That’s right, this Bug has just 56 miles on the clock, well 90 kilometers to be more exact. For a car that was built to be affordable transportation, that’s pretty incredible. What’s even more amazing are the cars it’s sharing this garage with! Who would have ever thought a VW Beetle could be desirable enough to be housed with Ferraris and other exotic supercars? This thing really is a time-capsule from 1974! If you’d like to make this ultra low mileage Bug yours, be sure to attend Silverstone Auctions’s The Classic Race Aarhus Auction on May 28th in Aarhus Denmark for your chance to bid on it.
So how does a cheap little Beetle only see 56 miles? Well that one is pretty simple actually. The original owner was an elder gentleman who in his advanced age just couldn’t make the walk to church anymore. So he reluctantly bought his first car, this ’74 Beetle. He only drove it the few miles to church each Sunday, but he eventually couldn’t even make the drive anymore. The car got parked in his barn in ’78 and that’s where it has stayed.
After being discovered in the barn, it was cleaned up, tuned up and given a coat of Waxoyl to keep it from rusting. It really is in amazing shape throughout and looks like a brand new Beetle. It’s currently sitting on its original tires and even has the original oil in the engine. I’d probably want to change both, especially if you are going to actually drive it.
Can you imagine finding a barn find with such low mileage? But if you did find something like this, what do you do with it? It’s value is in the low mileage state, so would you drive it? Special thanks to our friends over at BoldRide for this tip!
That’s a beautiful car. It will go for over 20K I’m sure.
I would have to drive it… But also would not buy it as it deserves to be preserved.
Am I the only one that finds it difficult to get excited about a ’74 VW Bug?
Realising of course that this is a European Bug, there are a few things that seem “off” to me. It’s what was sold in the US as a “Super Beetle”, with the MacPherson strut front suspension and longer nose; that car could also be had with A/C, and due to that all of the US model Supers had louvered vents in the bodywork below the front bumper. . . This car doesn’t have that.
Also, the decklid (bonnet, engine cover) on 1972+ Beetles had (4) rows of louvered vents for cooling, but this car’s decklid features none, similar to the cars built prior to 1970 or so. Not standard, or European type? An earlier lid will fit a later car.
Finally, the fender welting is body couloured. I want to say that the OE welting came in black; I don’t recall ever seeing it in colour except for when someone has painted the car with the fenders attached.
It’s cool, though. I’ve had (5) 1974 Beetles over the years (2/3 standard vs. super) along with a bunch of other year air-and-water-cooled VW’s, and those later cars were surprisingly refined for being very basic transportation. Even the Automatic-Stick-Shift cars were pretty nice, barring the 20 second 0-60 time. This one looks good but I wonder whether a very late Beetle can bring the 35k-40k Euro that the auction house is estimating.
Sorry but my 1973 VW Super Beetle came from the factory with body colored welting. I believe you’ll find it’s actually the black that was replacement welting. Sort of one size (color) fits all. Some after market vendors carry several colors of welting but no where near the range of colors offered on the cars. If you want your restored Super Beetle to look like it came from the factory you have to paint the welting before installing it. Just for the record, my friend’s 1966 VWBeetle came from the factory with body colored welting as well. (I just double checked my photos from 1966.)
To Mike H.,
Being born and raised in Europe, I always thought the ‘American spec.’ Japanese and European models looked more ‘bold and fancy’ than in their country of origin. Maybe, Europeans see cars strictly as transportation between A and B, not like some sort of status thing. We always had less bells and whistles to keep the cost down, but demand for more accessories wasn’t there either. You ended up with a car with less lights, no curbside mirror, no airco, less air grilles, etc. and just hand cranks and levers to open things up. My yellow 1974 Beetle didn’t even come with a roof headliner, radio, floor mats or glove compartment door, just open and basic, straight from the factory. Anything more in it, would be seen as an ‘extra’ and had to pay for that separately. It has changed since then, but I still think American cars have far more features than the European models do.
WANT!!!. this has a 1300cc motor, not sure if it has dual port heads. also not sure if it has half shafts ( some markets never got them )or swingarms in back. i would daily drive this. great find.
Curved windshield, so it must be a Super Beetle. The standard Beetle had flat glass. So even though it’s a Euro version, it probably has struts. Although the US had the bigger engine as standard, in Europe they had several options.
Actually since it is Euro spec I believe the motor is a 1200cc single port. The fender welting may have been changed at some time as I remember back in the day being able to buy different colored welting from some aftermarket vendors. I think the engine cover is also correct as this is a standard versus deluxe model 1302/1303.
I don’t think a car with such low mileage should be driven. They are pristine and should be saved and displayed. They can be used as a reference for other restorations. Photograph the heck out of it and make a reference book. There have been several cars on this website that have had extremely low mileage, looking closely at such cars can provide much needed info. That’s how I see it, anyway.
I’m amazed that stories like these halfway through 2016 still exist. This isn’t year 1980 anymore. What else is out there unused or very low mileage since new, 40 plus years on?