Paint and Upholstery:
L13M (26) Saturngelb with L03 (10, A1) Rallye Black trim, hood and engine cover; / L41 Schwarz.
(Saturngelb was a Karmann palette colour not normally used on standard production Beetle saloons)
Accent to the paintwork was provided by all black external trim.
Technical Data:
1600cc typ.133 badged “VW 1303 S”
Factory Fitted Optional Equipment:
Distinctive special paint finish that included Saturngelb finish to bumpers trim and engine lid badging, black bonnet and engine lid and black exterior trim, leather sports steering wheel by Petri AG,
M 102 Heated Rear Window,
M 409 (Recaro sourced) Sports seats,
M 444 5½J x 15 (ET26) (Lemmerz”GT”) sports style wheels, special Veith-Pirelli 175/70 x 15 tyres,
M 550 Vented front apron,
M 616 Back-up light in the brake/indicator light.
The Gelbschwarzer Renner (GSR) and it’s sister Sports Bug were the only two SEBs ever fitted with 5½J x15 (ET26) (Lemmerz “GT”) sports wheels. The succeeding year’s Big Beetle having ones with an offset of ET34.
Context:
S714 Sonderaktion *Gelbschwarzer Renner* was one of two models in the “Rallye” Group of Editions.
Rather than being specifically a Sales Campaign model Volkswagen AG intended the GSR to appeal to Motor-Sport customers inspired by the much publicised success to the Porsche Salzburg Rallye Beetles. For this reason the Edition’s package included the M550 vented front apron normally fitted to North American market models as a facilitation for air-conditioning equipment. The factory intention in this case however was that the vented apron would facilitate owner installed enhanced oil cooling neccessary to support higher output tuned engines. Sadly fate dictated that the initiative just ended up being introduced at the wrong time in history as Bertel Schmidt, who worked at Volkswagen PR when the car launched later observed:
“That car, and our campaign, got Volkswagen in trouble. 1973 was the year of the first oil crisis. Despite the puny 50 hp engine of the 1303, the campaign was understood as an invitation to hoonery. Huge discussions wafted back and forth, Volkswagen was denounced even in German parliament. Political correctness is not a recent invention”
3,500 GSR were produced by Volkswagen AG at Wolfsburg, (Germany).
Sales Literature:
Dealer promotional material were published for the Edition in Germany for the home (inland) market.
A cousin:
In 1974 a 2.0L yellow-black ‘Bumblebee’ Porsche 914 LE (Can-Am success celebration Limited Edition for the USA) was produced. Also made with slightly varying specifications as a 914 GT (Jubilaumsmodell to celebrate 100,000 914s made), and the 914 SL (Sports Limited for Japan). Black (L041) with Sunflower Yellow trim (L13K).
Website Der Gelbswarze Renner.
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This page last modified: 2026-09-15