Without a doubt, this Beetle needed a lot of TLC. Here are some initial observations:

BODY

The vin tag indicated that it was indeed a 1967 but some things just weren’t right. Due to a slight front end collision many years earlier, it no longer had the original front fenders, hood, or bumper. The repair job involved sourcing German early fenders and OEM Hella headlight assemblies. The front bumper had been Frankensteined together using various overrider parts that looked kind of ridiculous.

The front apron and right inner fender well showed obvious crash damage and had been beaten back into enough of a shape (not quite the right one) in order to bolt fenders back on. As a result of the damage, the bottom of spare tire well is rusted out pretty bad.

The Beetle’s original color was Ruby Red but at some point was painted over with yellow (possibly to match the later model yellow doors), and then eventually white when someone got the idea of creating a Herbie. Based on typical Herbie “standards”, the stripes are not the correct width or spacing and the number 53 was never painted on the doors or hood. Oddly enough, both doors had been replaced at some point with a later model variety. Unfortunately, the door and ignition keys did not come with the car, but replacement door handles and new ignition switch are easy fixes.

A few cracks can be seen in the windshield but otherwise all the glass including the rear pop-outs are intact.

There are a few rust holes and bubbles under the paint here and there, and some pretty good sized holes in the bottom of the hood below the handle.

Aside from these issues, the body is in surprisingly pretty good shape for being a southern car. There’s a fair bit of old grayish-black undercoating peeling off everywhere underneath but I believe this is what saved the car from rusting completely out over the years. In my opinion, this bug is a great candidate for what I want to do with it.

CHASSIS

Both heater channels have moderate rust but are structurally intact. The floor pans have holes in all the typical areas such as behind the driver’s seat and under the battery compartment where a piece of tin had previously been riveted in over the corrosion. The rear luggage shelf is as holy as swiss cheese and will definitely need to be dealt with.

INTERIOR

The black front and rear seats are more than likely original and in pretty bad shape. The carpet has almost literally turned to dust and very crispy evidence of OEM floor mats were found. The interior is painted white and the headliner has a few pretty good-sized tears and will need to be replaced.

ENGINE

There is an engine in the car but it is not where you’d think it should be… the passenger seat had been removed and placed on top of the back seat and then sitting on the floor board was a 2.0L Type IV long block. Piled on top of the engine were boxes of extra parts including clutch components, two sets of down draft carbs (Dellorto and Weber), linkages, Type I and Type IV intake manifolds, a spare set of pistons and cylinders, spare Type IV heads, a generator and fan, a starter, gaskets, jars full of bolts and nuts, and an original early DTM fan shroud!

Fortunately, I have a spare Type I 1835cc engine with very low mileage that will eventually power the bug until I can get the Type IV rebuilt.