1972 Marathon Beetle

[philranma]

I own what I believe to be a Marathon Beetle. It has the famous 10 spoke marathon wheels and the original color of the car is on the inside of the doors under the door panels and it is the exact silver blue metallic paint that was offered on a Marathon. My main question is how rare or valuable are these models? I dont plan on selling it but was wondering if it was rare enough to be worth re-restoring it to its exact factory look and color. Also would it be possible to find 2 of the octagonal center caps that goes on the marathon wheels for sale somewhere for a decent price? Thanks

[philranma]

Um I kinds meant the restoration to be for SHOW not resale value or making money. I just wanted to know if it was worth the trouble to make it look all original if I plan on using it for carshow competitions. I know the judges take into consideration as to whether it is stock or modified. This car is my daily right now but now that I own a truck I was considering making a show only car. My main question is will the fact that this car is a marathon bug have any advantages in the carshow scene?

[norcalmike]

sure. repaint the original color, clean up the wheels and enjoy. if you want a bug to keep, you cant really put a value on resto cost.
marathon beetle or not, if you want your bug to look nice. restore it and dont look back.

[66foot]

phil -

Is this what you are looking for?

They can sometimes be found in the Samba classifieds, but they are kind of pricey.

Good luck on the restoration.

Pat (66foot)
_________________
"The perfect race car crosses the finish line in first place and then falls to pieces."
Ferdinand Porsche

[birddog1]

IMO it's depends what you think the word worth means.

If worth means you will spend alot of money restoring it and get it back when you sell it. Forget it. If you are an enthusiast with money to burn and want a Marathon -Go for it . There's not much increased value on a restored Marathon vs any other restored sbug. Very rarely, if ever, will you get what you put into a restoration on a resale for any late model Bug.

If you're not going for a show resto I wouldn't spend the money that you will need to spend on the center caps. Special editions aren't much of an investment unless they are original and you find a buyer with money and an obsession. Special edition Bugs are basically just special paint,.decals,interior. But a bug is a bug

[GatorJZ]

I will disagree with the others here (especially the rude guy). I believe a properly restored SE will command a premium (not a huge one) over a same year regular Super. It certainly would be of more interest at a car show.

[autocrat]

Let me start by saying that I owned a really decent 72 Marathon bug in the middle '80's, though then I didn't know what it was. It was given to me by a relative, who called it a "sun bug". To me, it was just another bug, even though it had the cute spoke wheels, because my fancy at the time was my 71 Ghia convertible. BTW, I repainted those spoke wheels by spraying the middle semi-gloss black, and putting a plastic plate that fit in the center as a mask, and spray-canned the rest silver. At the time, they looked fine.
Always try to moderate what you put into a vehicle. Don't get too deep in the bucket, and spend much more than the car is worth. Do as much work yourself as you can.
If you love it, preserve it, but watch the cost. Assume your time is free, which it is not. Most people don't have the money to buy a totally restored car, so they buy one that's affordable and make "payments" by fixing it up. Depending on the condition of yours, it may be much cheaper to sell it and buy a really nice one.
The Marathon bug may not be worth much over any 72 Super sedan, now, but...
I remember when '64 GTO post sedans were only good for parts cars or drag racers. I also remember '58 Impalas being dismissed as "tanks" by the too-hip 55-6-7 Chevy crowd, let alone anything newer. I remember in the late '60's a national "hotrod" magazine quoting that no post-war Ford would be worth anything.
Racing and hotrodding thin the herd of solid, unrestored cars, but many times keep cars around that otherwise would end up at the crusher.
There is much truth about never recouping restoration costs, even on currently "hot" collectables...a stock 58 Impala for $65,000 probably has at least that in it.
The best advice is to let someone else restore a car, then buy it from them, or find the nicest unrestored car available. Just make sure it's not a rustbucket with a pretty veneer. One thing about a car you own is that you really get to know it's true condition.
I know someone who bought a 356 cabrio. and brought it to me to see, as he knew I had a little "car smarts". It was kinda lumpy, but sported a new "resale red" paint job. I never gave it a real close inspection, but strongly advised him to sell it and buy a nicer car. He ignored my advise and spent a fortune on it. The car had steel wool stuffed into rustouts and bondo trowelled over! Later, he needed to sell it and advertised it. A Porshe guy looked it over, read the numbers, and stated that it was originally a coupe! He took a royal bath on that deal.
Moral- do your homework.
If a unique custom is your fancy, buy someone elses car and change the color...it's instantly "yours".
That being said, I've never followed my own advice, because I enjoy the process of bringing a sad relic back to life, but I try to temper my costs.

[philranma]

Here is a pic of my bug as it looks right now. I think that I will just keep it the way that I orginally intended it to look b4 I discovered that it was a Marathon. I guess my goal was to kinda make it known that my bug was a marathon but considering it will be a waste of money (which I dont have alot of) then I'll simply be satisfied with what I have. My main reason I was concerned about making this car OEM was mainly for the purpose of honoring the originality of it as a special edition but honestly I guess in the long run no matter what color or how much its modified or stock it will always be a marathon on the inside. So thanks for the advice and help guys.

There is one thing that I changed on my bug since this pic was taken and that is the addition of fog lamps on the underside of the front bumper and now the wheels are satin black and the drums are painted the same color as the body of the car.

[autocrat]

Looks like a really nice one. Enjoy it as-is. Later, maybe years later, when it needs repainting, you could opt for the Marathon metallic silver-blue.

[gt1953]

Start by stock piling the parts you want for the stock vehicle. Keep it stock.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[jhicken]

To go back to your original question, it you were going to restore the car, it would be in your and the car's best interest to return it to it's original condition. An originally restored car will always hold it's value better than one that is not restored to original. This specially applies to later special edition cars. As time goes on SE cars will increase in value. They may only be cosmetic differences, but they still are more unique than non SE cars. If you put two similarly restored cars next to each other, one an SE car, and one not, the SE would be a better value. It may not be important to everyone, but it will be important to some.

As for your car, it looks nice. I agree with the statements above. I'd probably just roll with it as it is. Start doing a little more research on Marathon Beetles. Find pictures, brochures and other official info about the car. I believe they had unique badging and interiors besides the paint and wheels. Find others with Marathon Beetles and pick their brains for more info. Start collecting the parts you are missing. No hurry because your car is in good shape. Once you get it all together, and have had the time to save up the money for the paint, then make your move. Once completed, you will not only have a nice car but you'll have one with a pedigree.

-jeffrey
_________________
Der Kleiner Kampfwagens

[Nessy]

I find this thread very interesting as I always thought that the term 'Marathon Beetle' only ever applied to a UK-market model brought out in 1972 to celebrate the (supposed) production overtaking of the Ford Model T by the Beetle.
In the UK at least, the 'Marathon Beetle' was based on the 1300 Deluxe saloon and was finished in Marathon Metallic Blue with the same special Lemmerz wheels, the cars also having a commemorative medal on the dash and a special certificate of authenticity.
The trouble is, this paint shade didn't prove to be very durable in our damp climate and soon became infamous for peeling/flaking etc and many UK Marathon Beetles ended up being resprayed in other colours.
They aren't rare over here, but not excactly common either; if I ever came across one as a resto project I'd certainly consider buying it.
I have to admit that the Marathon wheel is one of my favourite factory rims and I love the octagonal centre caps.
The caps don't rust as they are not steel, but alloy.
The wheels haven't traditionally been very expensive, but I have noticed lately that the price of the centre caps is going up and up, particularly if undented.
Another factor to be aware of is that the Marathon wheel was available in 2 offsets, ET34 for use on the Beetle, and ET46 for use on the Type 3.


_________________
1972 1302LS Convertible RHD

[jhicken]

Technically the Marathon Beetle here in the US was referred to as the Baja Champion and was badged as such. I was under the impression that he had a Marathon Beetle here in the US. In either case, an accurate restoration would be worth while.

If they are common in the UK, the UK ebay might be a good place to find things like the wheel caps and other parts shared by the two cars.

-jeffrey
_________________
Der Kleiner Kampfwagens

[Rome]

Nessy, ET46 wheel for T3? That's one I did not know of and nevr noted here in the USA! I'd think a T3 with those wheels would still look "top-heavy", whereby those from the Beetle (ET34) would look a bit more "stable" due to the outward offset/deep dish look.

The "Baja Champion" here in the US had a small oval cast metal badge that was self-adhered to the bare-painted glovebox. I'm sure it was a dealer installation, or at least at the ports of entry. Baja of course referring to the Baja 1000 (or 500) desert race in Baja California (Mexico), even though the model was built to commemorate the Beetle being the most-produced vehicle design in history (beating the Model T at 15,.....34).

To the original poster, the paint job currently on your car sure looks decent and glossy. You might be in for an investment of several thousand $ if you did an exterior color change to the correct color.

[Nessy]

[philranma]

Wow guys thanks for all the info and advice on this matter. I realized that you said that there was a badge that said baja champion or something of that nature, now I feel stupid because for some odd reason I had that badge on my bug but it was on the center of the steering wheel when I got it. Of course it looked as though the badge may have been relocated by the previous owner. What makes me feel worse is the fact that when I installed a racing wheel I think I threw the original sterring wheel away since it was in realy bad shape. Oops

[philkvw]

Thought id show a recently resto'd marathon - car is in original colour and will always stay that way to identify it as a marathon beetle (during my ownership anyhow)

[philranma]

Wow thats a really nice bug! May I ask how much you spent on lowering the front? The reason I ask is the fact that I want to lower the front on mine as well.
_________________
72 Super Beetle
89 Ranger
94 Dakota

[jose amador]

Hello philranma, in Portugal we have too this SE named World Champion (Weltmeister). I read it´s a special edition of 6.000 cars builts between 19 Feb and 31 March 1972 because de Super Beetle as broken the record of 15.000.000 units of the Ford T. The car it's a 1302S with the number 15.007.034. In Portugal is colour it's Marina Blue L54D. Some pictures of my "Weltmeister":

[philkvw]