Community | 1967 VW Beetle - Restoring A Vintage Volkswagen Bug

Chuck’s L41 Black ’67 Vert

08.27.2017 12 Comments

Another fantastic ’67 Beetle for the world to see. 88,000 original miles; wow. If you own any vert, you know Chuck. Thanks, Jay for helping me pull this one together. What would 1967beetle.com do without him?

It was 1979 in Corona Del Mar California. I had been buying, “fixing-up” and selling VW Convertibles for 7 years ( the market always had been strong there). I had purchased many from other States for $100’s and sold them in Southern California for $1000’s.…..when, one day I was sitting at a stop light. A Black ‘67 Convertible Beetle turned left in front of me! I thought:

“This would be “The Ultimate ‘67”!

I thought that I knew all of the VW convertibles in town! I made a quick U turn, when traffic passed, but could not find the ‘67.

Two weeks later, I again saw it…..going the opposite direction. Another U turn and, like the last time, it was nowhere to be found.

A few weeks later, it popped up in our local paper:

“1967 VW Convertible black with red interior 78K miles $1975”

Well, I was the first one there to look at it since it was only 6 blocks from my house. It was owned by my mail man!

After a test drive and listening to the owner giving directions to 2 more people wanting to come see it, I bought it on the spot. That was 38 years ago.

Since then, I have done a few things to the ’67. I’ve repainted the exterior and replaced the original torn and faded early-style seat covers (they were rice grain centers with smooth sides). We hand-made these using the original seat covers as patterns. I rebuilt the engine using NOS 1500 pistons and cylinders from the local VW dealer. And, of course, I restored the top, using the early style with chromed brass trim which I purchased from a Dealer in 1980!

Over the years, I have located NOS correct sun visors, chrome top locks, interior mirror, German hub caps and beauty rings, SB 12 headlight rings, Hella lenses and door handles—just to name a few things which I’ve done to the car.

Nor Cal Treffen Challenge — The Waller Family

08.24.2017 8 Comments

Once again, our hats are off to the mighty Jay Salser for his dedication to 1967beetle.com. Each article is hand crafted with passion and attention to detail. The Waller Family Nor Cal Treffen journey is a fantastic read. Go, Ron & Diane. – ES

Ron and Diane Waller of Phoenix, Arizona not only are loyal Readers of 1967beetle.com, Ron has contributed several articles to the Site. Earlier this year, the Wallers decided to drive their 1967 Lotus White Beetle with many other air-cooled Volkswagens on the 19th Annual Treffen Border-to-Border Cruise. Their Journal memorializes the notable trip from Washington State to the tip of California. Drive along with them as they revive that feel-of-the-road Volkswagen experience.

Treffen #19, 2017 Journal

About four years ago, my wife, Diane, and I heard about the “Border to Border” Treffen. Treffen is the German word for trip or journey. Little did we know the word also could be used for “adventure,” because indeed it was!

Treffen starts in Port Angeles, Washington, and cruises down the coast on Highway One or U.S. 101. It lasts ten days and finishes at Border Field State Park at the Mexican Border. This was the 19th year for the event. Total mileage is 1,700. We decided it was something we had to do. From that point every decision we made concerning work on the car was made with Treffen in mind.

One of our major concerns was how “laid back” the trip was. The only requirement was an “air cooled VW.” There was no registration or fees. You came and went as you wanted. Being a very organized “Type A” personality, that was a real challenge for me.

We also decided to ask our best friends, Dan and Becky Lehman to accompany us. They have a beautiful 1971 Super Beetle. Needless to say, a great deal of planning and effort went into this adventure. First, we decided to ship the car to the starting point of the cruise. If you have shipped a car you know the anxiety that goes into this! The car left Phoenix three days before the start of our trip, which would begin on July 20. We had it delivered to Vancouver, WA, in time for our first Treffen day. When we left Phoenix, the temperature was 106. In Oregon it was 70! We had great weather the entire trip. The only rain we saw was in Arizona on the drive home! Our little Lotus White 1967 Beetle had 5,070 miles on the odometer when we left Vancouver.

Day 1 – Friday, July 21

We drove from Vancouver to Astoria, Oregon, along the Columbia River. This first leg was just over 90 miles. We crossed the Columbia River on the four-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. It is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. Our first meeting of “the group” was in Astoria for dinner. Not knowing who or what to expect we all wore some type of VW shirt. It also was the first time we met “Buck” and “Andre” who were the contacts and leaders of the trip. They did an outstanding job. At some points there were over fifty cars on the road, a very impressive sight. Herding the group and keeping it together was not an easy task. It made for a few heart-stopping moments!

Todd Van Winkle’s Standard ’67 Beetle

07.28.2017 13 Comments

Hello, friends. My apologies for not being able to showcase the backlog of so many great ’67 Beetle stories from around the world in a more timely manner. Growing a business is a lot of work!

Let’s shine some light on Todd’s Standard Beetle, which is a follow up from Jay’s earlier mention of David Brown’s “standard standard.” Speaking of Jay, lets all give him a round of applause for keeping the lights on here at 1967beetle.com, so to speak. Thanks, Jay! We appreciate and admire your knowledge and never ending love for the ’67 Beetle community.

I had painted a friends bug some years back, he gave me this strange 67′ as payment. I went to look at it, I noticed oddities about it that were not standard issue on a regular 67. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but she was definitely not as nice as the 67 we had when I was a teen.

The first thing I noticed was the floor covering, any beetle enthusiast knows of the rubbery type bumpy covering attached to the back seat and in the luggage area. This material was covering the heater channels, and the kick panels, also covering the chassis hump. Definitely no square weave here!

Littler strange things I noticed… One horn grill…A fuel reserve lever like my 56′ has..only one sunshade, and a cool little white plug where the hole is. No Wolfsburg crest on the horn button, just a black disc is fitted. No chrome strip on the glovebox, no ring around the speedo. Only a partial headliner is fitted, not covering the pillar posts or underneath the side windows, just a gray length of plastic covering the seam on the pillar. It just looked so cool with more original paint showing than usual.

I had to research this strange bug. She was a “Sparkafer”, or Standard beetle. No frills with this car! Somewhere I had read that there was a recession in Germany in 67, and Mr. Heinz Nordhoff just had these Standard, cheaper bugs built just to get a product out of the doors, and money for the company!!

She needed a complete resto, I did everything myself in my little one car garage…floors, heater channels, bodywork, built the 40 horse engine..and I painted it the original Ruby Red.

Joy’s 1967 Volkswagen Beetle Sedan

07.10.2017 12 Comments

Joy owns a wonderful 1967 Beetle Sedan.

Eric and I have been with Joy for the entire drive….. meaning—

When Joy was searching for a ’67 Beetle in early 2014, she sent photographs of several Bugs to us. We would critique the cars and Joy would move on to the next car. The search continued until September, 2014.

She almost bought one Beetle—until the owner finally confessed to some major difficulties with the vehicle (you couldn’t drive the car for more than 15 minutes at a time or the engine would shut off!).

Finally, just when it seemed that all options had been exhausted, Joy decided that she should look at the L 633 Dark Blue Bug in St. Monica, California. Joy’s least favorite color, she told us. But the car had good provenance. It was not rusted. It was not wrecked. And it had had great care from the three previous owners.

The Bug had passable paint but needed some renewal in order to be driven safely.

The Seller allowed Joy to take the car to a shop for evaluation. The car passed scrutiny and Joy became the new owner.

Since purchasing “Monica”—as she now is named—Joy has had the car repainted, staying with the factory color.

The Birth Certificate certifies that Monica was built, February 16 of 1967 and left the factory March 28th destined for the USA. In addition, the Birth Certificate verifies that Monica has her original factory engine!

With the car now having been renewed mechanically and cosmetically, it was time to get Monica into a Volkswagen Show. Monica took First Place in the Kelly Park Vintage VW Car Show in April of 2017.

Joy and a good friend, who owns a later model SuperBeetle Convertible, are ready to participate for a day’s drive in July’s Treffen Border-to-Border Cruise.

The 1967 Beetle Community — Always Growing

06.10.2017 14 Comments

This makes me so happy to read. Thanks, Jay for meeting and helping another ’67 owner! Congrats, Jessica and Charlie. -ES.

Friday, Neva fielded a telephone call from a lady saying that she needed a speedometer for her 1967 Beetle. She left a note on my desk so that I could call when I came into the office
Jessica informed me that she and Charlie had acquired a 1967 Beetle which needed a few things, including the aforementioned speedometer.

Then, Jessica said something really funny! She said…..”She’s suffering an identity crisis!” I began to laugh—it was hilarious. After I calmed, Jessica told me that “she” is “Gertrude” her newly purchased ’67 Bug. We talked a bit about naming Beetles—which thing is what my Neva is good about doing. And—laughed some more!

Well…the “identity” problem stemmed from something which the seller had told Jessica at the time of sale. The seller gave the impression that the car might be a ‘70s Model. After doing some research about VINs, Jessica looked at the aluminum VIN Plate behind the spare tire. It read 117….. “But,” reasoned Jessica…”might this not be a ’70s VIN?”

In order to get to the bottom of the matter, we discussed the other Factory VIN, beneath the rear bench seat. I told Jessica that both Auto VINs should agree and that they certainly should match the Title VIN.

When Charlie and Jessica visited this morning, the first thing which Charlie and I did was to remove the rear seat and clean and chalk the Chassis VIN. Sure enough, it agreed with the Aluminum Tag VIN behind the spare tire. Both gave proof that the car is, indeed, a 1967 Beetle Sedan.

Overnight, after our Friday conversation by phone, Jessica also had done some study of VINs on thesamba.com and had an idea of the Manufacture Date of the vehicle, assuming that it was a ’67 Bug. In fact, Jessica continued to amaze me with facts which she had been learning during her study about her Gertrude!