1963 VW "Double Double" Cab Tow Truck For Sale
This has got to be one of the most intriguing VWs we have aver had listed here on Oldbug.com
At first glance it is just a basic worn old double cab, but the more you look, the wilder it gets!
The modified fender wells...yeah,...seen that a million times.
The tow truck boom in the back...now THAT is something different.
From the front it all seems pretty normal...but dont judge the book by this cover shot!
Out back it gets stranger and stranger...whats with the big HOLE in the back?
Say what???
Powered by TWIN VW engines???
How the heck do you pull that off???
Sure enough, someone did it...they mated two VW engines on top of each other
to make a double decker flat 8 cylinder engine!!
And back in the day...this one ran!
The truck was used by Norton Enterprises to tow cars around and it reported ran for 70,000 miles like this before
a trip to Reno Nevada in cold weather when the driver tried to keep the engine temps up by putting a towel over the oil cooler...
this ended it and it has not been run since.
The dash has been modified as well with added instruments to monitor both engines.
The truck was painted as you see it back in 1981....it is showing it's age
Underneath doesnt look too bad
Just a bit of rust...but really not bad considering how rough these get when left outside.
Cool looking rig!
The engines in detail are really insane.
I just cant wrap my head around how it all works, but it did work.
Norton was an engine master and rebuilt thousands of them in his workshop.
He liked to experiment with them and this was his wildest one yet.
The case was stamped 1979 which is when the engines were built...the first start up with April 10th in 79.
The top engine started as a 1300cc block from a 66 Beetle and both top and bottom engines are 1851cc with a roller crank.
Check out this oil shield in the head on the top engine...built to keep the lubrication where it was needed.
Intake off the back...originally had a Holley "Bug Spray" but was upgraded to a Holley 500 with an adaptor.
The exhaust and pulley system is wild.
Can you imagine the sound that engine package made?
The story of the truck is that Norton bought it in 1970 and put the tow truck boom on in about 1972.
He put over 100,000 miles on the truck, using it as a hauler for the business.
The truck was rear ended hard by a drunk driver at one point and the truck then became
a wild project.
The rear passenger compartment was converted to a bed with a mattress and an alarm clock and gas heater from a Corvair.
The gas tank was swapped for a 30 gallon unit from an old boat...it was built to be driven...and it was driven a LOT!
There is rust here and there like at the base of the side door.
The rear area has flat sheet metal in place and there are some rust issues at the bottom corners.
A cozy place to be with a mattress stuck back here, eh?
Front floors have been patched up.
The dash is Wild!!
Some of these photos obviously show it with the engines out... but they are back in place now and
will come with it along with all the towing stuff.
This was a functional tow rig!
Check out the oil cooler set up!!
No wonder it was running cold!!
The more you look at the engines the more you trip out.
The current owner contacted the builder some time back and the guy's response to him about
trying to get it running again was "Boy...dont you open those cases...you just cant handle it!"
This really needs to get in the hands of an engine master such as Norton himself.
I am sure it could be made to run again but it is not a job to be taken lightly.
Insane!
I suppose you could just restore the truck back to stock if you wanted something "normal" but the history of this one is just too intriguing for me.
I would have to give it serious go to try to get it running again and on the road the way it was in it's heyday.
Truck is currently located in North Carolina.
Asking
$12,750 obo
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951-767-1600
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