My '72 1300 Retro Racer Beetle

beetlecharles · Post by **beetlecharles** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:42 am

Hello!

My name is Charles and this is this '72 1300 beetle is my first and only car to date. I bought it about two years ago when i was 15 and i'm currently 17.

Over here in England the VW scene seems swamped with Cal Looks and Resto Cals etc so i thought i'd do something a little different with my bug and build a retro racer styled car. I'm aiming for a cross between a rally bug and and EMPI GTV kind of thing.

Its nothing special, and most people would probably think its a bit of a shitter but on a sub £1k budget including the cost of buying the car I think i've done fairly well to get the car back on the road and looking fairly reasonable. All the work was completed in my back garden hah!

Today it looks like this:

beetlecharles · Post by **beetlecharles** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:50 am

And heres a brief reversed history of how it has progressed of the last year or so:

January this year:

Refreshed rear suspension last month:

The day after i painted it in the garden with yacht enamel last october:

New front beam, brakes and shocks installed last september:

The day it passed its MOT test last September:

beetlecharles · Post by **beetlecharles** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:54 am

Home made carpets done last spring:

And the mess it was in a year ago:

rsb · Post by **rsb** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:09 pm

I like what you've done with your beetle. looks sharp!

Here's a link you might appreciate: http://www.rallybugs.com/

nitros69bug · Post by **nitros69bug** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:33 pm

looks coooool

MNAirHead · Post by **MNAirHead** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:59 pm

Cool bug.

How much do completed and running later bugs sell for over in the UK?

beetlecharles · Post by **beetlecharles** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:57 am

MNAirHead wrote:Cool bug.

How much do completed and running later bugs sell for over in the UK?

Thanks!

Generally 68> bugs sell for about £1000 in patched up condition, requiring work but with an MOT. If the car is generally solid with ok paint and a reliable engine you are looking into the £2000-3000 bracket and for a perfectly restored example with great bodywork, engine and the other usual stuff about £3500+.

If you are lucky like i was you can pick up a late beetle requiring fairly little work without an MOT for under £500 but its getting harder.

Anyway, here are some updated photos with decals on:

beetlecharles · Post by **beetlecharles** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:59 am

Recently i've upgraded the suspension by shimming the Z bar with anti roll bar bushes and installing new Magnet Marelli gas shock absorbers.

The black numbers are magnetic and so can be removed and repositioned:

This is an older photo without the running boards which are now installed.