Fixed/barbed spade connectors

Try Ebay with "spade connector with locking tab"

That's the ticket, ordered a bag now! Thanks very much for that. For some reason I'd not tried searching on that, possibly because I'd been looking at general spades for something else the other day and had "locking" down mentally as the sort that lock the blade into the female part. Or possibly because I'm a twit. Either way I'm grateful!

There are hundreds of variations on these 1/4" connectors.

Vehicle Wiring Products is one supplier. But sadly not all the barb type are in identical - so what they supply may not be perfect. Also look at the ones they supply as part of a 1/4" connector, rather than just their generic ones. Which may be closer to what you need. Those that fit in a relay base may have a longer socket than the standard wire end type.

There are lots of suppliers of such products in the UK and elsewhere. With luck you'll find an exact replacment, but may take some finding.

You could also ask on a Beetle forum.

Can't help alas. In some ways I miss my old beetle (my first car) but not that much. Utterly gutless (which might have been acceptable if it had been economical) but thirsty too (22-25 mpg). Exciting in crosswinds too...

Tim

That was how I crashed one, straight but snowy and icy main A13 road, initially sheltered from the left by housing, as soon as I left the housing area, the open fields were letting the wind belt across the road taking snow with it, the Beetle rotated clockwise, the wind had unstuck the front tyres, it then turned into a gently rotating spinny thing and parked itself backwards into a fence, I drove it home, and there was little important damage. Nowadays I would have had a couple of bags of cement in the front, but I was much, much younger then.

This was very standardly sized with a bard on the back so hopefully the ones I turned up on eBay will fit. At worst I can probably push the connector up from the back of the relay board as it stands proud of the metalwork it's mounted to. The car doesn't go out at night (owner's night sight isn't too good) so he's unlikely to wear out the new dim-dip relay that went in.

I'd never been close to a Beetle before and it surprised me just how much it felt like something from the 50s. I know they'd been making them forever but surprised they'd never felt the need to do much to the design as time went past. I wonder if, by the 70s, it was derided for being willfully old fashioned?

Nope, it was always a pretty innovative design, particularly the engine and transmission and suspension etc.

Body style was pretty oldfashioned and very limiting use of space wise and was replaced by the Golf at that time.

Even if the barb isn't in the right place you may be able to push the connector fully home from the back of the relay base.

Yes, what I saw of the electricals seemed up to the times. There was something clever, I forget what, that wouldn't have been on equivalent Fords, etc. But it was sitting in front of the tin-plate dashboard with the little openings into the space under the bonnet that put me in mind of my uncle's Austin Cambridge. I can't decide whether it was a concious nod to heritage and histoy for purists or simply cost-saving, keep-it-the-same cheap car economics.