Eric Lindemann’s L620 Savanna Beige ’67 Beetle

Hello, 1967beetle.com.
I’m new here. I love the stories that people tell about their cars. I guess it’s my turn to tell you about “The White Knight”.

It was 2002, and I was living in Georgia and my brother was living in New Jersey. He talked me in to coming to stay with him so that he could teach me to do on the computer what he does for a living. I am more of a hands-on type of guy, not so much techy, but I was willing to learn. He had me working and it was getting close to lunch time. He told me keep working while he got into the shower.

Well I hit a snag and while I waited for him I thought, “Let me look at the local classifieds for VWs, (not the samba).”

I came across a few but one really spoke to me: 1967 original owner Bug lotus white– no pictures, just the ad. I looked at a few others but saw nothing special.

My brother and I went to Panera Bread and had a nice lunch, and I told him about the 67. He told me to show him when we got back to the house. I went back to the Site and it was gone, but, thank God, I had written the # down. I called the # and Dwight King answered the phone and seemed a little flustered that I was calling about the car. He said that the ad was up for less than an hour and his wife Alice broke down crying that she couldn’t sell a member of the family. But he said it must be fate that I saw it. So he agreed to meet me where the car was stored.

It was at Horseless Carriage in Patterson, N.J. He was living in Australia and had been paying for climate controlled storage to keep it in New Jersey. He was in N.J. on a visit with his daughter. When I saw the car, I was blown away. I thought, “There is no was I can afford a car this nice!”

Dwight said, “I know it’s not for sale now, but if “She” changes her mind I will call you.”

Well I kept in touch with him and in 2005, right before Christmas, I got an email from him saying if I am still interested, I can buy him.

“OK, now with this price”, he told me, “I want someone who will not turn it into a Dune Buggy or Baja, but will keep him as original as he is.” “I am that guy”, I told him. He said, “Is $2,500 fair?”

I thought I was going to faint. I was thinking more towards the $9,000-$10,000 range. He is the original owner, bought it while he was in Germany while he was a Captain in the Air Force . He had every gas receipt, license plate, registration, family pictures, even the military plates that he used while in Germany. When he came back to the States he contacted VW and “The White Knight” was put onto a ship with new VWs that were coming to America. The car came with a day-night mirror and a ski rack with skis with “Dwight King” and “Alice King” engraved on them. For any work that was done on the car, I have all the receipts. I have a bag with snow chains from Germany, original road hazard triangle still in the case and the tool kit. The Beetle was repainted in the early ‘80s and still is wearing the tires which Dwight put on around the same time. I have the receipt from Sears.

WOW! Sorry for being so long winded, but I really like talking about “The White Knight”.

Thanks, Eric, for sharing your story with 1967beetle.com.

Posted by Jay Salser

My wife, Neva, and I have been driving and working on VWs since 1976. In fact, we raised our family in these cars. Now, we are retired and enjoy VWs as a hobby. The ’67 Beetle always has been our favorite year. We own a '67 Beetle and a '68 Karmann Ghia.

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