Vehicle Description
1968 Volkswagen Beetle
Herbie wears the number 53 because of Dodger star Don Drysdale.
Bill Walsh, producer of The Love Bug, came up with the blue and red
racing stripes and gave the cute car No. 53 in honor of one of his
favorite ballplayers. The pitcher threw 58 2/3 consecutive
scoreless innings in 1968.
For consignment an early production 1968 VW Beetle. According to
the Zertifikat report, this bug was born November 7th, 1967, in
Emden Germany and shipped to sunny San Francisco, California on
November 9th 1967. In the mid 2010's the car made its way to the
East coast and was purchased by our consignor in 2015. Sporting a
replacement 1500cc engine, an original interior and one respray in
white. While fully operational, this bug does need some TLC and
restoration, but nothing that can't be done with some elbow grease
and determination. I'm feelin' the love.
Exterior
This cool little beetle has decently minded gaps, acceptably
applied paint and its fair share of rust bubbling, invasive rust on
the passenger's lower front splash pan, chip offs, dings, some
tearing of the metal and surface rust. A respray of the white
bathes the body and roof, and some overspray can be seen, as well
as a little bit of previous sanding swirls in the body repairs.
Rounded fenders in white frame the headlights with chromed visors
looking a lot like eyelashes for cars. The lenses for the turn
signals and taillights all present well with nice chrome trimming
which goes with the black rubber piping seen throughout between the
seams of the fenders and bodywork. The rest of the chrome trimmings
are present with rust dimpling and badging is all correct
designation. Up top a chrome and wood slat roof rack has been added
for those long road trips to the beach. Blackwall tires have shiny
dog dish style wheel coverings, and this adds to the black trim
mystique.
Interior
A swing of the door and we see white metal painted surrounding a
black horizontally ribbed vinyl panel, complete with the door
handle window crank and a vinyl door pull. Dual textured vinyl
seats have smooth black vinyl bolsters and lots of clean black
piping. The rear seat is a long bench and stretches from C pillar
to C pillar. This interior is all original and has remained well
preserved over the years. The carpeting has been removed from the
floors, and Coco protective mats have been installed to keep your
feet from slipping. An unmolested and simple white painted dash
with circular speedometer and square gas gauge sit within the
vertical ribbed speaker area which is fronted by an original
steering wheel in black with a chrome horn ring and the castle
Wolfsburg logo in the center. A modern AM/FM radio is also mounted
in the dash and is a perfect fit into the factory location. The
headliner is white and is lightly soiled but remains tight in its
perforated pattern.
Drivetrain
A cleaned up but not original 1500cc horizontally opposed
4-cylinder engine sits in the rear of this car. It has a 1-barrel
carb on top, and a 4-speed manual transmission. The engine appears
well maintained, presents very cleanly and drives a 4.125 geared
final drive through the 4-speed.
Undercarriage
Surface rust is attaching itself to the exhaust system, and also
shows on the suspension, which shows as transverse torsion bars
upfront and swing arm with torsion bars on the rear. Floor pans are
a mix of surface rust and factory undercoating with some minor
invasive rust present. Examining deeper we see heavy invasive rust
in the heater channels and this rust has invaded the rockers to the
point that they should be repaired in the very near future. This
damage can be seen from above when the doors are opened. Drum
brakes are noted all around to bring this bug to a halt.
Drive-Ability
A quick starter, and a low tweet from the engine. This car has
wonderful acceleration, great handling and a smooth ride with bias
free panic stopping. All functions were working just swimmingly,
just like the ads where they dipped a car in a lake!
While in need of some TLC on the body and undercarriage fronts, the
mechanicals of this car are wonderful. A great driver, the original
interior, its birth certificate from the Motherland and this bug is
ready to crawl right into your garage.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.