I once owned an early Volkswagen Beetle, and through a combination of youthful exuberance, inexperience, and total ignorance, I manage to break it… twice. If I were to buy one today, I doubt that I’d have the same problems that I did many decades ago. That makes a car like this 1959 Beetle such a tempting car for me. It has a great look to it, there are some really nice details in the work that has been completed, and there’s just enough left to do that it will keep you tinkering away for a little while. If this is one that really grabs you, then the Beetle is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is listed for sale here on eBay.
The Beetle has a great look to it, and at first glance, I initially thought that it had the look that can only come with extended exposure to the elements. Then I read the advertisement and discovered that what has been done is the car has been custom painted to give that look. I think that it’s pretty clever, and I really like it. I also like the skirts over the rear wheels. I’ve never seen a set of those on a Beetle before, so I assume that they were also custom made for the car. I’ve never been an enormous fan of roof racks or luggage racks, but they seem to look right at home on this car. There has been a lot of thought that has gone into this Beetle, and it seems to have produced a unique look.
The original 1959 engine is now a distant memory, and in its place is a 1970 vintage 1,600 engine. This looks to be really clean, and the owner says that it runs and drives well. The original 1959 transmission is still in situ, but it is this that is causing one of the few issues with the car. It does jump out of reverse gear, and you have to hold the lever in place when reversing to prevent this. That is one item that will need to be addressed, as will the state of the wiring behind the dash. While it appears that there are no obvious electrical hazards with it, the whole thing is a bit of a rat’s nest, and could really stand to be tidied up.
The interior of the Beetle presents really well, as it looks like all of the upholstery and carpet have recently been replaced. There are a couple of cracks in what I believe is the original wheel, so I would probably be inclined to have that restored. It also appears that the door handle and window winder are both missing off the passenger side, but replacements for these are easy to find and fit.
With 19 bids to date, this 1959 Beetle has generated some interest. Bidding has currently reached $3,450, but the reserve hasn’t been met. These older Beetles have developed a cult following, and it is not something that has happened recently, but something that occurred decades ago. The fact that this following has stayed so strong for so long augers well for the values of these older Beetles well into the future. I would expect the bidding on this particular beetle to continue to remain strong all the way to the end of the auction.
I like the Co-op oil can.
I’m in KSwheatfarmer, got one hanging from the ceiling in my garage.
I got 1 2, it leaks, got some bullet holes
Pretty sure it’s a ’59 although, amber turn signals came out in ’64. I’ve never seen a bug with fender skirts. Looks kind of cool.
I think that Foxcraft made the fender skirts for the VW and were sold for years through that exclusive auto parts and accessories company, JC Whitney.
This example could use a decent paint job, however… ;-)
If I were a Deadhead, this is what I would drive.
I am a Deadhead, and I want it . ✌
This one has a certain South American vibe to it, as in “The next time you want to go someplace like Bolivia, go someplace *like* Bolivia!”
In the house business they call it “Staging”.. in the car business they call it “lip stick on a pig”..
I had a Bug for several years in college. Although it was freaking cold to drive in the winter, it was one of the best vehicles for bopping around on snowy, icy roads. I would never want to own one today, but I gotta say that I’m loving those fender skirts!
That’s a bit cruel… possibly correct… but cruel:)
Why was your Beetle cold in winter? I have owned several of them and all of them had excellent heaters, (That smelled horrible most of the time). As for the fender skirts, I love them and wish they were available back in the day.
Ken, those fender skirts were available, back in the day… They feature in my 1967 JC Whitney catalogue and I think that they were still being sold by Warshawsky & Co (same business) in the 1970s.
Ken Tilly, you are obviously blessed by the gatekeeper of Valhalla if your heaters ALWAYS worked-that, or rust does not exist wherever it was you drove your VW’s..
As the imitable and famed storyteller Peter Egan put it so eloquently (paraphrased here)”..the heater box cables would rust so the flaps were permanently closed or open..freezing in the winter or heatstroke in the summer”..,
Every VW we had (the NUMEROUS Bugs, Buggies and Bajas) was affected by this malady, and rust is generally a surface patina here in The Great Basin…!!
Living a charmed life in the Teutonic world, I would suggest.
I saw one on counting cars that had skirts. I think it might have been a Wolfsburg edition
Yes, a real “unique look” with a fauxtina paint job and a roof rack full of decorations that won’t get used. So unique in fact that there are thousands more out there exactly like it. This isnt remotely close to a barn find, just like 90% of the cars featured on this site.
I can’t help but wonder how much better this car would have looked had the seller skipped the fauxtina nonsense (please, someone, make this trend STOP!) and instead touched up some chips and then buffed the heck out of the rest of the car…oh, and returned all that junk on the roof rack to Goodwill?
My Dad had a ’62 with fender skirts.
very cool car.
too bad the seller has not figured out how to rotate the photos before posting……
Faked Patina!! Particularly the front hood.
That’s the 320-grit patina, Hermano… (LOL)
The travel cases look too new for the age of the car. They should be the older, brown leather, trapezoid shape IMO. If you’re hell bend on faking a look you need to pay attention to all the details.
My Dad and Mom had a 67 VW Bug, with the Deluxe package with a soft top, and te added skirts to it, this is not his, but it looks just like it did when they owned it. Dad sold it to a shop customer that taught History at the school I went to, Mr. & Mrs. Maurice drove it all the time. Well for some crazy reason, about 15 years ago, I bought it from their estate, but the they had taken the skirts off of it and lost them. It had been sitting in a shed with a trap over it for years when I bought.
So I researched and from them at Klassic Car Parts.
So today I did a quick check and you can still buy them for around $560.00 with shipping. I think I paid a little less 15 years ago.
I painted them to match the car, and they were on it the day I show it at a swap meet in Iowa, I sometime wish I had kept it, but it looked funny setting in the garage with all the Chevy’s I have, besides the Wife said I had to get rid of something to buy a 63 Chevy Impala SS, that I went to the swap meet to buy besides nobody drove it or didn’t like driving it, so it set most of the time. I think it might have had 75K+ on it and it was running when I sold it to a guy from Kansas. I wonder were it is today, probably in razor blades!!!
Perfect example of fender skirts. Fenders with an actual skirt.
No “skirted fenders” on old Nashes. Or the short rear wheel wells on 50s and 60s cars. Unless an owner bought a set of fender skirts and attached them, as we see here.
I love the classic beetle. But I cannot figure out the fascination with roof racks.
It seems to be used to create a “classic” look.
I never saw this on any Holliday beetle in the 60s.
Holiday season we would do our normal road trip in our 59 Desoto. With 5 kids in the back and me the youngest, up front, we were soon bored.
One of the games we played was spot the beetle. With every 3rd car on the road being a beetle, the game became pretty heated.
But in all those road trips, not once did I see a beetle with a roof rack, seriously.
No once.
So why now ??
Thumbs up on the oil can and cooler. Thumbs down on the samsonite. Nice car though.
First thing I’d do is toss those silly fender skirts. Then I’d remove the rack and all the junk piled on it. Even with the bigger engine, additional drag is not needed.
The seller could get $2K instantly for this multi-year bodied ‘59, but wants to test the market. Only a fool or a naive millionaire would buy it for more.
I’m not a fan of the trend of painting a car, then sanding half the paint off. I can imagine this bug would look so much nicer with a good paint job in the original color!