Sweet Stretch: 1972 Volkswagen Beetle Limo

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Champagne wishes and caviar dreams are yours when you’re driving, or riding in, this champagne gold 1972 Volkswagen Beetle Limousine! This is one cool car and it’s listed on Hemmings with a $17,900 or best offer asking price. Oddly enough, it’s located in Champaign, Illinois.

This Beetle Limo (I never though I’d say that) was “stretched 4 feet in the late 1980s.” Luckily, this car “has approximately 300 lbs of additional structural suppsort [sic]. An upholstered roll bar between the front and rear compartments gives the body additional structural rigidity. The body is straight. No flexing.”

This is a great looking conversion in my opinion. The opera lights are a nice touch as is the black portion at the windows. I must have been living in a cave for the first 50 years of my life, I have never seen a Beetle limo before but I’m sure that some of you have.

A phone in a car?! Most of us probably remember the whole car-phone-actually-installed-in-the-car era before smart phones became available. The interior on this Beetle limo looks as nice as the exterior does. I wonder what the money-making portion of the interior looks like: the rear. Let’s open the rear suicide door and check it out.

As if this car isn’t cool enough already, it has a sliding glass divider in-between the front and rear seating areas. Someone put a ton of money and work into this one. The business end of this Beetle limo “Will accomodate [sic] 4 medium-sized adult rear ends or about 6 little kids who’re being driven to a birthday party.” They list three things that it could use, “1) front struts–sometimes bounces when driving over bumpy roads, 2) new speaker grill under rear jump seat, 3) TV has power but would need a digital converter box to receive local stations.”

According to the owner, the engine: “Starts fine, runs fine, steers fine, stops fine. Stock 1600cc engine rebuilt in 1998. Approximately 450 miles on rebuilt engine.” If this engine still has 60 hp don’t expect to get your passengers anywhere too quickly but it’ll sure draw a crowd wherever it goes. This car would be a super interesting little weekend business. Have any of you seen a Beetle limo before?

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Comments

  1. fred w

    At 17′ 5″, this limo can fit into a regular parking space!

    Like 8
  2. Michael

    Never seen one. Love it. If I had kids, I would have driven them to school in this.

    Like 8
  3. Mike B

    Kudos for making the rear door an appropriate size!

    Like 5
  4. Jimmy

    Not a VW fan but I like this Limo !!!

    Like 5
  5. DolphinMember

    With a pressed steel pan like these Beetles have I wonder what they did to make this conversion work. Butt welding sheet metal in? I hope it was more than that.

    The right rear suicide door does look cool tho.

    Like 6
  6. Ron

    I have to admit I was reading the article before the photos popped up and before seeing them I was thinking this isn’t going to be good. Much to my surprise when the photos downloaded the proportions were very good. Well done I didn’t think it would be

    Like 4
  7. George

    I’ve seen some pretty cool conversions over the years. This one is very nicely done. But I do have a fondness for the ones with an open drivers compartment.

    Like 2
  8. GPMember

    I never even thought about a beetle limo before, and here it is. I like it a lot, the colors work well, wheels are nice, everything done tastefully. You have to get a lot of looks driving this.

    Like 4
  9. mike D

    I am pretty sure ” Wilt the Stilt” owned one… may have had an article in Motor Trend at the time?/??

    Like 2
    • MSG Bob

      IIRC Chamberlain had a regular Beetle with no rear seat and extended track for the driver’s seat. I think he got a promotional fee for owning it and appearing in ads. VWs ad agency was really clever in those days.

      Like 1
      • mike D

        yes, I think you are right , but also remember an article in Motor Trend IDK if it was a ” limo” or as you state, a run of the mill Dubaya

        Like 0
  10. Coventrycat

    Good job with that one, I like it.

    Like 5
  11. Mark Evans

    Would certainly look to upgrade that engine into something that can be safe to take on to the highway. Beautiful conversion none the less. Any ideas for a better powerplant?

    Like 2
    • Eric M.

      I’d build a 1914 type 1. Dual Webers,009 distributor. Tucked dual exhaust. Had that engine in a 65 bug. That little bug had some go power!

      Like 3
  12. Mountainwoodie

    Sano………and the phones are a hoot…..I cant imagine you could even get 3 average sized adults in the back……..but it looks very well done.

    Like 1
  13. canadainmarkseh

    Corvair 6 cyl. Or a turbo Subaru.

    Like 4
    • Bill McCoskey Bill McCoskeyMember

      Corvair? Nah, I would stick a 1960s Tatra 2.5L air cooled V8, it’s actually a bolt up with no modifications, except that the engine cover won’t close! But that means you don’t have to spend so much time opening up the engine cover to show off that V8.

      Like 0
  14. Ken Carney

    Hey! I grew up not far from where this car is located. Used to see the town
    car versions of these that had an open driver’s compartment back in the
    ’70’s. Some of them even had the Rolls Royce hood kits on them that put
    them over the top IMHO. Eric has the right idea when it comes to a more
    powerful engine, though I don’t think that even a corvair unit would give
    this limo the power it needs to keep up with highway traffic. Shoot! Just
    use around town and you’ll be fine. It is prom season and the demand for
    anything limo is at a premium right now. You could make a tidy profit
    without spending a lot of money for gas. Great find!

    Like 4
  15. David Miraglia

    A must have for a Limousine company or a true blue VW fan like me.

    Like 2
  16. Beatlepat

    This put me in mind of being in Mexico City in the summer of ’76. There were many, many wildcat taxis that were Bugs with the front passenger seat removed. They charged just a few pesos to get just about anywhere in town. Maybe if they’d had one of these they could have charged more.

    Like 0
    • Miguel

      The problem was probably the amount of traffic that existed at the time, it is a lot worse now, and the fact that this car couldn’t navigate the small streets in the residential districts.

      I have seen a few of these here in Mexico but they are generally built as a joke as nobody would ever seriously use one for a limo.

      They simply can’t handle the weight of the passengers and all they come with.

      Like 0
  17. chrlsful

    thought it might B too narrow inside…looks fine tho

    Like 1
  18. Richard Hines

    This is very interesting, in that it is a true limousine. The true limo ( Rolls, Bentley, etc.) does not have a door directly at the side of the rear seat, but rather requires the passengers to “walk” to the rear seat, like this does. A safety and privacy issue. Today’s stretched “limos” are not limousines at all, just merely lengthened cars. Try to explain that the next time you’re booking a ride to the opera.

    Like 0

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