Finally a VW Topic!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

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Originally Posted by freebeard

Did you notice the tail-pipe sticking out behind the tire?

That's a '93-'96 "Itamar" (nicknamed that way after the then-president Itamar Franco, who inquired Volkswagen about relaunching the Beetle), and it had the exhaust arranged that way due to the catalytic converter.

[ChopStix]

I have a question for you guys who know more about baja beetles than I do. When you see baja beetles. What all is involved in converting one back to a regular beetle with the stock rear apron/engine cover/etc.

Some of these baja's appear to have been chopped off, while others seem to just have the rear metal unbolted. (I understand if it was chopped off, that you would need to weld the rear parts back on.) But is there anything not as obvious to converting one back? Thanks





Edit: I read a few topics on samba about doing this, and the forum guys were complete morons about converting one back. But the important part was none of the topics had any details beyond showing metal welded back on. So it appears that it can be done with replacement panels. I suppose that each baja is done different, so it would depend on how bad they chopped one up for converting it back.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

At least in my country, Baja-bugs relied mostly on bolt-on fiberglass kits and required fewer cuts and welds.

[freebeard]

My car isn't ready to go out of town, so no Bug-Run for me tomorrow today. Tires and wheel alignment come first. I should've left the insurance running on the Superbeetle. Here's one that was on a local lot, a low-miles 1971 Superbeetle from Arizona in Lemon Yellow. For $6K the underside was as new. I had to leave and think about something else.



Every Baja gets cut a little different. The front valance is available as a single part complete to the middle of the gas tank opening. My 58 is cut to the back of the gas tank opening. The 57 in my avatar was eventually re-nosed. It was cut to here:



Next up would be suspension and even engine modifications that aren't street-friendly. Here's the Bug Run from last year:



Next on the calendar is Springfield German on Father's day. Here's a car from last year:

[ChopStix]

There are no air cooled VW's in my neck of the woods for sale. But we have strange trends here. The trend is that you see one model everywhere for a while, then they all seem to disappear and you don't see them for years. In fact I only know of 1 air cooled VW in the whole county. Its being restored. The semi local collector auto dealers have some at $10k to $50k. But that's insane pricing in my opinion. Here's an example of a rust bucket semi local to me at a collector auto dealer.

Thanks for the baja answers. I assumed that was the case, (all different) but I wanted to ask. I think I might bid on a baja, once I find one that I would not be upset about chopping/welding on. But I would NOT buy that Super you mentioned because it sounds too nice to make into a Delivery. I don't want one too far gone, but also not too nice to convert.

[freebeard]

The Missouri crew-cab is missing the folding bed sides, that's harder to fix than the rust penetration.

That Superbeetle was so clean it was scary! Even my 20-footer is worth five times as much as the Dasher I just got.

Mo & IL Car Shows

June 2nd - 4th: Funfest for Air-Cooled Volkswagen - Bugtoberfest:

It's still on tomorrow.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/shows/index.php?filter=show

June 02, 2017 - June 04, 2017 - JuneBug Jamboree
Springfield, Missouri

Ditto

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Here's one that was on a local lot, a low-miles 1971 Superbeetle from Arizona in Lemon Yellow. For $6K the underside was as new. I had to leave and think about something else.

That's great, and could be legally imported into my country under that loophole for 30-year or older cars. Surprisingly, it's more advanced than a '96 Itamar. I like its bigger window area, and it also seems to not be so cramped inside. Some folks here in Brazil believe that the internal competition between the Beetle and the Brasília wouldn't justify the introduction of the Superbeetle on the local market, but I'm not so sure about it, since the Beetle soldiered on until '86 (to a brief return from '93 to '96) while the Brasília had been phased out a few years after the Gol was introduced. Due to harsh road conditions in the countryside, I bet the Superbeetle could've lasted until 2005 when emission laws led to the end of the boxer engine.

[freebeard]

The subject of Panhard came up in another thread, and I came across this:


https://myntransportblog.com/2015/02/06/panhard-levassor-paris-france-1891/

The door and fenders are similar to a Beetle, and the woodie body is only wood. You could mill the stock, steam it to curve to shape and mill the ends. Easy peasy, right?

Or you could make the body out of Polymetal and curve bamboo slats and carbonize them, then mill the joins.

[ChopStix]

I'm going to put owning a beetle on the back burner until I find the right one.

That pickup is a POS that they think is a goldmine. They sanded all the white paint off to give it that surface rust appearance. Then they threw a $15k price tag on it. Me, I don't care about the missing bed sides. But I would not give them more than $3k for it after they F'd up the paint.
Edit: I sent them the $3k offer and they declined. They said they won't accept less than $15k for it. They will have fun sitting on THAT one! -lol

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

There were some fiberglass van conversion kits for Beetles here in Brazil too, but the front clip ruined that grey one.

BTW a Brazilian Volkswagen truck, from the Constellation series