This is my first car, a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle with 63K original, certified miles. I bought it from the first owner, who pretty much bought it for his mother to drive in California. About 4 years ago, she backed right straight into a dumptruck, causing the dent in the back and the trashed fender, which made her son realize that she, then 82 years old, was too old to be driving a car. So he took it back and drove it on the weekends until he decided to put it on craigslist. I picked it up for a good 4 grand, my hard earned money that I worked for the last two summers. In exception to a rebuilt factory alternator and a 10 year old coat of paint, it is completely original from Germany in 1973 (except for consumables of course). It runs excellent, takes the normal 3-5 minutes to get it warmed up and ready to drive after sitting for more than 24 hours. I had it sitting from Sunday, 9pm, til Wednesday, 5:30pm, and after a few pumps on the gas, it started up in about 2 seconds. Of course, for the next 5 minutes, I had to keep my foot slightly on the gas so it wouldnt stall. But after all that, it drives like new. the interior is amazing, with only one tear in the back seat. It came with black custom seat covers, shown. The only reason I know that is because under the seat I can see the white vinyl. If it wasnt for that, I would have never known it was a seat cover. Everything works, the radio, the damn annoying seatbelt tone (unfortunatly), the seats, everything. In the front trunk, you notice duct tape holding up the cover. I got a new one of those that I havent put on yet. So yea, that pretty much wraps up my first car. I plan to recondition it to pure mint, which is quoted with today's prices at around $1000.
UPDATE 10/26/09
It is now in the paint/body shop awaiting a beautiful (and terribly expensive) paint job, the removal of the dent in the back, a new fender, all new rubber, all new chrome, and all new glass. It will be back hopefully by mid November, will update.
Page 2- Update #1- 8/23/08
Page 3- Update #2- 11/27/08
Page 4- Type 1/ New Beetle Comparison
Page 5- Winter Experience
Page 6- Plans For Summer
Page 7- Update #3- 4/14/09
Sign my guestbook- tell me what you think of this 100% stock Volkswagen!
Things that are NOT original from 1973 (complete list) Note these are all stock replacements.
Consumables
Running boards
Tail light lenses
All chrome
Tail Pipes (have originals)
That's it.......even the spare tire is the original one
GREAT PLACE TO GET GENUINE VW PARTS www.bugcity.com LOCATED ON BERLIN TPKE BEHIND PEPBOYS!!
My favorite car at my favorite place, the White Castle in Nanuet, NY
I traveled over 90 miles to have a #3 and get that picture
Below are 15 pics I took a few hours after I bought it.
