One of the harder decisions to make is when you have a desirable specimen of a vehicle in project form and you know it’s not going to get the treatment it deserves in the short term. This 1967 Volkswagen Microbus is a desirable 21-window model with Deluxe trim that absolutely deserves complete restoration, but the seller admits he’s not going to get around to it anytime soon. The Bus comes with some of the parts needed to restore, not all, but the all-important Skylight windows are included. The seller contends it has rust but is solid in all the right places, and he doesn’t believe it’s ever been hit. The Bus comes with a clean title and is available here on craigslist for $39,000.
Just think: a few years ago, if you found one of these in a field, you could have dragged it out for a measly $500 and had yourself a project worth restoring. Now, it costs $40,000 just to buy the project before you get into the costly business of rust repair. The one upside to all of these early Buses and bay windows being restored is that the aftermarket panels market has opened right up, so you can now buy a lot of the metal you need to restore one of these for reasonable money. The seller notes that the Bus comes with an unstamped engine, which he believes indicates it is a factory replacement mill. No word on whether it still spins freely by hand.
The original color combination is Sea Blue over Cumulus White, which is a very attractive scheme. As an added bonus, you can still see the remnants of the factory paint job. The seller is pushing the fact that he believes despite the rust, this Bus is worth digging into all the way because it appears to be free of Bondo and other telltale signs of having been hit and put back together. Yes, it has rust, but you’ll be fixing these areas for the first time as opposed to doing over someone else’s work carried out years ago when these 21-window vans weren’t worth nearly as much; in other words, bodywork was done to simply keep it on the road, not preserve it for the lawn at the Greenwich Concours or Pebble Beach.
There’s no interior, so don’t expect your $40,000 investment to get you a seat to rest on. Finding those second and third-row benches is a chore, so kudos to the next owner if he or she is able to track those down. Some of the items that are included are the canvas sunroof assembly, Deluxe time, front bumper, some side glass, and the all-important Skylight glass. The Bus is a major undertaking, but given how much money these 21-windows continue to fetch in restored or preserved form, I have little doubt this one will be snatched up soon and given the royal treatment in the hopes of either having a payday at the auctions or simply being restored back to new condition for less than the cost of buying one that’s already done.
Me, me, out of my way dingus, I saw it first, ( scuffle ensues, currency wafting in the air),,just having some fun with this silliness, this kind of entertainment sure beats the news headlines,,,why is the “VW” upside down? The exploitation in the hobby is strong with this one,,,move along,,
It’s upside-down as a warning that so will be the next buyer :) :)
Not that these aren’t cool, but for a 1/4 of the price, I’d rather have the Barbarian below..
I never saw the attraction of these. I like the panel versions much more.
Hi Gary, well, I never saw the attraction in “Beatle Boots” either, today those fetch $1,000 bucks. It’s no surprise, my old man wouldn’t let us have them. Like all these “flash in the pans”, it’s the uniqueness that’s the appeal, and the fact that there just so many left, as these routinely became storage bins out back, for many. It’s why these hulks are all found and dragged out of a swamp somewhere. It’s all that remains.( pun intended) There was no attraction back then, it was merely an economical enclosed vehicle that was used in a utilitarian manner, until they looked like this, and discarded. All this proves, is a sharp salesperson really can sell air conditioners to the Eskimoes,,
I saw a picture of one that was literally rotted off half way to the windows, I think the headlights were rotted off it yet someone drug it from it’s grave.
I don’t get it. Have owned many VW vans and enjoyed them. Never a 21 or 23 window. Always liked the look of them.
I mean I can see owning a 100k Packard. A 100k VW van. I don’t get it. Aside from looking cool, I don’t get it.
I’m with you, I don’t get it either. Never have, never will.
I drove semi for 15 years, on a route that included a great deal of two lane, rural Midwest driving. A VW bus was the LAST vehicle you ever wanted to get stuck behind! Those things could barely hit 50 mph going downhill with a strong tailwind. If I was running on schedule before hand, I was always behind after the stupid things got out of the way.
And for some reason, most of the people driving them were completely oblivious to the line of cars backed up behind them as they drove 10 mph under the posted speed limit. I’m guessing they were probably stoned…
Maybe stoned, yes…but pedal to the metal!
Well, I’ve seen worse busses restored, but as far as I can see, there are a lot of parts missing for wanting 39k. But with our current hyperinflation, you can either buy bitcoin or early VW busses.
Just another example of why Craigs List is the modern funny papers
It’s a matter of being bitten by the Barret Jackson bug; two or three of these sold at BJ to drunk buyers for big bucks and then anyone that has one in their swamp thinks they have a goldmine. I too think it’s a passing fad, like the $400k Broncos. I’ve been to hundreds of car shows and I can count on one hand how many VW busses were in a show. I really don’t think they’re as popular as the internet sellers think they are.
Go to a VW show and you will see how POPULAR these bus’s and all VW bus’s truly are.
VW folks are a group unto themselves!
Having seen several of these fully restored, Instill would not pay even close to that price for what in another marque be a parts car. The great theologian Frank Zappa once predicted that American culture would be destroyed not by materialism, but by nostalgia. Here is Exhibit 1, the ultimate hippie/surfer van, vastly underpowered if restored to bone stock, no safe heater, top heavy in turns (I actually had one skip!) and front collision deadly. Yet we pay six figures for them.
Is the upside down VW front emblem included?
I Dont get , I had a 1970 VW Bus in the 90’s I will never forget my Dad RIP Always saying it was the ugliest Thing he had ever seen …LOL. I ended up selling it for $900
Located in San Dimas, CA
I got it!
Anyone got an idea why this vehicle has incredible amounts of rust in only one section — the right rear area? It’s as if someone spilled sulfuric acid, or a bag of oxidizer/fertilizer split open in that location. I’ve seen and worked on plenty of these vans over the years, but even those with severe rust in the lower areas didn’t have that area so badly corroded.
Never seen that type of rust in that location either. That rust is right below where the battery sits. Maybe the battery was overcharging and boiling the acid? Maybe that is where the drain for the rag top goes and got plugged?
SMS,
I think you and I have come to the same conclusion; the extreme rust was a direct result of battery acid. Because of how concentrated the extreme rust appears today, I suspect this is the result of overcharging that lead to the battery exploding, likely from the high concentration of hydrogen and oxygen that finally reached the ignition system — BOOM!