Restorer32 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 4 years ago we finished restoring a '49 Bug. Showed it at Hershey and it was nominated for a National Award. After Hershey we shipped the car to its owner in Paris. He played with it for a while then shipped it back over here and sold it. Wondering where it ended up. One of the most challenging restorations we've done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Challenging how? Unobtanium one-year-only parts, or something else? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 brother has a 53 Zwitter- yes parts are unobtainium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 It is a numbers matching car but almost all the '49 specific parts, headlights, taillights, bumpers, hubcaps, even the dome light were missing. We were able to find all the missing parts but at , let's say, great expense. We even found a pair of NOS cylinder heads in Brazil to replace the originals which were corroded beyond use. The valve seats and surrounding areas were completely eaten away. I questioned whether the pair we found actually were NOS but, by golly, when they arrived we saw that the valve seats had never even been cut. Eventually we sourced parts from Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England and Switzerland. A fellow in Switzerland had actually had the 3 different materials for the interior rewoven and had enough still available for us to finish our car. It was an early '49. Still had mechanical brakes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) There are two 49's for sale on the Samba and one 1945 The one below for sale is a # matching car for 125,000 A Rare Brezel 49 below for sale 1945 below for 280,000, has a 1946 engine. Looks like a command car appears to be the 2WD type instead of the AWD. It sits high because it's using the reduction gears ( like the early to 1967 bus ) like all the command cars had during the war. Edited September 17, 2019 by Pfeil (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John348 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) In 1969 my father took me to the New York Auto Show in the NY Coliseum, used to be on Central Park West and 59th Street. For some reason I remember that event. It was a big deal that VW had one on display in their booth. I have the brochure they gave out (somewhere). Edited September 17, 2019 by John348 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepher Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 That is insane money for a VW of any year. You could buy a very rare, nice American pre-war car for that asking price. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chistech Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Don’t know the year but I saw a split window bug in a building where my 32’ Olds had been stored up in Potsdam NY. Saw it about three years ago and it was part of a 80 or so car collection that got sold off. It was unrestored or at least, an older restoration though every car I saw in that building appeared to be in original condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 On 9/17/2019 at 8:28 AM, Restorer32 said: It is a numbers matching car but almost all the '49 specific parts, headlights, taillights, bumpers, hubcaps, even the dome light were missing. We were able to find all the missing parts but at , let's say, great expense. We even found a pair of NOS cylinder heads in Brazil to replace the originals which were corroded beyond use. The valve seats and surrounding areas were completely eaten away. I questioned whether the pair we found actually were NOS but, by golly, when they arrived we saw that the valve seats had never even been cut. Eventually we sourced parts from Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England and Switzerland. A fellow in Switzerland had actually had the 3 different materials for the interior rewoven and had enough still available for us to finish our car. It was an early '49. Still had mechanical brakes. Was your car similar to the one I posted above?? Also what was meant by "Still had mechanical brakes" ? The 111's 112's 115's and 116's had mechanical brakes up until April of 1962. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 Similar but not the same car. I was under the impression that '49 was the last year for mechanical brakes on German built VWs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Luddy Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I had no idea they are bringing that kind of money! Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 29 minutes ago, Restorer32 said: Similar but not the same car. I was under the impression that '49 was the last year for mechanical brakes on German built VWs. Those same models I mentioned were also the last to use the claw / wingnut and stud through the pan to fasten the seats ( no seat tracks ) and the old Reimspiess architecture engine, last version was the 36HP engine in 1965! I have a 65 111 that I've owned 51 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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