A rare early Split Beetle For Sale
We have had some very interesting cars come through the website over the years
and this green machine is certainly high on the list.
The current owner bought the car in 2006 and was told it was a 1947 Beetle
on a Kubelwagen chassis and that it had the original body/chassis and transmission with a 1950 engine.
What the car truly is when you look deep into it is still to be decided
but it is obvious that it is not as pure as it was spoken to be and that it has had
a very amateur restoration done in its past with many incorrect parts.
I will spell out the major things that I see as I go through the huge pile of photos the owner sent us
(and I apologize for any duplicates...of which there are quite a few)
I told the owner that the best way to sell the car is to let others decide for themselves what it
is and what it isn't rather than make any major claims.
It does however have a ton of early attributes and it is a car that
truly deserves to be restored properly and enjoyed.
So here we go on a wild ride through this green Beetle with all its good and bad.
If you see anything I missed or have any thoughts, please email them to us and we can update the page with
findings that appear accurate..
First of all I want to establish that this was no professional restoration.
The paint is a bit sloppy and thick by the looks of it.
The underside shows some corrosion and some poor quality repairs.
There is a lot of fiberglass in the bottom of the body that I am sure covers some rusty bits.
Things are pretty "solid" as in no big rust holes, but the repairs that have been done are pretty sloppy.
Front end does appear to be a very early short shock beam and the brakes are cable brakes.
Rear shocks have been converted to telescopic shocks rather than the early lever shocks.
Floorpans look solid overall.
Interior was done with striped cloth
Carpet shows age and minor staining
Looks like the pressing under the rear window is later design (48-up)
So what year body is this really?
Hand crank
Rear apron is a later model modified to accept the crank.
16" wheels including the spare.
Fuel tank is the small early style.
Front apron is incorrect.
Gauge pod and speedo look newer than 47 to me.
16" wheels with cog wheel caps
Body tag shows year 1947, obviously incorrect rivets holding it in place.
Taillights are newer than 47
Headlights and bumpers are newer as well.
This stamping on the tunnel of the chassis denotes a replacement chassis done by Volkswagen at some point.
KT stands for Kundendienst Tauchen. If a chassis was damaged to a point of no repair
the factory would provide a replacement chassis stamped with this number so it could pass the strict TUV test.
So I don't believe it truly is the original chassis to the car, however it may be have swapped out by VW themselves.
The engine is a 25 horse and the case number lines up with a 1950 production date
The car has spent some time in storage but it does reportedly run and drive.
Not sure on the door handle and window crank locations... correct for this early of a car?
You tell me.
Seats as well...are they right?
These look more like late split/early Oval to me...hard to tell.
Some more underside shots...
Transmission case looks early to me...
Definitely not the factory hole or apron
No body number stamped in the textured part of the front panel
This looks wrong to me...
Small gas tank is awesome
Solid metal glove boxes as well.
Dimpled shift knob and "L" choke pull
Those welds look pretty rough for the handbrake
Decklid has the proper large pressing under the plate!
Engine number
This number stamped in the chassis does match the number on the front tag
but with the KT stamping on the center tunnel, Im guessing the chassis was replaced.
Also while the tag up front shows 1947 in the year portion...when I looked up this chassis number
it appears to be a 1945 number.... so again...what do we really have here?
"Barn find" dust adds value these days...right?
Anyway, I'm a bit shy here to make any definitive claims of it being a 1947 Beetle
but its a split, and an early one, Its going to take a full restoration and a lot of money
in chasing the correct parts to really make it right...but youve got to start somewhere I guess,
its not like these cars are all over the place in any condition, so you have to take what you can get.
Its located in Arkansas by the way...
I wish it was here in the shop where i could really dig in deep and figure out exactly what it is
but its not...so we all just have to go with our gut.
I think its an awesome start for someone. Either to take it back to original spec or to use for
a basis of a custom build.
So...what do you see?
What would you do with it?
And what is it worth to you?
SOLD!
Interested?
Call
951 795-1175
Or email oldbug@earthlink.net