CC For Sale: 1964 Volkswagen Convertible – A Scam Or A Smokin’ Hot Deal?

I’ve always wanted a Volkswagen Beetle, preferably a convertible.  Much to my chagrin, prices for pre-1968 Volkswagen Beetle convertibles have climbed out of my price range over the past 15 years and seem to keep going up.  Even good-condition driver-quality ‘verts, as opposed to show-quality, command upwards of $25,000.  I’d pretty much given up on getting one anytime soon, which was fine since I didn’t really have room for it anyway.  However, the other night this fine-looking little guy popped up on Facebook Marketplace with a low $17,000 asking price.  It warranted a closer look.

Back in 2010, I had some money in the bank and an eye on an average condition ’64 red Beetle convertible for about $10,000.  I’d even joined the CT Volkswagen Club and got a free T-Shirt.  I was just dreaming, of course.  With two kids in daycare, that money was gone in a flash.   When I finally did get a fun car 12 years later, I targeted something with more modern safety features so my kids could safely ride in it as well.  Like three-point seat belts and head rests.

However, I never lost my love for the Beetle.  At my car club’s annual car show, I couldn’t take my eyes off this beautiful deep green ’64 convertible, which is not an original color.  I didn’t care and we gave it an award anyway.

What’s so special about the pre-1968 Beetles?  1968 was the first year of thick solid-bar bumpers, tombstone-shaped taillights, black dashboard, modern speedometer, and steering-column ignition.  I’m also not a big fan of the sealed beam headlamps introduced the year before.  I prefer the all-chrome bumpers with upper auxiliary bows and over-riders, teardrop taillights, body-colored dashboard, old-style speedometer, and ignition located on the dashboard.  I’m also a sucker for the bulb & reflector headlights and baby-moon hubcaps.  I think it’s due mainly to my love for that irrepressible ’63 Beetle named Herbie.  My parents’ red ’61 convertible with a black top may be playing in as well.

Ferdinand Porsche had always envisioned a cabriolet along with the sedan and sunroof sedan, but the war put that on hold indefinitely.  After the Allies got Beetle production up and running afterwards, Volkswagen head Heinz Nordhoff was looking to expand the export market to not only sell more cars, as very few Germans could afford to buy a car at this time, but to also bring hard foreign currency into West Germany.  As convertibles were extremely popular and far more common back then, he knew a Beetle in that body style would generate more interest abroad as well as higher profit margins.

In 1948, he commissioned Hebmüller and Sons to build a sporty version – effectively a 2-seater with a tiny “emergency” back seat that could be used when the top was raised.   The shrunken passenger compartment allowed for a bigger rear deck with an engine cover that looked almost identical to the front trunk lid.  A fire shortly after production started in June 1949 effectively crippled the uninsured company and production ended in mid-1950.

Prior to the start of Hebmüller production, Nordhoff commissioned the Karmann company in Osnabrück to develop a more practical 4-seat convertible.  Using strengthening members welded to the floor plan panels under the front doors – the same method used for the Hebmüller – Karmann’s designers were able to maintain the Beetle’s fastback shape with the top up.  On the flip side, it also resulted in the top sticking up above the rear deck when folded.

What is truly unique about the convertible top of the Karmann-designed-and-built cabriolets is the similarity to the convertible tops of high-end cars like the Rolls Royce Corniche and Mercedes Benz 280/350SE.  While most convertibles of the era used a thin single-layer top with the “ribs” showing from inside the car, the Beetle used a three-layer design with a vinyl or canvas outer layer, a thick middle layer to provide insulation and help the structural rigidity of the top, and an interior headliner.  This is also why it sticks up so far when folded.

The above made a big difference to at least one buyer and possibly many others.  When my parents were looking for a convertible in 1961, every other convertible in their price range, such as the Chevy Corvair, Pontiac Tempest, Rambler American and Renault Caravelle all had skinny convertible tops that not only didn’t look like they offered much weather protection but a tiny rip would expose the inside to the outside.  Inside the Beetle, it felt like you were sitting in the sedan with the top up.  In addition, it was so air-tight that you had to lower the windows slightly to shut the door.  Unfortunately, this Beetle has a cheaper replacement top with visible gaps between the closed top and windows.

That at least partially explains why the price is so low, but there’s actually a sad story behind this car.  Mark, the owner, is well known for things automotive in his hamlet, and a 97-year-old neighbor asked him last year his opinion of this car.  He took a good look at all the rust and some truly bad previous work done and told her it wasn’t worth more than $2,000, but to ask for a few thousand more.  Two months later, she called him and asked him when he was coming to pick up the car.  He figured for two grand, why not?

His buddy immediately fell in love with the car and wanted to buy it, but Mark felt bad about selling him the car in that condition.  He offered a deal: “We’ll work on it together, and I’ll sell it to you at the end.”  Unfortunately, his friend committed suicide just before completion.  It was still recent and you can hear the hurt in Mark’s voice when telling the story.  According to the suicide note, he did it because of a bad marriage.  Mark’s opinion is that there are much better ways to get out of a bad marriage.

Mark doesn’t like selling cars.  He generally restores or resto-mods cars for friends or himself and doesn’t want to have to deal with the crazy people you encounter when selling a car.  This is something I fully understand.  Therefore, he said he just wants to get back the money and some of the time he put into it and be done with it, hence the low price.  I was surprised that after three days the car was still available, but Mark said he ignores all the “Is this car still available?” messages.  I was the first person to overwrite that default question with my own.  I was also doubly shocked when he gave me his address and said, “Come on by!”  Not your typical Facebook Marketplace interaction.

Besides the aftermarket top, there are other changes that would most definitely turn off purists.  The most obvious is the color, which is clearly not the Ruby Red you would expect on a ’64 Volkswagen.  According to Mark, it’s a 2014 Ford Mustang color coincidentally also called Ruby Red, a color he happened to have on hand and that his buddy really liked.  A few of the other changes were to his buddy’s preferences, such as automatic on/off back-up lights (not available until ’67), a newer stereo system with CD player, and LED interior lights under the dash and on either side of the back seat.

The car also has a 1300 engine from a ’66 model as the 1200 it came from the factory is long gone.  He replaced the generator with an alternator and upgraded the car to a 12V electrical system.  One other change he made was switching the stock “Upright” fan shroud – which located the oil cooler inside the shroud – to the 1971 and later “Doghouse” design that moved it to behind the fan shroud to solve an issue with the #3 cylinder overheating on pre-1971 engines under certain conditions.  He also removed the thermostat and shutters, which he claimed also increases air flow.  This, of course, means no heat in the winter, but this car would not be driven in the cold months anyway.  I can’t imagine it’s all that difficult to revert that back if need be.

Since the car hasn’t been driven (or registered) since the restoration, the modifications have not been tested.  However, when he wanted my friend Joe and me (Joe’s an old Italian car guy like Mark and they were like best buds by the end of the visit) to hear the engine, he reached in through the passenger side, turned the key, and it started right up.  Par for the course in today’s fuel-injected world, but pretty impressive for a 60-year-old carbureted engine even if it does look and work like new.

However, if anyone is questioning his skills or workmanship, one only needs to walk over to his four-car detached garage.  On the way, you walk by his 1955 Chevy 3100 pickup, which he restored himself and uses for light hauling.  Out in the garage are a 1958 Corvette and a 1962 Corvette, both in various stages of restoration.  Next to them is a 1966 Mustang fastback with a shiny 289 and distinct GT350 look.  This car, by the way, started out as a 6-cylinder coupe, but you’d never be able to tell unless he told you.  One car over is a stock 2003 Mustang GT convertible.  In front of them (it’s a big garage) is a 1950 Ford Ratrod.  All these cars are his.  This is another reason he’s selling the Beetle – he has no room for it and would like to reclaim one of the bays in his 2-car attached garage.

With four cars in a very suburban neighborhood, I don’t really have a place for it, either.  However, according to my car-club friend Rich, who owns an auto appraising business, “An average driver-quality pre-1968 VW convertible is valued at 22 to 24K.  These cars are also still appreciating so as long as this one runs well I think it would be a smart purchase[sic].”  This car is better than average – it’s like getting a brand-new car for $17,000 that will only go up in value.  The work appears first-rate.  He told me that when he first got the car, you could put your hand between the closed door and the body.  Now the seam is narrow, straight, and the door closes with a solid “thwump”.  The visit also included pictures and videos of the restoration.

And, like I said, I’ve always dreamed of having a car like this.  I’m torn.  I let fate be the deciding factor and declined to leave a deposit.  I figured if the car was still available when I took my wife back to see it the following Sunday, then I would likely buy it.  The car was sold on Thursday night.  Part of me is disappointed, and part of me is relieved.

Just to torture myself a little more, I took a look at Facebook Marketplace last night before my phone died, and, of course, right there, at a very attractive price, was another car from my childhood I’ve always had an itch to own.  I’ve got to stop doing this.

 

Related Reading:

Cohort Classic: VW Hebmüller Cabriolet – A Genuine Heb Or A Fake?

Curbside Classic: 1966 VW 1300 – The Best Beetle Of Them All; Or At Least The Sportiest

CC Outtakes: Locusts & Volkswagen Beetle Convertibles