Super Sixty

Brian O’Kelly from the Central Coast Chapter of the CA Vintage Volkswagen Club of America has recently posted on www.pre67vw.com about an amazing find….

“A friend of mine has recently extracted his grandfathers Bug from a barn in Orange County in Southern California. It has 48,000 original miles and was stored in the barn for 30+ years. It was parked in running condition when the grandfather could no longer drive. I have looked at the car and it appears to be very original.

He has been doing a lot of cleaning, lubing and buffing. The motor has been started and runs nicely. I’d like to share this remarkable car with you.”

After a lot of work buffing and cleaning. Yes, this is the same car!

Just a few small dings and dents, no bad rust

The kind of dash we like to see in an old bug

RCA Radio

All four door panels look like this

No rips or holes in the headliner, just a bit of staining

The rear seat is excellent along with the dash wire cover and trunk liner

5 original tires

Nice under the hood. The wiring cover and liner are in the back seat

Original Engine

The front seat could be restitched

The waiting game…

Recently acquired by Richard Oakley, this very original UK supplied ’57 Oval Karmann Cabriolet is one of the few which have survived and is in remarkable condition.

Richard writes “I’ve always fancied a British-supplied RHD Oval Cabrio. Trouble is, there are only 7 or 8 survivors on their original floorpans. I nearly bought one of them back in 2002 (a ’55 Iris Blue model), but it needed heaps of work. I also contemplated buying the car Martin Fenner owns now, but that needed even more work.

Anyhow, my dream came true when I became the forth owner of this Sepia Silver ’57 model. This car has been off the road since 1977 and only has 55,000 miles on the clock. It was originally supplied by VFM Motors in Crowborough, Sussex (it’s a local car, and I love that!). The first owner kept the car for four years and part-exchanged it at a garage in Hove, Sussex. The new lady owner gave up driving in 1977 and the car was laid up until it sold to it’s third owner in 1985. I’m the next owner.

The outer hood was replaced in 1986 as the original was shot. The car also received a respray at this time. There’s no way the original metallic paint would have lasted all these years in good shape. The engine (original) was fully rebuilt in 1985 and never installed!! It’s very nice. Unfortunately, the front two door cards are missing- they went up in flames in 1986 when removed from the car. The rears are there. I need to try and match the cabrio-material and get some made. All the accessories on it are original to the car (it was ordered with US-spec bumpers). It apparently didn’t have gravel guards. The firewall card should be the smooth one, not ribbed thankfully!”

Photos by Richard Oakley

Horizon Blue ’56 Oval

Back in the late 1990s a gentleman by the name of Avtar decided that he would like to acquire a nice, original oval window beetle and, after scouring the UK unsuccessfully for a nice one, got in touch with Owen Warlow who worked his usual magic and came up with this low-mileage example which was imported to the UK from Sweden.

Having bought the beetle in 1999, it remained untouched in Avtar’s garage in Greenford until this year. With his children now grown up, It was time to get the beetle on the road. It’s been treated to a set of new shocks, steering coupling and a complete mechanical overhaul along with a small amount of welding around the wing mounting nuts and a few other places. Avtar has the original carpets and rubber mats which will be refitted and will be keeping the beetle as original as possible with perhaps just a respray of the wings as they are starting to show their age.

Now that the bugs back on the road, Avtar and his son (now 21) hope to make it along to a few shows next year so hopefully you’ll be able to check out this ’56 survivor for yourselves.

1952 Barn Door Panel Van restoration

Barclay Stainton of Status VW Parts owns this ’52 Panel Van which is currently undergoing a full restoration.

“Follow the on-going step by step restoration of our 1952 Panel Van as we re-build it from the ground up. We will be using all original parts, that you can buy from our shop. Follow the photographic re-build started in March 2011. We will be giving you an in-depth and step by step account of how to do the same…”

Follow Barclay’s restoration blog here…

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable

There’s nothing better, in my opinion, than a nice, unrestored, original vintage Volkswagen and they don’t come much nicer, or original than Gareth Roberts’ black ’56 Beetle.

This is an exceptional car, full stop. Most of the hand full of unrestored ‘survivors’ have led tough lives and have the battle scars to prove it. Faded paint, worn interiors, rusty bumpers and the odd dent or scrape here and there after fifty-plus years of use. Others spend decades decaying in damp, dusty lock-ups, waiting to be rediscovered and recommissioned by eager enthusiasts the world over.

This oval window Beetle however has led a some what pampered life, having been retired from everyday use after 20 years.  In 1976 it was placed in a Swedish museum where it sat, on display, until 1999 when it was sold on to a private collector who continued to give it the lifestyle it was now accustomed to.

In 2006 the collector decided to focus on ‘older’ vehicles and the young VW, with just 78,000km (48,500 miles) on its clock, headed over to Essex in the UK where it’s new owner treated it to a little TLC using New Old Stock parts to refresh the brakes and engine.

Gareth has owned the ’56 since 2010 and has again kept the car hidden away to preserve its low milage and immaculate condition. The original black paint still looks like new, as does the interior including the headlining and rubber floor mats. Gareth has recently removed the under-seal from under the wheel arches to discover the original, shiny black factory paint there too, what a bonus!

Pictures: Gareth Roberts