I truly believe VWs are a gateway drug to Hot Rods and Customs, this was true for me. I have had the same conversation with several hot rod guys that have the same story. They are simple, easy to work on and learn basic mechanics, and really fun to drive, and relatively cheap. (Not so much anymore but nothing is cheap now).. My first submission is my 66 beetle I had from 05-07. I bought it sight unseen online and flew to Vegas then got a shuttle to St. George Utah to drive this thing back to Oklahoma. I was young and dumb. What could possibly go wrong? When I saw it the first time, the front tires had the cords showing. Oops, down to the tire shop. Did they carry lowered VW front tires? Nope. Got the smallest tire I could, then adjusted the front beam up until the tires cleared, but I was on the road. I found I ought my uncle was in Arizona with an empty trailer heading back east so after a few miles I called him and headed to AZ instead of all the way back to OK. I got to Wickenberg, AZ and let the clutch out after a pee stop and promptly tore the splines out of a rear brake drum. Stuck. He came and got me with the trailer and I'm glad I didn't try to drive that all the way back. It was lowered with a later 1600 dual port and single carb. No idea how stock it was internally but it ran good. I think I gave $3500 and got $5k out of it, I thought I was a master car flipper with that kind of profit.
My next and last VW showed up in 2019. A friend from church was moving and needed to get rid of his stalled (not started) 20 year project. He had a 65 Beetle he bought from the original owner. He bought a bunch of hot rod engine parts and a beefed up transaxle and then never did a thing. When I saw the new magnesium case, Forged Mahle Pistions, SCAT stroker crank and rods, big cam etc.. I knew I couldn't afford it. He priced it all to me for $2k and I figured out how to make it work. I told him his parts were worth more than that and he should sell it for more, but he really wanted me to have it because he knew I would finish it. And I did. This was the first complete engine build I ever did. I started with an absolutely bare case. I had to do a lot of research to figure out what I had and then what I needed to make it run good. It ended up being a 2028cc with dual weber 44s. Ran hard, but very streetable. Full flow oil with a spin on filter and external cooler. I really learned a lot building that engine. It had a 4" narrowed adjustable beam in the front, with BRM wheels, and I stepped up for Firestone Wide Ovals on the rear. I wanted it to have a 60's drag bug look and stance. I took it to Iowa for Goodguys (got some press in the online gazette) last summer and somebody there wanted it more than I did so I sold it there. I would've liked to enjoy it longer but, strike while the iron's hot.
Ok, I’ll add mine to this. First up is 1967 Standard bus. I bought it used from a small used car dealer here in town. I drove it around for a while. It was just a clean little daily driver. It had primer spots on it. Some dents needed to be fixed. Nothing major. I took it to a paint shop and had it painted, then one thing led to another. If this was painted, this needed to be chrome. Upholstery was done. So on and so on. And it ended up like this. The motor was basically stock except for bigger pistons. The transmission had a taller ring and pinion installed to handle freeway driving. I ended up selling it back in the 2000’s. Last I heard it was in Kansas somewhere.
The other one, I still have is a 1969 Ghia. This one I built the motor with my dad. It’s a 1776 with big valve heads and 48 IDA webers on it. Running through a Berg 5 speed. While I was building the motor, I gave the car to a buddy of mine to fix some of the dents and told him to just spray it primer black. He did, and we were talking and jokingly said we should shoot some flames on it like and old 50’s hot rod. I came back a couple of days later and he had the flames laid out. Used left over paint he had in his shop. I will finish this car one of these days.
I have had a few. My first car was a baja bug. I painted it with flames, found some slot mags and installed a 1776 in it. I was hooked. This started my love of building cars. My wildest was a 1969 bug that I tried to make a real hotrod out of. Black with flames, chopped, motor transplant and slot mags. My latest is a dune buggy and I love it.
I've had a couple of VW's...they hate me. Never got to drive or finish the buggy, random guy really wanted it .
I lost all my pics in a hard drive crash a few years ago. Had a 67, a 71 standard, 72 Super, and a 74 Super that I can remember, there were several others. Never got a Karrman Ghia even though I really wanted one, nor did I ever get a bus. I enjoyed them, got burned out and hated them so much I sold my entire collection of parts and cars. Kinda getting the bug, no pun intended, for another Bug.
Ex 67 Bug owner here. Best car I ever owned. I remember seeing them at Port of Entry Jacksonville, 100’s of them on one huge lot, all different colors. Looked like a giant field of flowers. They sold new at the local dealers for $1499 bare bones. My aunt worked for VW Southeast and got a new one every year. The 67:was hers, but dumb me passed on her Ghia convertible a couple of years later.
I had this one deleted by the mods on the Altered thread for having a VW body, even though it was a famous car and is no different than a Fiat-bodied racer! Never did understand that one... Gene Mori's killer altered as featured in the Oct, '63 issue of Pop Rod.
Found a few old worn pictures from the 80's. This Fastback started out as a Squareback. I had chopped the Squareback 4 inches and filled the back windows like a panel. I was driving it without glass one day and got a ticket for everything imaginable, from "too low" to "unsafe condition" and everything in between. Swapped out to this body because I was out of funds to complete the chop. This Baja was a great stock '65 when I got it, stupid 17 year old me chopped it up. Short bus behind my 1967 Ford "RV" just returning from a cross country trip. I only removed one rear door in length, so no wheelies from that little bus. More junk, this Square was my first car. This had the horrible Bosch point-fired fuel injection, so I welded an adaptor on the air manifold and put a little Holly carb on it to simplify things. I put 135's on the front and dropped it a little more after this pic.
This, I believe is a Brazilian Ghia. Made in the South American factory. I think they are called Type 34. Not 100% sure.
Been into VW's for a long time. My tan '55 was a drag/street race car. Ran 12:20's at Palmdale, corrects down to 11:80's at sea level. This was in '87. My current car is the coral '59 ragtop. I have owned this since '89. It has gone 12:40's pump gas , muffler, full weight. Both cars have original magnesium BRM wheels. Lots of fun, you have to love VW's , there are way easier ways to go fast.
My green bug in the post above went low 14s. It felt a lot faster than that! I can’t imagine a bug in the 11s. Crazy!
Not sure you noticed all of the VWs in the background of that karmas I posted. They were out in force yesterday in Portland.
Hey Bill up there…. My old 68 Cal Looker…built to look like something you’d have seen at OCIR in 78/79…2275 48 IDA’s…super fun car
My '58 Beetle, very mild custom. It's my second car, that I've owned since 2003 and restored it in 2006. Shaved hood trim, hood badge, and turn signals. Pop out rear windows, shaved and modified dash, Euro bumpers, original roof rack, and lowered of course. The paint is from a 1951 Packard, called Corona Cream. I drive it most days when its not pouring. Shaved speaker grill and highly modified lower dash, equipped with Stewart Warner gauges of course! Surfing and camping on the Oregon coast with our family of four. The best. (FYI the surfboard is only on there when I'm... surfing)
The Jalopy Journal
