The 1973 Sports Bug is in my opinion the most sought after and collectible Special Edition today. Why you ask? Well first off it only came in two unique colors. You had the choice of Marathon Metallic Blue or Saturn Yellow, both only offered with factory painted matt black trim instead of chrome with the bumper center strip the same color as the body. These cars also came with Specially designed Reccaro front bucket seats with supportive side bolsters unlike any other Special Edition VW of the 70's. They featured a charcoal grey cloth insert material for the front seats and fully clothed rear seat back and seat bottom.  It was also equipped with 5.5JX15 ET26 Lemmertz Sport wheels factory installed on the Sports Bug and not offered as options on any other VW for the US and North American market. These two Special features set the car apart from the rest. The Sports bug also featured a three spoke 14" diameter thick padded steering wheel. Though nice to grip is does block the top 1/4 view of the speedometer. The Sports Bug also came with an array of optional dealer installed items like a Formula Vee shifter, fog lights etc. but the most desirable option for restorers today is the wrap around black and red stripe kit. These kits are not reproduced and anyone wanting to restore their stripes usually have them painted on. Some of these options were available to all VW Beetle buyers back in '73, even the stripe kit and steering wheel. It seemed VW dealers made more money selling sport parts than on selling the cars themselves. You may see a '73 Super Beetle with 4.5jx15 Sport wheels, stripe kit and Sports steering wheel, but don’t be fooled it's not a factory built original Sports Bug.

To date, I have not been able to find more than one source for the number of  Sports Bugs produced.  they are difficult to find. After 31+ years of use, abuse and personal customizing, there are a few remaining originals awaiting the ride to resurrection. I know we can't save them all but we can duplicate them as best we can from the parts left over...and that's a very cool thing!