AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Samba vw bus3/7/2023 ![]() Then I uttered the words that haunt me to this day. I was moving to San Francisco and by law, I had to have that bus. A host of van-related possibilities laid out before me on the open road. Long slow drives up the coast during sunsets (always during sunsets) with my surfboards strapped to the roof. I think he said it was missing one of the rear bench seats and likely needed a new clutch soon, but by that time my brain had shut him out and was fabricating my new life with a VW bus. He rattled off the work he had done to the piece of automotive history and what still needed to be finished. ![]() When he made the $1500 sale offer, which he said was for me only, I turned and looked out the window of the Kinko's at the Microbus in the dark parking lot. (Full disclosure: Bring a Trailer is owned by Car and Driver' s parent company, Hearst Autos.)ġ962 Samba Microbus in the Volkswagen AutoMuseum. The restored beauty has only 300 miles post-restoration and looks like it did when it came off the lot in the early '60s. I thought of that deal when I came across this amazing 1962 Volkswagen 23-Window Samba on Bring a Trailer. Although it may have been a 21-window version. It was at this copy shop that has since been absorbed into the FedEx monolith that one of my coworkers offered me a once-in-a-lifetime deal: his 1963 VW 23-Window Samba Microbus for $1500. In 1999, I was a student living in Huntington Beach, California, taking classes in Long Beach during the day and working at a nearby Kinko's at night. If you want to be smarter than he was back then, you'll have to bring lots of cash: the bidding is already at $80,000 as of July 3.The Volkswagen classic reminds the author of the similar one he was offered by a co-worker in the late 1990s for only $1500, but turned down.The auction site Bring a Trailer is listing a pristine restored 1962 VW 23-Window Samba Bus at no reserve, with the listing set to expire on Tuesday, July 7.The seller says they have “sourced” period-correct doors, so hopefully, that will help with the search for replacement parts. If a buyer can get the purchase price down a little, this may be a worthy investment, especially for a skilled sheet metal fabricator. Hopefully, this one will get a second chance and get a face-lift. If this was your project, what would you do with the interior? You can convert it to a camper with a bed, small kitchenette, etc. It can be a great place for passengers with plush upholstery, door panels, and a headliner. There are so many options when it comes to interiors. Despite the outside appearance, this actually may be more solid than it looks at first glance. ![]() Like the driver’s area, the rear pan doesn’t look very rusty. You can see the dash-mounted clock, which is really cool. for the tip on this 23-window!Īmazingly the seat perch and dash don’t look too rusty. Located in South Jersey, it will take a dedicated person to tackle this one. It can be found here on craigslist with an asking price of $22,500. A quick search of the big auction houses shows just how popular these buses are… They routinely sell for around $100,000! This one is obviously a huge project and may eclipse six figures in the rebuild cost. This is a real 23-window VW bus produced in Germany in 1957. I would bet most people wouldn’t look twice at this rusty heap of a VW bus, but those of you that are regular Barn Find readers see something different.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |