1973 Volkswagen Beetle - Classic

VW BEETLE Coupe

4 - Cyl.

Manual

1332829420

Clear

Gasoline

I bought this low mileage Bug in 1997 from a lady in Seattle, thinking it would be a perfect first car for my 15 year old son. When he first say the car he suggested that i help him paint it a different color. Haging had many years experience restoring classic cars, I thought that would be a good father & son project. we discussed what modifications to make, and decided to do it in the "California Style", lowering front & rear suspension, one piece door glass, remove the bumpers and replace with "Nerf Bars", remove the stock rear finders and replacing with early style, adding custom 39 Ford tail lights w/"Blue Dots", custom turn signals, removing all chrome trim, and have it professionally painted "Gloss Black". In addition to this we installed black vynil running boards, black head liner, new carpets and sine panels/ front disc brakes, EMPi wheels, and new 195/50R15 tires, black door handles, black antenna, custom window cranks, custom side mirrors, new w/s, and all tinted glass. My thought of a "quick paint job" turned into a year long project of paint, suspension, glass, tires, wheels, brakes, etc., etc., etc. In i would have been farther ahead to give min $10K and let him buy a car already finished, but the fun of doing it with him was worth it! Once the car was finished he only drove it to school twice, then decided that he would rather take it to car shows and occasionally brive it to our summer home 50 miles away. A few years later, and with less than 1000 miles on the restoration he broke the fan belt and over heated the engine, so it was left in our heated garage until last year when i decided to have a new engine installed and drive the car. I purchased a new 1600 GEX engine and had it installed, total cost ob=ver $2000.00. Since that time i have driven the car about 1000 miles, so the total time on the restoration is about 2000 miles. I had plans to keep it as a sunday drives, but i recently bought a new beetle, w/automation, and at my age that seems to be a better idea! Yester day i took the car to a friends shop ad put it on his lift to photograph the under carriage, the pan is rust free which is rare for a 37 year old VW. I also took several photos of the engine, top and bottom, to show the low mileage engine. I with the other photos were better, but i found it difficult to show how great the paint looks with the reflection of the light. Just too much reflection with the light and the hi gloss black paint. If you are interested i do have older photos showing the car thru the restoration to completion. You can call me at 206 322 3444 and leave a message, i will respond with in 24 hours. thanks for you interest, Ron