Volkswagen Beetle 1300

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One of the most influential cars of all time, the remarkable VW Beetle was designed in the late 1930s by the equally remarkable Dr Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the company which ultimately developed the air-cooled ‘Bug’ into the world’s most revered supercar, the Porsche 911.

Dr Porsche was responding to a brief from Hitler himself to develop an utterly reliable ‘volkswagen’ (‘people’s car’) capable of carrying two adults and three children at 100kmh (62mph) for under 1,000 Reichmarks – about the price of a small motorcycle.

Beautifully functional, the bodywork was attached to the nearly flat chassis with just 18 bolts and was so tightly constructed that it would float for several minutes if driven into water. Suspension was independent all round, using torsion bars for compactness. The air-cooled, rear-mounted, flat-four engine drove the rear wheels and was constructed of lightweight alloy, as was the gearbox.

The VW proved famously reliable in both the coldest winters and the hottest summers, and was capable of charging along the new autobahns flat out all day without protest. Remarkably ‘elastic’, it always felt more powerful than it actually was. While the overall appearance of the Beetle changed little, it received over 78,000 incremental changes during its incredible 65-year production run.

First registered in February 1966, this original right-hand drive Beetle 1300 is a nice early model with sloping headlights. It has had just four owners from new and was acquired by the vendor in 1996 to join his private collection. Shortly after acquisition the car was treated to a refurbishment which included a repaint from the original orange to black at a cost of some £3,000. Various other improvements have also been carried out over the years including the fitment of American-style bumpers, a 12v conversion to improve the functioning of lights and wipers etc, a replacement heat exchanger, new window runners and a new set of tyres.

Kept in a heated garage when not in use, the car has only covered some 7,000 miles during the current 19-year ownership and is said to run and drive well, always proving utterly reliable, even after a long lay up. It certainly fired up promptly and ran very sweetly as we manoeuvred it for these pictures. MOTd until March 2016 (with no advisories recorded), it comes with a V5C, an original service book, various old MOTs and maintenance bills and a Haynes workshop manual.

Only offered for sale due to a change in the vendor’s collecting policy, the space the Wolfsburg Beetle takes up is now required for a recently purchased Coventry Cat...

AMENDMENT; The VOSA web site confirms the MoT date as 4 March 2016, but the document is not with the paperwork.