This 1959 Volkswagen single-cab pickup is located in Delaware and can be found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $34,000! The restoration has already begun and the pickup is said to run and drive well. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Adam C. for the tip on this great VW.
According to bustopia.com: “Shortly after developing the Microbus and Panel Van, Volkswagen realized that there was a strong demand for a pickup as well. Based on the same platform as the other transporter models, the Single Cab pickup provided a single bench seat for the driver and 2 passengers up front with a large pickup bed at the rear.”
There are two photos of the interior. One shows the seat installed and the one above does not. According to the ad, the current seller is the third owner and the truck is a legitimate barn find. It was apparently stored in a Delaware barn for 30 years. While VW Buses have skyrocketed in value over the past decade, these pickups have yet to take off. Do you think this truck is worth $30,000+?
No.
Someone else will say yes.
No.
I love the original beetle and have owned quite a few Microbuses, but R34k ?
No.
I have driven these split windows and like the vehicles mentioned above, they all have character… but R34k worth?
No.
No….but….knock maybe 8k-10k off and yes. if 23 window in the same shape is going for around this price, a valid argument is raised
If prices for these have “taken off,” lets hope they have reached their destination! :) I’m just not into that much work on any vehicle after laying out $35k. I know others will chime in with their disgust and dissent.
I’m amazed at the sort of money Type II VWs go for…
Never liked these because the bed sides were too high.
That’s…why they fold down….
Needs “to be” finished,,,”TO BE”,,,( I expect that on CL, but not here),,,anyway, we never saw VW pickups in the Midwest. A fair amount of vans, but never a pickup. I didn’t even know they made them. Again, I don’t get it either, power of TV, everybody wants to be like Mike Wolfe. They’re nuts.
Haha… I totally concur, Howard! I know that Americans generally mangle the English language, but over the years perusing car adverts, it has constantly been an annoyance reading “needs restored” or “needs finished”. Aarrgggh!! Needs RESTORATION or needs FINISHING! At what point throughout most US elementary schools, was it taught to leave out essential grammar?
@ Peter. You should try being an Englishman living in England and reading some of the articles that come out of America. It appears to me that lots of Americans went to college at night during power outages. Unfortunately it is much the same here in England! The latest GCSE results allowed a pass mark of 17% in some subjects! Talk about dumbing down!
These were rare and expensive long before American Pickers!
Some one needs to send this to mustie1 on youtube!
Hipstafarian money pit..
Needs TO BE finished? What education level are we functioning at?
Apparently, Cap’n, it doesn’t matter. The heck with your phoney baloney education system, just find a bunch of derelict VW’s in the woods,,,ka-CHING,,,who’s stupid now?
In about ’74 I bought a ’63 for $150 with no engine. Put in an engine and used it every day. It weighed 2300 lbs and was license for 5000 gvw so it could legally haul more then it weighed.
The comment about the bed sides being too high indicates that person has never used one of these vehicles. The bed sides FOLD DOWN. You have a “carrying height” deck on which to land your loads from ANY SIDE.Walk up with box, set it down. No reaching or leaning and NO WHEEL WELL getting in the way! Front pallet needs to come off first? no problem! My introduction to VW’s was a 1957-58 one of these. Heaped up with wet sand as high as the cab, it still climbed the hills in 2nd gear like it did empty. I owned a 68 double cab. ALL the materials for redoing my roof came on one load. The operator of the forklift at the home improvement place didn’t want to let the last pallet down. “I’ll squash that bug!” “Back up..you’re already down….” OK, so it took 3 feet pushing on the brake pedal to stop it at the lights…..
People got to be out of their minds , 34,000 dollars for a vehicle that won’t go past 50 mph down hill.CRAZY!!!!!
People pay double this for 356’s….that fred flinstone would pass on
I worked at a VW dealership back in the 70’s. We had one which was used for some years by the Parts Dept to both deliver Parts and ferry Customers back and forth. Eventually, it ended up collecting the trash cans from the three building we had and emptying them each day.
One day the Owner of the Dealership watched the porters push this truck around with our tow truck, from building to building to get the cans. He said “Wat the heck are they doing” someone said the truck won’t start. He said get rid of it, I said I’ll buy it for $5.00. He said “Deal”
I went up front, got the CO “Certificate of Origin” as it had never been titled. Wentnext door and got 5 gal. Gas and drove it home that night!
This was a 4 door Crew Cab with storage bins under the bed and had access doors on each side and the rear seat lifted up, giving access into that bin. Loved that truck, OH, it ended up with a 2000cc 4 carb engine and was BAD!
No mention in listing about original engine/transmission. Many do not know that VW used three different gear ratios in the rear axle transfer cases to get this vehicle to do different tasks. While most ordered the highway gearing, there were two lower rationed options, for use in heavy loaded cargo delivery, and farm use. Steep hills, off road or non paved roads necessitated lower speed ratios. Transfer cases also gave this vehicle additional road clearance. This model was original with a 36hp stale air engine, paired with a split case 4 speed transmission. There was no synch into first gear. (down shift) The vehicle had to be stopped (literally) to engage first gear. The inside cab picture looks very encouraging, as many of these vehicles suffered serious rust issues, especially around all windows, battery trays, and when present, rag tops. Rubber seals retaining glass to metal were commonly allowed to rot long before replacement. Would have loved to have seen a picture of the underside of this one. Few remain at any price. Very costly to find replacement body parts. Kinda like the Porsche in that regard.
How many of these have you been around?
Are you serious!!!!!
“Needs Finished”? Nasty grammatical train wreck there…
I live 20 minutes away from where this truck was sitting in a farm building for decades. A friend who delivers & fills big propane tanks found it and let me know. A great tip to all you guys wanting to buy barn finds; Make friends with delivery guys, they often know where the stuff is hidden!
Tried to buy it many times, Was not for sale. If not mistaken, property has been sold for development.
This is the real deal, it’s 99% rust free [except for superficial surface rust.] It’s very low mileage, if I remember correctly it was about 30,000 miles.
Yes the price is a bit on the high side for a typical unrestored pickup, but this is basically a rust free body shell with low mileage mechanicals. If you want an early VW pickup truck, this IS the one to buy. Probably the only low mileage, unrestored, UNRUSTED one still available for sale.
The NADA price guide says one of these in an AVERAGE running condition [with higher mileage, lots o’rust thru] is $26,100. Very nice [but not prize winning vehicles] are approaching $60,000. It won’t be long before these start topping out at $100 grand.
Chevrolet tried, but failed, to do a similar layout with their Corvair Loadsides and Rampsides beginning in ’61. While Rampsides excelled at other things with their side-drop deck, the Loadside was discontinued after only a couple model years. Had they taken more of a cue from VW and had all three sides drop to a level that made sense, well, then…..uh… history would have still turned out the way it did!
For the record, my MG Midgets and Corvair Lakewood have straight-cut, non synchro first gear which requires the vehicle to be STOPPED before shifting it into 1st.