There were numerous special edition Volkswagen Beetles made over the years, and most all of them were cosmetic-only in nature. There was one model, however, that stands apart for the improvements VW offered when they released it, and that’s the rare “Sports Bug.” While it was again a bit of dress-up kit, it at least came with some real upgrades: factory Recaro seats, wider wheels lifted from the Porsche 914 parts bin, and a sharp three-spoke steering wheel (oh, and they had some cool black trim as well.) The seller claims to have found two of these special edition models, both listed here on craigslist with a price of $2,500 for the pair.

Thanks to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the find. The Sports Bug looks to have been found on an air-cooled retirement home of sorts in Washington State, and the seller notes one car is largely complete while the other has no engine. Surprisingly, the seller says the interiors are complete on both cars but does not include any photos. The trouble with this is that we cannot see if the uber-rare Recaro seats remain installed, as those are sort of the lynch-pin that makes this Beetle a stand-out from others of the same era. The black stripes can be re-created and wheels stolen from a Porsche 914, but those Recaro seats will be hard to track down if missing.

The wider wheels are a great look for the Beetle, and now that I’ve seen one of these, I feel like every air-cooled owner should throw some wheels from a 914 onto their cars. This Sports Bug has the engine that supposedly rand when parked 10 years ago but isn’t running now. Though no pictures are included, the seller mentions that every major engine component is present and accounted for, from the air cleaner to the carburetor to the exhaust. The seller notes there is some rust present in the battery box in one of the cars and floor pans in both cars are in “…remarkably good shape.”

I’m guessing this is the other Beetle with no engine, and it looks a bit less composed than the other one. The paint doesn’t appear to be original and the black trim pieces are missing. The Porsche 914 wheels may or may not be present – they could just be rusty in photos – but even if they’re there, they need to be sanded and repainted. The seller wants to sell both cars as part of a package deal, and this seems to make good sense to me for anyone looking to restore a rare Sports model – assuming the interior of the engine-less car remains complete. A fun project that will likely be the only one at your local Veedub gathering.