By 1969 Formula Vee had become the most popular racing class on the planet. The cars were relatively economical to run and the competition was intense due to the single-spec nature of the formula. At the time, Volkswagen of America was posting record sales with the Beetle and was poised to introduce new street models with larger, more powerful 1600-cc engines. Because VW believed that racing sold cars, it sought to create a series in the United States to support the sale of these new vehicles.
VW Motorsports boss Josef Hoppen considered several ideas, including simply installing the bigger engines in Formula Vees. Ultimately, Hoppen met with the top Vee constructors (Gene Beach, Ed Zink, Ray Caldwell, and John Zeitler) to discuss the possibilities. According to Zeitler, “We all thought that a 1600-cc Formula Vee would not only destroy the class, but would probably destroy itself. The car would be far too dangerous to run without using full-race components like independent suspension, disc brakes, etc. With Volkswagen just getting into the fastback and squareback models utilizing these components, the Super Vee class was the perfect solution.”
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