This pretty little oval window Volkswagen Beetle is getting near its Buy-It-Now price with bidding cresting $15,000 and a purchase price of $21,000. The seller is short on the details but the Bug appears to be in very tidy condition with clean smurf blue paint, excellent chrome, and new whitewall tires. No word on what its history has been to this point but the seller does point out several new components that reflect pride in ownership. Find it here on eBay and located in Modesto, California.
Oval windows are next in the pecking order after split window Beetles, appealing to collectors who want to get into early air-cooled ownership. I’ve seen oval windows drug out of junkyards by ambitious air-cooled fans, but buying one in this sort of condition makes way more sense. To me, this Beetle looks to have been previously restored at some point as the paint and chrome are both way too nice to be original. The California black plates are a nice touch as well.
Surely that interior sports new carpets, which doesn’t really match the gray seats and door panels. No telling what the original color was, but if it was resprayed at some point, the dash looks like it was done at the same time. The carpets are curious because they do look new but don’t really match the rest of the surfaces; it could be a trick of the camera lens as well. Regardless, you’re stepping into a Beetle that has no immediate needs in the cockpit.
The engine bay is tidy just like the rest of the car, and the seller notes the Beetle is equipped with a new transmission, IRS, and a 1600 single-port engine. That’s all he says, really, about the state of the Beetle, but I’m guessing there are more upgrades underneath given what we can see here. It’s a curious thing to see a car this nice with no real meat on the bone in terms of details about its history, so hopefully this is a roll of the dice worth making. Do you think the Buy-It-Now is fair?
A oval with IRS, a single port 1600 and a alternator. What is this world coming to? At least you will have a nice looking car that will have a fighting chance to keep pace in traffic and will have reliable starting and headlights that actually illuminate the road! I could go either way with this one. I would also be happy with an original 1200cc swing axle 6 volt lumbering along giving one time to admire the scenery and harken back to a era where people weren’t in such a rush. Simpler times.
Back in the early 1990s I had a ’57 bug with IRS, disc brakes all around and a 1600 dual port motor. I paid an astronomical (to me) price of $3000 for it. But I knew the person who built it, so I knew it would be very well built, and it was.
You’re probably looking at the original color in the engine compartment. Nothing wrong with this car. I like it.
Wondering what happened to the front turn signals. They should be low on the fenders, outboard of the headlights. Looks like they were removed and the holes patched over.
…. or the fenders were replaced with one size fits all units and the lights never put back on. Still a nice car.
I think the turn signal/parking light bulbs were at the bottom of the headlight buckets, inside the glass.
Nope, the lights you are referring to were the parking lights. Read the comment above yours from FredG . . . he has it right
Nice little oval window. Like the color and interior but the carpet seats color match not the best. On the turn indicators it should have the lower bullet type that came out first in 1955 and carried over till 1958 when they were moved to the top of fender. I see an old school type Empi exhaust on this, and on the engine compartment it is missing the firewall sound deadener. Back in the day we would use old Wetsuits cut too fit for the sound issue, worked fine back then. This Beetle has a factory type antenna but missing the old period correct Sapphire 1 radio. The hood should be sporting the Wolfsburg crest to top it off!
For me, I could do without the carpeting. I’ll take the original rubber flooring–it fits the car’s character much better.
The cars did originally have carpet on the front quarter panels, the sills and the transmission tunnel. You are right, that the floor was rubber mats. The color of the carpet used in this car is what is wrong. They did use the correct German square weave, but the color should have obviously been in the gray gray/blue range . . . which is readily available. In fact, I have it in my 57 Bug. However, as has been said many, many times on this and other places, “To each their own”. I’m only pointing out what was correct IF you wanted originality.