Ok. I bought a bug. Two of them, actually. Off of Ebay, naturally. At 2 in the morning.
The auction listing featured a 1965 Volkswagen convertible, and “included” a 1963 Volkswagen sedan. The convertible looks to be in rough shape, and probably will be too much work and money to restore. (I’ll stop just short of saying it’s “not worth it” in case some VW-purist reads this.)Â My winning bid was $1025 for the two bugs. I figure the convertible will be a good vehicle on which to practice my limited welding skills and practically non-existent bondo skills. The vert (I just learned that’s what you can call them) has a motor and transaxle, so they can serve as spares to my main object of attention — the ’63 sedan.
I didn’t know that Volkswagen apparently never made a car called a ‘beetle’ or ‘bug’ until the new ones came out in 1999, and didn’t even refer to the classic cars as beetles until some ads starting in 1968. The beetle/bug name was created by customers. Interesting? Marginally.
My first car was a 1970 Beetle. I bought it around 1982 for $1318 (including tax), sold it around 1985. I think I sold it for $300. *gasp*. I remember having a hard time selling it. And it ran! With no rust! Oh, well.
Here then, without further ado, are my first and next project beetles (as seen in the eBay auction):
