These days, cars are lingering a bit longer than usual on classifieds sites and Facebook Marketplace. There’s a few reasons for this, not the least of which is some lack of consumer confidence in the marketplace, along with the holidays being a time of added distractions and expense. Still, I’m more than a little surprised this late-production 1979 Volkswagen Beetle convertible listed here on craigslist by the long-time owner is still hanging out, as it seems like an absolute honey of a car with a reasonable asking price of $10,995. The seller reports he has owned it for 28 years and is selling it solely due to some financial difficulties.

1979 marked the end of the air-cooled Beetle in the U.S., and it also introduced a variety of upscale features not seen in previous Bugs. All 1979 models were convertibles and sold at the “Super Beetle” trim threshold, which made a MacPherson front strut suspension standard equipment. The trunk was also larger and fuel injection came standard, along with a host of creature comfort upgrades in the cabin. The seller’s  car also sports the optional alloy wheels, along with what I believe is the Epilogue Edition trim, which would make it one of about 900 cars sent stateside, with each dealer getting one example to sell.

The Epilogue Edition was noted for its triple black color scheme; unique wood dashboard trim; a chrome antenna mast; a radio; and air conditioning, all standard. This car has each of these elements present and accounted for, so it’s almost certainly one of these limited-production models. While it may not seem significant in terms of the actual equipment, these cars were not treated like collector’s items, so whether an Epilogue Edition was stripped of its useful parts or repainted later in life, finding one in survivor condition like this car isn’t exactly easy to do. One sold at Bonhams for close to $20,000.

Effectively, this was the last of the German-made Beetles, which carries significant weight in the air-cooled VW circle. The 1.6L engine pushed out the standard 48 horsepower, and thankfully this one has the standard manual gearbox (we’ve seen a number of convertibles equipped with the optional automatic over the years.) The seller notes the title is “rebuilt” in his listing, so perhaps that’s the reason for the surprisingly low asking price. California is notorious for totaling cars out for rather simple reasons, so I wouldn’t expect that this Beetle went through any sort of catastrophic accident. This looks like a winner to me; what do you think? Thanks to Barn Finds reader Curvette for the find.