Skip to main content

Find of the Day: 1977 EA489 Hormiga

Today’s find of the day is another delightfully strange VW that some consider to be the rarest of all VWs: the Basistransporter, or Hormiga, as the Mexicans call it.

This boxy work truck may look like the Transporter, but unlike the Type 2s of the day, this has its air-cooled flat four up front driving the front wheels.

6895987

The Hormiga was developed to compete with cheap GM and Ford trucks that were being sold in developing markets. About 2,600 of these were produced as knock-down kits in Germany between 1975 and 1979, and 3,600 were made in Mexico between 1977 and 1979.

The Hormiga is endowed with a 1600cc engine that sits on a simple ladder-frame, and it has torsion bars up front and a beam axle at the back. The beauty of the EA489 is its simplicity. The body has no curves, nor do the windows, and the mechanicals are all from the VW parts bin, so repairs are easy. And that’s why these things are still on the road in Mexico.

6895988

This example, for sale on The Samba, is in Arizona right now, and that makes it, according to the ad at least, one of only 15 Hormigas in the country.

The seller says that this Hormiga runs and stops like new and that it’s nearly all original. The pictures of the interior indicate that it’s been taken care of, too.

Unfortunately, the car currently has a Mexican title and, although the seller will ship it, he’ll only do so at the buyer’s expense. Or you could drive it home. It would be a long trip, though, since the Hormiga tops out at 58 mph.

6895990

Still, though, how cool would it be to eventually show up to Waterfest with the first front-wheel drive, air cooled VW? No less an authority than Jalopnik’s Jason Torchinsky would be impressed. And isn’t that why we’re really here? To impress strangers on the internet?

The seller of this Basistransporter is asking for $13,000, but it sounds like you could talk him down some.

The post Find of the Day: 1977 EA489 Hormiga appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/293B18U
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway

Waterfest 24 will be held at Atco Dragway, in Atco, New Jersey. The summer event will take place at its new venue on July 21 and 22. Long held in Englishtown, New Jersey, the festival has been such a large part of the VW scene that the latest iteration of the Golf even comes with optional “Englishtown” wheels . The new venue, however, is an NHRA drag track a scant 52 miles southwest of Englishtown. The ¼ mile drag track opened in 1960, which makes it the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The announcement came today on a social media post that announced the new location. Waterfest is North America’s largest VW/Audi show. As many 20,000 people show up for the annual show, making the second largest show in the world—with Worthersee being number one. 2018 will be Waterfest’s 24 th year in existence. The post Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2GQjkuc via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

European Passat GTE launches as Saloon and Variant

Volkswagen continues e-motoring offensive with plug-in hybrid Passat GTE delivers 218 PS and travels up to 50 kilometres on all-electric power First Volkswagen plug-in hybrid in the high-volume segment of large family cars The Volkswagen continues to electrify! Following the Golf GTE*, comes the next high-volume model with a plug-in drive system: this time the German carmaker is electrifying the new Passat GTE. Its launch marks the debut of a new generation of business and family cars – zero-emission vehicle and long-distance touring car all in one. A Volkswagen that combines the present and the future. A car that boasts not only one of the most progressive drive systems of our time, but also an array of innovative assistance and infotainment systems that is ground-breaking in the segment of large family cars. With superb system output of 160 kW / 218 PS, frugal NEDC consumption of just 1.6 l/100 km and 12.2 kWh/100 km (Variant: 12.4 kWh) and an all-electric range of up to 50 k...
Post a Comment
Read more