Vehicle Description
Just when we think we've seen it all, cars like this wild 1970
Volkswagen Beetle show up. Not your garden-variety V-Dub, it's been
fully customized and is just as capable as its way-out looks would
suggest. If there's a vehicle that screams "fun" more than this
one, I can't imagine what it might be.
You've seen dune buggies made from VWs elsewhere on the Streetside
Classics website, but this one takes the same idea in a different
direction. Clearly designed to play where the pavement ends, only
the front clip of this VW is fiberglass, with the rest of it being
neatly modified factory steel. Clipped fenders are the most
prominent modification, designed to give those oversized wheels and
tires plenty of room to work when bouncing around off road. You'll
also note that this is not a typical VW Bug, and has been clipped
and tweaked to offer more strength with a roof rack that adds to
its off-roading look. And, of course, there's that wild paint,
which combines bright orange with black, gray, and white stripes to
give it an aggressive look that works really well. This might be
the toughest-looking Beetle we've ever seen.
It's a bit more civilized inside than its looks would indicate, not
the bare-bones desert rat that you were expecting. The black seats
feature durable and removable seat covers, but the dash has been
painted bright orange to match the bodywork. The original Beetle
instruments are still in the lone round pod ahead of the driver,
augmented by a very neatly tachometer and auxiliary gauges around
the central binnacle, right where they seem to belong. An AM/FM/CD
stereo does its best to keep up with the snarky engine out back and
the wind roaring past the windows, but you'll be laughing too much
to care anyway. The back seat is gone, replaced by a custom storage
box, but as the note suggests, the original back seat is available
if you'd like to add it to the car to make it fun for four.
The Baja Bug look emphasizes the rear-mounted engine by cutting
away most of the deck lid and showing off the exotic chrome header
pipe and muffler. With 1915 cc worth of displacement, this is a
burly Bug that makes notably more power than your average VW,
particularly with a hot-rod carburetor and that far-out exhaust
system. A big original-style generator supplies the juice, and the
whole thing runs and drives great, so it's totally ready to go out
and play. The lifted suspension hangs on a set of heavy-duty
off-road springs and shocks all around, and it works well, even if
all you're going to do is cruise the streets. A heavy-duty cage out
back acts as a bumper (if you can call it that) to protect the
vitals, and it rolls on blacked-out wheels wearing staggered radial
tires for just the right stance.
If your only goal with a hobby car is to have fun, this party on
wheels should be at the very top of your list, because it does
nothing else besides have fun. Call today!