Ep 354 Super Beetles Only John List
About this episode
John List, the original founder behind superbeetlesonly.com, joins Bill T. to dig into what makes Super Beetles different—and why the community needed its own home. The conversation covers John’s origin story (GTI → Super Beetle conversion inspiration), the early vs late Super Beetle suspension details, and practical handling upgrades: coilover options, torsion bar swaps, sway bars, and strut tower bracing. John also shares real-world builds, autocross setups, and brake/fitment lessons when mixing Porsche parts. The episode ends with John’s current engine plans and advice for dialing in a sport bug on a budget.
Super Beetles have long been one of the most misunderstood—and often underappreciated—air-cooled Volkswagens here in the United States. But if you look across the pond, or even dig into certain corners of the hardcore VW scene, the story is completely different.
Built from 1971 to 1977, the Super Beetle was actually Volkswagen's most advanced evolution of the classic Beetle platform. With its MacPherson strut front suspension, improved handling, and increased comfort, it marked a major leap forward in performance and drivability. Yet despite those advancements, it never quite earned the respect it deserved in the U.S.—while in Europe, it's celebrated, raced, and even has its own dedicated series: the Kafer Cup.
On this episode, we sit down with John List, one of the original founders of SuperBeetlesOnly.com, to dive deep into what makes the Super Beetle special. We talk about the platform's untapped potential, the best performance upgrades, and how parts from other Volkswagen and Porsche models can be adapted to take these cars to the next level.
If you're into German Look Beetles, suspension tuning, or just want to understand why the Super Beetle might be the most overlooked performance VW out there—this episode is packed with insight, real-world experience, and inspiration to rethink everything you thought you knew about the Super.
Type Super Beetles
"... this week. John List, one of the originators of super beetles only.com and super beetle enthusiasts on this we..."
Volkswagen Beetle
"...ng, you've heard a couple of podcasts about super beetles and stuff. And so you were filling in on all the..."
Chevrolet Corvette
"...s in high school, I had a 64 Chevy pickup with a Corvette engine in it. And I, my dad was like a hoodlum h..."
Volkswagen Gti
"... couple of cars later, I ended up purchasing a 86 GTI and I absolutely loved the thing. Well, I, and I..."
Porsche 944
"...ers, I put, um, the torsion bars out of a Porsche 944, which all fit. And so to just clarify for some ..."
Volkswagen Rabbit
"...een the two flag part. Yeah. And it's just like a rabbit or, or, or a 924, which was, the 924 was, so thi..."
Volkswagen Scirocco
"...ld be wrong, but I think it was supposed to be a Scirocco, but I'm not certain. And this was before the rab..."
Porsche 924
"...he design from Volkswagen and became the Porsche 924. However, when Volkswagen was originally commissi..."
Subaru Outback
"...I got into Subaru's and I actually had a I had a outback wagon that was lowered with all JDM suspension an..."
Chevrolet Camaro
"...nd so he just decided to apply himself. He was a Camaro guy. He was always, he had an old, like a 60, lat..."
Porsche 914
"... So most people don't know this, but the Porsche 914. What does he say the 940? The stock looks exactl..."
Porsche 911
"...t was a 944 rotor. So I had, I found out that the 911 early cars had a 35 millimeter caliper piston ca..."
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