mass production cars ever made. If ever there was a poor man's Porsche, this was it. Back in the 60's when I was still young and foolish (I'm now old and foolish), I was privileged to be assistant pr director of Volkswagen Canada and was assigned to create a cross-country dealer introductory tour of the 1500. My assistant's-assistant and I took three cars with us; a 1500 sedan, a 1500 Ghia coupe, and a 1500 Ghia convertible. The latter was a prototype that never reached production and even diehard VW enthusiasts are hard-pressed to prove its existence. Believe me, it was real, for I drove one. Apologies for the picture quality; lacking decent photos, it was scanned from an old Volkswagen calendar.