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Barn Beetle: 1958 Euro Beetle

1958 Vw Euro Beetle Front Corner

Reader David C recently sent us this barn find he discovered. This 1958 VW Euro Beetle had been parked in a barn since 1969, so it’s surprisingly rust free. These older Beetles are becoming difficult to find in this kind of shape and it’s especially hard to find Euro spec Beetles on this side of the pond.

1958 Vw Euro Beetle Semaphores

The Euro spec Beetle has a few styling ques that make it different than the U.S. spec cars. The biggest difference is the use of Semaphores instead of turn signals. Semaphores rise out of the B pillar of the car and light up to indicate the turning direction. The other noticeable difference is the shortened chrome bumpers, which we think gives the car a bit sportier look.

1958 Vw Euro Beetle Interior

The interior of this Beetle has seen better days, but its intact with all the original pieces still in place. The black dash gives away that fact this car was repainted at some point in its life. We wish the car would have been left the original black, but the current color looks good with it patina.

1958 Vw Euro Beetle Rear Corner

David has owned 13 other VW Beetles over the years, so we are sure he will get this one running great again. We just hope he keeps the original patina, as its what gives this Beetle more character then most. Good Luck David and thanks for sharing your barn find.

Comments

  1. Avatar michael kruger

    I HAD ONE IN THE 70S IT HAD MECHANICAL BRAKES !

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  2. Avatar Jim Rizer

    I love the old Beetles. I had a 1964 and a 1966 and loved them both.

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  3. Avatar Charles Gould

    Nobody likes patina more than me, but this is a nothch below patina. The rust is bad enough to consider tidying itup, and it is not the original color anyhow.Just my opinion, and I might feel different if it were a much rarer car, but cleaning the appearance of this one up a bit shoudl not adversely affect the value here.Chas

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  4. Avatar Michael

    The bumpers have been replaced, it had the Export bumpers, you can still see the holes for the nerf bars over the brackets, the front hood is not original, missing the badge over the handle, the tail lights are from a later model, replacing the much more rare originals

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  5. Avatar Alan

    Why would anyone want to keep the “original patina”? You’ve said this on various other posts and it’s becoming very apparent that the term “restore” has a different meaning in your world. Patina is for Antiques Roadshow type items. A fresh paint job increases the value of old cars. After all, the patina is NOT original to the car.

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  6. Avatar Ted

    @Michael, Correct on the bumper replacement. Probably a Canadian delivered vehicle, they used sems till 61 if I remember correctly.

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  7. Avatar Charles Gould

    Hi Alan,Respectfully, I disagree. While restored cars do derive higher prices mostly because of the cost invested to complete the restoration, American collectors are finally starting to recognize the value of an unrestored original car, and these values are starting to rise considerably, as they have been in other countries for many years. A car (like any other antique) can only be original once, and once it has been restored, it is impossible to return it to that original state. Conversely, if it is retained as an original, it can always be restored later on. Like any other antique, every little nick, dent and scratch, tells another chapter in it’s half century of survival, and these stories should not be erased to make the car perfect again. I realize that others may not agree with me, but I will always prefer original cars, particularly if they are preserved much better than this one is. Anyone can restore any car. All it takes is boatloads of money and time. It is impossible to recreate the look and feel of an original survivor, and an original will always stand out of the crowd of identical restored examples.Just my two cents worth. The final, possibly best, benefit of unrestored, original cars, is that they are a lot cheaper than the cost of restoring a car!

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  8. Avatar Ian Mitchell

    My dad had one of these in Ghana 1962. Light Blue in colour no fuel gauge just a reserve lever on the floor and no heater. Had American style bumpers WR 3987. WE then stood for western region as we stayed in Take radio .

    Like 0

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