Back in the 20th Century, you couldn’t go more than a city block or two without seeing at least one VW Beetle. That’s because they were cheap to buy and maintain, and Volkswagen built 21 million of them over a 65-year period. But that supply has been largely depleted today, but they still turn up from time to time. Like this 1960 Bug (as they were also called) that was in a barn for more than 35 years before being pulled out and brought back to life. Cosmetic work remains, but this Beetle is available here on Facebook Marketplace and in Tallahassee, Florida for $9,800. Thanks again to Ikey Heyman for sleuthing this one out for us!
The VW Type 1 (aka Beetle) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche in the late 1930s to be mass-produced and inexpensive. It was labeled “The People’s Car” by Adolf Hitler. 1949 was the first year the little auto would find its way to the U.S. with its rear-mounted, air-cooled engine which likely inspired Chevy to build the Corvair a decade later. They became part of our youth culture in the 1960s/70s (for example, one of them is in the backdrop on the cover of the famous Beetle’s “Abbey Road” album). Germany kept cranking these cars out until the late 1970s and in Mexico until early in the 21st Century.
This 1960 Beetle was discovered in a barn in late 2019 where it had been for some 3½ decades. From the first photo provided, it looks as though the car had to literally be cut out of captivity. The seller’s goal was to get it going again and try to preserve its “as found” look. So, he completely rebuilt the original, numbers-matched 1192 cc motor which was advertised to be good for 36 hp. The engine was cleaned up but not repainted. Work was also done on the car’s braking and 6-volt electrical system and a new set of tires added to make it a reliable driver.
But that was not where the work stopped. The gas tank was cleaned out with a new reserve lever. The heater boxes were refreshed, and a VW-brand muffler was installed. All the windows received new seals to keep air and rain out. We’re told the Bug was repainted and the interior redone before it went into hibernation. But the body is not rust-free now, with it having snuck into places like the front heater channels and door post bottoms. It also got into the battery tray, but it has since been patched. Some exterior trim pieces were removed but the seller does not mention if they have survived. The bracket behind the rear bumper must be bent given the way it sits.
These cars could be had quite cheaply when gas was cheap and hair long, but not anymore. According to Hagerty, a ’60 Beetle in Fair condition is worth $8,200 and $16,400 in Good condition, so the seller has settled on something in the middle. You could finish fixing it up or just drive it the way it is. Either way, the car will garner attention at Cars & Coffee from older folks who used to own one or today’s millennials who will have no idea what it is.
I dearly love these cars and grew up with them. I’ve had 3 myself over the years and like many of us who have had our favorites over time, would like to have them back. It is unfortunate that many cars in the “hobby” are difficult to obtain at an economical price. To me a car like this is no where near $10K as it sits. Granted it is a driver, but for nearly 10K I would want it more original than this. My hope is that prices will level out, but at this rate I know the answer. Thanks for letting me vent!
I’m shocked at how much prices for the beetle have gone up. Even the Super Beetle which was regarded as the ugly duckling of the lot has gone up substantially. I own a 71 Super and I still can’t get my head around it. I have driven the early 60’s models and they are very charming. Excellent build quality which is felt when closing the doors or driving it. When you drive it the car prompts you to slow down and enjoy the scenery because you ain’t getting there fast! Also this car has no fuel gauge. Just a reserve lever that you move when the car starts to sputter. Just don’t forget to return it to the main position when you fill up or you will be walking!
Russ, I think I would say ‘copied’ by Ferdinand Porsche, not ‘designed’, as Tatra pretty much had this whole design first.
This VW cleaned up nicely, but wow, the asking price.
Skorzeny,
As a Tatra owner, I thank you for the clarification. Most Americans have no idea what a Tatra is, but that’s for another Barn Finds topic.
But know this: Tatra built air cooled 4 cylinder engines before WW2 as well as post-war thru 1954. They even built air-cooled V8 cars. In every example, the Tatra engines are interchangeable with the transaxles on all their cars up thru 1975, and the same goes for the VW transaxle. Yep, I can take a pre-war rear engine 4 cylinder Tatra engine and bolt it on to any type 1 VW transaxle. So who copied what?
Shortly after the fall of the iron curtain, I was in the former DDR [East Germany] where I found a Porsche 356c coupe, with a Tatra T-603 air cooled V8 hanging out the back. The owner, after chopping away various body bits in the rear, was able to install the Tatra engine directly onto the Porsche transaxle without any modifications.
I’ve always wanted to do the same thing, but take the 8 individual cast aluminum valve covers, have the Porsche emblem engraved in the top of each, then take it to a Porsche meet, with a sign that said “Porsche prototype air-cooled V8?”
Many fond memories of these cars in the 70’s. I remember helping a friend do am engine swap on his, in the street in front of his house. Took us 45 minutes and he drove it away.
Good to see that the rear plate is covered … but not the front. Safety First?
Glad to see these cars popping up from time-to-time but sad so many “investors” driving up the cost of our simple hobby. The simplicity of the Beetle could never be duplicated today nor does one have to be a computer programmer to keep it running.
What a great car for parents to restore with their children–provided one could pry the *&%$ cell phone away from them. Driving a Bug requires one to focus on driving as hands and feet are busy shifting gears, steering, & operating clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals…no extra limbs to phone or text on the cell phone!
This car so reminds me of my 1958 beetle, including the interior colours on the door panels and dashboard. I suspect it was originally blue. I ran out of gas time after time because the reserve tank lever was jammed into the lower position and when I ran out of gas that was it. I was a student in Vancouver when I owned it and it served me faithfully for eight years without getting a lot of maintenance back. It was a fine little car.
For $9,000.00 in 1960 you could have purchased 6 of these brand new…..just saying !!
PS: Nutty asking price
You really should stop copy pasting from Wikipedia for your write ups Russ. It’s getting very boring
Reminds me of my first car, a 61. So simple yet so cool.
Parts Department? – That was J.C. Whitney
Back when nobody wanted them, they were cheap. Now if 2 people want the same car, it raises the prices.
Probably sites like this help to raise prices.
I’d like one earlier than this, but of course, so does everybody else and the prices go up.
My first wife had a 62, but we never took it on any trips, just to commute to college and back.
Sold it and got a Ghia convertible, which was a lovely car, but those are going up too, because people can’t afford Porsches anymore.
At the very beginning of their import, a co-worker of my father’s (I was a kid back then) bought the first one in town and began to brag about the MPG. Another coworker began bringing a can of gasoline to work each day and putting it in the VW tank. The brag went on and on until it was clearly ridiculous and the joker fessed up. And, when I was 19, then we squeezed 8 of us into one for a trip in the Italian Alps one weekend. And it went up those moutains, with all that weight, slowly, but surely. And they would go in the snow where the typical car of the period with rear wheel drive needed chains to move up hill. And the Continental tires went 10’s of thousands of miles more than the typical US bias ply tire of the day. But, you often needed a valve job at 40,000 miles, and other maintenace that we just do not need to do at all today.
“At the very beginning of their import, a co-worker of my father’s (I was a kid back then) bought the first one in town and began to brag about the MPG. Another coworker began bringing a can of gasoline to work each day and putting it in the VW tank. The brag went on and on until it was clearly ridiculous and the joker fessed up” My father-in-law told me the same story, except after the VW owner bragged so much about the mileage, they began siphoning some out each day!
I had one, it was a 63. I didn’t keep it long I thought since the windshield was about 6 inches from my face accident surviving was a big not sure.
I had an 1983 Made in Mexico beetle, completed a full nuts and bolts body off
rebuild – was my first complete rebuild and loved the simple engineering. Frustrating on secondary roads where modern traffic rode my bumper especially on long hills, should have upgraded the engine. Sold it to someone who planned to add do just that -more hp.
As a HUGE fan of both the car and the band, I am honour-bound to point out that the former is spelled with the letter “A” in place of the second “E”, as in “The Beatles”.
In fact, the “Abbey Road” album cover is often the first thing that I think of when I see one of these.
In reference to Cobra Steve’s comment, I would have loved to restore a classic Beetle with my family growing up.
Reason you don’t see many on the roads totally depends on the state you live in. In CT, they just do NOT pass their ridiculous emissions standards back in the 90’s at least. I recall when we left for a burb of Boise Idaho New Years Eve ’99/2k after having enough, we were driving in the cr here & the younger 5 yr old son started yelling out ‘rown car rown car’ & we’re looking around wondering what he was saying. It was a VW Beetle & he’s never seen a ’round’ car in CT but here at least, they have a lower threshold on their emissions. A friend that had a VW only repair shop in Stratford CT for over 20 years, had to pack it up & relocate it in Florida because of that.
I have a ’65 that was put in storage in 1969 and not brought out again till 2013. 70000 original miles. The engine has been rebuild all the paint is original. The black paint on the bottom of the pan is 80 percent still there. No rust through just surface where bugs and rocks caused chips. I would take 9000 US for it and throw in a second one with another rebuilt engine original to the car above. The security ND car is a rust bucket parts car but has alot of good parts in it. I also will give a complete new interior parkage as the seats were recovered sometime just before it was parked with blue material and the carpet was replaced with some ugly crap from J C Whitney.
I have had a few in my time. One year my little bug failed it’s yearly road check the MOT, literally days before my girl and I were supposed to go away to france for a holiday. I told her parents it’s fine I’ll borrow my mates car, what I didn’t tell them was his car had no engine. I swapped out my engine the day before our summer road trip. All went fine. And swapped it back when we got home. Good times.
“Don’t post your car for sale in the comments.” Courtney????