Sporty VW SP2’s don’t come up for sale very often – so when this unfinished UK-registered project appeared in the classifieds, naturally we had to take a closer look…

The Brazilian-made SP2 was never officially exported and only a handful of cars ever left the country. Only a trickle made their way via personal export to Europe and even fewer arrived on these shores, which makes this UK registered car (see the original advert here) something of a rarity. It’s a relatively late 1975 example, made just a year before production ended, and while the owner obviously had every intention of restoring it himself, it’s reasonably complete but a non-runner and in need of a fair bit of TLC.

Currently dry stored in a barn, according to the seller’s description, “the brakes are a bit seized” so it will need to be trailered home. The bodywork was yellow originally but has obviously been painted red at some point in its past. The engine had already been rebuilt, detailed and put back in the car when the vendor got it, and it is therefore described as “virtually ready to fire up,” by the seller.

The main worry, inevitably, will be the rust. While from the description, it looks like the main structure is okay, the bottoms of the doors, wings, bonnet lips will all need a fair bit of attention. It is missing one of the rear light lenses, but apparently these are available secondhand. The advert states that the interior is all very good – although it needs new carpet and it’s missing a door handle and window winder. Otherwise, it’s pretty much complete and ready to fettle.

The SP2 was meant as a replacement for the Karmann Ghia in Brazil and featured a 1.7-litre 75bhp Type 3 engine. Just like the KG, it was something of a sheep in wolf’s clothing which explains why some people took ‘SP’ to mean ‘Sem Poténcia’ or ‘without power’ in Portuguese. The name is actually an abbreviation for ‘Sao Paulo’.

An interesting story, told on an official Volkswagen website, reveals that the man responsible for the SP2, Rudolf Leiding, who was chairman of VW Brazil at the time and later CEO of VW, got his wife, Helga, involved in the project. Leiding asked her to offer her input as a potential female buyer. Leiding was later quoted as saying that he had built the car just for her, “for you and all the other ladies,” and as a result she inherited one of the very first ones to roll off the VW Brazil’s production line. In 1972, shortly after SP2 production had started, the couple returned to Wolfsburg and, ever the romantic, Leiding instructed that his wife’s SP2 be shipped back to Europe with them. However, it created such as stir in Germany that she couldn’t use it without being mobbed by intrigued passers-by. Every shopping trip in the SP2 became a torment for poor Helga. As a result, it was subsequently sold and replaced by a Mk1 Golf. The car survived and is currently being restored.

Despite the attention it received in Wolfsburg, the SP2 would never have a future in Europe. Nor would it be able to be sold in America as its lights were too low to meet US regulations. Around 10,250 were built before production ended in 1976. Just 670 were exported, with 155 going to Nigeria of all places.

As we said at the start, very few SP2s ever come up for sale so it’s tricky to get a good idea on values. The Telegraph reported on a treasure trove of SP2s being sold, but they were all in Brazil. Meanwhile, an example Stateside was being advertised for $48,000 and one that had been exported to Kuwait originally was spotted for sale at £22,000. So, at £7,500 this one could certainly be worth a punt if you are brave enough to take it on…

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage