Source: barnfinds.com
Thursday, November 17, 2016
1973 Super Beetle
Up in my neck of the woods in southern New England, there have always been a few salvage yards on my radar in the Bridgewater, Massachusetts area. For some reason, I have never had any luck gaining access to them, as they all seem to be pretty strict on the “no yard admittance” policy. This 1973 Super Beetle here on eBay looks to reside in one of these no-access yards, and the seller claims it has show car roots. What do you think?
The seller has even gone so far as to repaint what the original graphics would have looked like, which seems like a lot of effort for this rusty Bug. Still, someone put some effort into it at one point with the aforementioned paint job, metal fender flares, wide Shelby-style mag wheels and a custom interior of questionable taste. It would be wild to see what this Bug looked like when it was fresh and new, as I’ll bet it was eye-catching in the streets.
Interestingly, the engine lid is fiberglass. One of my favorite features is the period-correct rear ski rack that mounted over the engine cover to make the transport of skis and poles possible in a car with limited storage options. I can only imagine this thing with fresh paint and snow tires heading up to Vermont for a weekend – what a scene that must have been! The car’s location in Massachusetts indicates some ties to a Northern climate, so it’s not surprising there’s rust in the running boards and elsewhere.
The interior sports custom seat covers, door panels, dashboard and more, and the rear seat has been replaced by a shelf with custom upholstery. The engine is said to have relatively low mileage and turn by hand, but the seller cannot locate the keys for the ignition. With a starting bid of $100 and no reserve, this could be an interesting project to restore back to period form. Would you revitalize the show car looks or keep it stock?
Source: barnfinds.com
Sunday, October 2, 2016
1970 VW Kombi Transporter
We have featured any number of seemingly over-priced and over-rusted old Volkswagen buses over the years. The early ones have seen prices literally go crazy over the past few years. Personally, I don’t get it, and I lived through and enjoyed the original days of the “hippie bus” craze.
At least in my experience, while they were incredibly practical, inexpensive to operate and easy to maintain, they were also dangerously slow in both acceleration and maximum speed, handled terribly, and worst, were prone to acting like giant sails in strong winds.
Since Transporter buses were extremely light, wind could move them across lanes on highways pretty easily. I was a passenger in one of these on the Bay Bridge going from San Francisco to Berkeley. A strong wind took us across two lanes of traffic and we were just incredibly lucky that it was at night, and that there were no cars in the lanes next to us. That was not a thrill, and pretty much cured me of any desire I had to ever own one of these VW Kombis for myself.
And
of course, with almost no structure in front of the front seats, if you
happened to hit anything head on, you were much more likely to be
injured or killed than if driving just about any other vehicle.
This 1970 Transporter (also called a Kombi station wagon) for sale here on craigslist in Trumbull, Connecticut appears to be in much better condition than many (though not all) of the other similar VW buses that have appeared here over the years. The seller says his bus is “all original, runs, shifts thru gear, no brakes need to go thru….Solid body, floor and rear area. Minimal rust, only surface rust. All jack points and frame solid.”
This bus also comes with some extra parts and a modest $4100 asking price. At least from the pictures, it appears to have solid floors, a far better than average interior, and an engine that must have been rebuilt or at least kept very clean over the past several years. Mileage on the bus is said to be a very modest 93,000 miles, which could be true based on the condition of this Vee Dub. The older Connecticut license plate suggests it has been off the road for some time as well.
On the other hand, the rust shown here appears, at least to me, to be much more than superficial, and there is pretty clear evidence this bus has had some amateur body work done to it in the past. Given that it’s now more than 45 years old and seems to have been in Connecticut for some time, it’s impossible for it *not* to have rust issues. But for $4,100, this seems like a good deal, especially if the floors and frame do turn out to be solid.
I’ll
be very interested to hear what our readers have to say about this old
bus. NADA says the low retail for one of these is now about $7,400 – so
is this one a good deal or not?
Source: barnfinds.com
This 1970 Transporter (also called a Kombi station wagon) for sale here on craigslist in Trumbull, Connecticut appears to be in much better condition than many (though not all) of the other similar VW buses that have appeared here over the years. The seller says his bus is “all original, runs, shifts thru gear, no brakes need to go thru….Solid body, floor and rear area. Minimal rust, only surface rust. All jack points and frame solid.”
This bus also comes with some extra parts and a modest $4100 asking price. At least from the pictures, it appears to have solid floors, a far better than average interior, and an engine that must have been rebuilt or at least kept very clean over the past several years. Mileage on the bus is said to be a very modest 93,000 miles, which could be true based on the condition of this Vee Dub. The older Connecticut license plate suggests it has been off the road for some time as well.
On the other hand, the rust shown here appears, at least to me, to be much more than superficial, and there is pretty clear evidence this bus has had some amateur body work done to it in the past. Given that it’s now more than 45 years old and seems to have been in Connecticut for some time, it’s impossible for it *not* to have rust issues. But for $4,100, this seems like a good deal, especially if the floors and frame do turn out to be solid.
I’ll
be very interested to hear what our readers have to say about this old
bus. NADA says the low retail for one of these is now about $7,400 – so
is this one a good deal or not?Source: barnfinds.com
Unrestored 1963 Porsche 356 Super 90
The seller of this Porsche 356 claims that it has never been restored. If you have ever tried to restore a car, then you know that is usually a very good thing. Seemingly shiny restored cars can hide unimaginable horrors. Wadded up newspaper in the Bondo, hacked up wiring, and other blotched repair jobs. That isn’t always the case, but if you want to do the job right, it’s probably best to start with an original car. If this one really is as unmolested as the seller claims, it may be worth pursuing. It’s listed here on eBay and the auction ends tonight.
Source: barnfinds.com
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