Volkswagen Beetle 1302S

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Forty-eight years is a long time to own a car, yet that is exactly how long our vendor has had this funky orange VW Beetle.

In fact he bought it brand new and has hung onto it ever since. It was first registered on 10th November 1971 and the logbook describes it as a 1600 E Variant, but we know it as a 1302S. Our vendor, an Australian living in the UK, took it to Oz with him but shipped it back in 1973 and has cared for it ever after.

He says that: “Between 1971 and 1997 it did about 4,000 miles a year. In 1997 it had a major refurbishment and ceased to be used daily. Since then it has lived in retirement and has done only about 650 miles a year.” The current recorded mileage is 14,419 but in reality you can stick a 1 on that – 114,419.

The bills for the refurbishment work have long since gone astray but the vendor says it covered new sills, general titivation and a respray at a cost of around £4,000 at VW specialist Paul Fosters in Birmingham. In December 2011 the car was stationary when an unwarranted attack by White Van Man damaged the off-side rear bumper. The damage was put right by Sean Billinge of Stanton Lacy who also went round the rest of the car sorting out any potential rust spots. The £702 bill for the work is on file, as is an MOT which runs to August 2019.

The Beetle is only for sale as the owner has lost his covered storage and his daughter – get this – “does not think it would be practical”. Kids today… The vendor hopes that the next owner – only the second – will cherish the car as much as he has and look after it for the next forty-odd years. We hope so too.