“How is the market going for the Bug?” People worry from time to time about investing into a project or buying a bug that is already fully restored.
Everyone should hone up on the market before buying anything, and if you are buying a project to restore yourself, do your HW on what parts will be needed to get the car back on the road, maybe even bring a body/fender man to see the car before purchase so he can give you an idea of what it will take to splash a fresh coat of paint on it. Grab the calculator and do a worst case scenario, purchase price, parts, paint, and your time, this will all play a deciding roll whether to go forward or not.
Keep in mind that every car is different depending on year, the price for say a 70s project may seem high, but not for a 50s project.
Too many people I see buy on impulse and think they have a weekend project on hand, be careful not to fall into the trap. The older these cars get the more TLC they will need.
For a car that had a rather odious beginning as a people’s car commissioned by Adolf Hitler, the Beetle came to be loved by multiple generations of basic transportation seekers on every continent with the possible exception of Antarctica. Originally promised to pre-war Germans who saved the requisite amount of Reichsmarks, it wasn’t until after the war that a Beetle was delivered to a private customer. Beetles of the 1950s and 1960s were marked by evolutionary rather than wholesale changes. A minor increase in horsepower and displacement and several different rear window designs (a small split window, a small oval window and a larger window) was about it through 1967. The 1960 “Think Small” advertising campaign is still studied in marketing classes around the world. Throughout most of its life in the U.S., the Beetle was offered in sedan and cabriolet body styles. Pre-1968 Beetles were inexpensive but never cheap. They were well-assembled, used first-rate interior materials and have a charm that’s lacking in later cars. Just about every part for a Beetle is readily available and most are quite inexpensive.