1956 VW Oval Window Ragtop For Sale @ Oldbug.com

1956 VW Beetle For Sale ~ Belgian Oval Ragtop

This is a beautiful Beetle.
Great year, great colors, nice quality restoration and a very interesting history.

This 1956 model Beetle was built in Belgium, not in Germany!
VW had factories all over the world to keep up with production.
In 1954 the Belgian importer D'leteren started assembling VWs along with the other cars they handled.
D'leteren actually built American cars at the plant as well...they had been building Studebakers there since 1949.

While the majority of the parts came to them from Wolfsburg, some parts were sourced locally to save costs of transportation.
The Belgian cars are almost identical to the German ones, with the exception of these few details.

This car somehow made to to the shores of the US and to sunny southern California.
The history is not fully known how or when, but a few years back it was discovered by a California
VW restorer in the San Diego area that took the car on as a personal project.
He restored the car to factory specs with just minor upgrades, but wanted to stay true
to the original specs and celebrate the car's history.
He used top level parts throughout, the interior as an example came from West Coast Classics,
one of the very best in the business, and it is done in the proper materials and stitch patterns.

Gorgeous interior...that material is fantastic.

Trimmed out nice behind the rear seat as well...note the proper early backing on the seat with the luggage rails.

The dash is fitted with a very cool speaker grille mounted tachometer.
A glove box pull is also an accessory as is the turn signal switch that is in the car.

The paint was all redone in the original color code and looks wonderful.

The Belgian spec taillight lenses are a little different than the "snowflake" lenses on German cars.

The glass was one of the parts sourced locally in Belgium...much safer and cost effective than shipping from Germany.
As a result the glass markings differ from the Sekurit brand we normally see.

Gotta love that view through the Oval!
Design wise I think it is hard to top an Oval when it comes to the different eras of Beetles.

Other interesting details that differ from the German built cars.
D'leteren stamped a production number for each car on the access plate under the front hood.

The wheel rims were also sourced locally rather than coming from Germany.
As a result the design is slightly different with the centers being rivited rather than welded as they were in Germany by this time.

Wheels are date coded too by the way.

Being a European spec car originally the car has the small bumper guards and semaphore turn signals.
Out back in the original 36 horse engine that has been treated to a performance upgrade with dual carbs!

This "Okrasa" performance upgrade is a reproduction made by Wolfsburg West in California.
It not only gives that little 36hp a few more ponies, it also looks fantastic.

Engine number

An Abarth style 4 tip exhaust has been installed which was a common combination with the Okrasa tuning.
Car is clean and solid underneath.

Under the front hood is also cleanly detailed.

Great looking car and with the factory sunroof it is a very fun driver.
The tires are modern radials with the whitewall trims.
The chrome and trim on the car is all like new.