Brand new to old beetles

[halcyon]

I am thinking about buying my neighbor's 1872 Super Beetle for $2,300. I don't know much about the classic Beetles, but I am a bit of a VW fan(own a 2002 GTI 1.8T). First of all, I researched this a little bit, and found out that this has a 1.6L engine. I was wondering, what kind of mileage does this get? How much horsepower does it have? Also my dad(he pays my insurance) wants to know how much the insurance is on one of these?

[ice baller]

Do your self a favore and buy and older bug,they look better and more classic look. Pre 67 are nice.A 1.6L isnt big and around 50hp stock depends how maintain its been. Youll get in the high 20s miles per gallon.And the old year of bug you go the more insurance you will pay, if my bug was a 66 or newer ill pay less.Mine is a 61 and I pay about 40bucks more.
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Vicious Wagons#1

[73BuzzBomb]

Ice Baller...
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'73 Super
2270 type IV

[79SuperVert]

Depends on what kind of condition it's in. If there's no rust and it generally looks and runs and shifts good then $2,000 should be the most you pay for it unless it's one of those cars with 10,000 miles on it or it's in show condition. But any rust (under the battery, under the carpet, along the heater channels, in the wheel wells, around the windows) is going to cost you. Go over the car thoroughly. And drive it at 60mph to see if it shimmies. That's more work and $, too. Then point everything out to the seller and negotiate.

If you're new to air cooleds then a Super is a good place to start. You'll find out if you really like messing with them and then maybe you'll pony up the extra bucks later on to buy an older standard.

Insurance is not a good deal unless you buy collector car insurance. Regular insurance is just going to pay you "book" value which for an old car is probably going to be less than what the insurance is going to cost you in a year. Put the money in the bank instead in case you need it to fix up the Beetle later.

[jhicken]

A '72 super is a great car. Only thing I'd like to add is that if you are used to driving more modern cars like your GTI, this will be a very different experience. Although supers handle better and are a little faster than earlier brothers, their performance is still nowhere near that of a GTI.

Good luck and post some pics if you get it.

-jeffrey

[1973 1303S]

...although a 1872 super is very rare
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[halcyon]

Cool, thanks for the info guys. I understand its gonna be completely diffferent experience than modern cars, but that's why I'm getting it. I think it would be cool to own a classic VW. Heopfully I'll know by today if I'm getting it.

PS its a 1972... not 1872 lol.