The Type 1 page

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This is my latest acquisition. A 1970 1500. This was bought for a number of reasons:

1970 was the year I was born, my auntie had a orange Beetle which is one of my first recollections ( I especially remember the 12v warning sticker on the passenger sill) and I think that the 1500 is the best Beetle model that VW ever made.

It has the shape and interior of the classic Beetle with the added benefit of disc front brakes and the strongest T1 engine plus my camper is also orange!!!

The Beetle was bought with nearly 10 month MOT but had a rotten beam and damaged caliper. How it passed the MOT I will never know! I have now bought a new L.H.D. beam which I need to convert to R.H.D. and a set of new calipers.

The Beetle is fairly complete. It has been fitted with a later (Mexican) 1300 engine but the original 1500 engine was also supplied which I am starting to collect all the bits required for a rebuild. The body is quite solid but I expect that when I start to poke around that I will find the usual rust spots and expect to change heater channels and bumper mounts etc. What attracted me to this Beetle was the way that the doors still closed. They close with a satisfying clunk with no drop whatsoever. Always a good sign. I have contacted VW in Wolfsburg for a certificate to show the manufacturing data for the vehicle and also DVLC for a list of all the previous owners, whom I have written to. If and when I receive any replies, I will post these up.

Update!!!! I sent letters to the 5 previous owners and had a couple of letters returned as "not known at this address" but had 2 back from previous owners.

The first owner has sadly died but the people who bought the house remember the Beetle from when they viewed the house, nearly 30 years ago. They especially remember the registration -HRB- "Herbie".

The 3rd owner, Mrs Shaw from Mansfield wrote back with a 3 page letter and a photograph. Mrs. Shaw purchased the Beetle in 1976 for £400!!!!!! as an insurance write-off. She remembers that not much work was need as only the suspension, door pillar and windscreen were damaged. Mrs. Shaw kept the Beetle for 15 years in which time she says that the Beetle never let her down!!! Excellent. On the downside, she removed the optional extra bumper over-riders as they became rusty. Bugger!!! As you can see from the photograph that she sent me, the condition of the Beetle looked very good (alloys are now not fitted) and has given me a lot of inspiration.
Photo of Mrs Shaw's



Update Feb. 2003

The Beetle has been sold! I doubt very much that it will be a Beetle for very long. I sold it along with a Beach buggy kit I had to fiance the gearbox re-build on the Caravelle. The Beetle was just too far gone to be rescued. The biggest problem was a great big dent in the roof hidden by filler and an increasing amount of rust in the roof seam which I could not see a way around getting rid of permanent.

This has not put me off Beetles, more that I will spend more time to find the right one next time.



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