I don’t know much about Beetles, so don’t expect crack expert analysis on every square centimeter of this 1954 VW Beetle, available on eBay with three days to go and the bid at $11,300. But I do know originality when I see it, and that’s what hooked me on this little bug. The car is located in Columbia, TN. That price, by the way, is still short of reserve. I’m wondering, as I look at the eBay posting, why it’s for sale. It obviously currently lives in VW heaven—look at what else is around it, and at the huge VW sign in the background of its hero shot.
The car is more than sixty years old, and one of the features it has are what are called “semaphores” or “trafficators,” which are mechanical turn signals that pop out to indicate when you want to take a corner. Beautiful! Should I buy it just for those? It’s not out of the question. It looks like any rust is mostly of the surface type, and the more you scroll through the photos, the more you see that you like: a kind of heraldry badge on the hood, an authentic Blaupunkt radio, an original set of keys.
Neither the body nor the engine is original. The paint was resprayed years ago and now shows patina, and the engine (and here comes the secret VW-person code), is a “Late AE block set up as SP.” No clue what that indicates, except that the seller is honest about what he’s sending your way. He also says that it has the wrong rear apron and a later fuel tank. My response? I don’t know the difference, and I don’t care, but I know what will get people’s looks going down the street, and this is it. Just check out those front headlights, recessed in a chrome surround. What design!
Heck, if the price doesn’t go too crazy, it’s almost worth it to buy this car even if it’s hard to run. it’s just so darned old-school cool. The current owner says he scoots around town in it, so at least you could use it for your everyday errands and getting to work. Who else is going to show up in such a stylin’ buggy? Owner Jeff says to call with any questions. I don’t know what I’d ask except, “How soon can it be in California so that I can be my own scene anytime I drive it”?
Replace the headliner and paint it and you’ve got historical fun. Like was said, old school cool.
An AE block would be early 70’s. They came originally as dual-port, meaning each cylinder had it’s own intake runner. An SP, or single-port means each bank shared a single runner. This means a late block with early heads & intake manifold.
Oh, and the heraldry badge is known as the Wolfsburg Crest, a nod to the car’s origins in the Black Forest. In the mid-60’s, it was moved from the body to the hub of the steering wheel & stayed there until end of production.
Clean it you got historical fun.
That is not a 54 don’t know what it is, though it is older. My brother bought a new 59 and the oval rear windo was gone by then and it had no semiphores but probably because of the U laws. These cars and this shop is owned by Mike the Picker and some others they think they are experts on everything but don’t know squat on a lot of cars. I watched them buy some Studebakers and supposedly go through them and they did things that they had no idea what the real problem was. I would be careful in verifying anything I bought here
Can those mechanical signal “flags” be seen at night? I wonder if you would get pulled over today even if you use them. I’m sure most modern drivers have no idea what they are for. lol
This car has no extended dash & yet it still has a proper glove box! Ridiculous that 1980s f-bodies & earlier corvettes had none or just pouches.
When did bugs get a fuel gage? I don’t see one here!
I’m guessing backup lights were not avail for many years.
The fuel gauge was added to the bug in 1962, formerly used the reserve fuel tap.
Backup lamps were standard in 1967 up cars.
Looks like a solid, fun early Bug and a hot item right now. The semaphores should have a light inside them so they can be seen at night. This looks like it needs a good cleaning and bottom clean and paint..and away you got..drop in a nice 1776 motor when this one fails!
Sure is neat. I hear JoeNY with the visibility of the semaphores, dont remember if they are lighted? Do you install later turn signals for safety?? I’M
not sure many drivers today would recognize hand signals. That later engine would give you a little more oomph but the original tranny is non synchro first unless that was swapped. Regardless of the mods, its a cutie! Good luck and happy motoring!
Cheers
GPC
Semaphores were lighted, but I don’t believe they blinked.
There are fabs available so the semaphores will blink. Installing aftermarket turn signals on this car would kill the value, as it is a true collector.
We had a 63? Bug with the fabric sunroof when I was a kid, great fun to ride around in with my dad and brother. My mom didn’t like it so she drove the GTO to work on second shift. I would love to own a late fifties/early sixties Bug but they are overpriced in my opinion, just like early Broncos.
Something weird here. Looks like someone back dated the rear tailights, see the ghost of the ’54 tail lights and then reinstalled earlier ( i’d say 1949/50? tail lights). All from memory, I could be wrong but I dont think so.
Looks like the car has been marinating in high humidity weather……..didnt sell at 14 K I guess. Should have taken the money and ran.
The only reason I can think of to convert an AE (1600) engine to single port is so it looks vintage. There’s no performance advantage if it can’t breathe, and you’d have to machine the heads to take the bigger diameter jugs. Rear fenders are wrong, just too much off for this car to have any real value as a classic. As my brother stated, the ‘crest’ harkens back to Wolfsburg, the ‘Wolf’ being that guy who first commissioned these cars.