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Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:14 pm

I'm going to look at a RHD zwitter tomorrow. How rare are they? Are zwitters still just viewed as a poor man's split?

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:21 pm

1960bus wrote: Are zwitters still just viewed as a poor man's split?

No, they're viewed as a rich man's oval.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:24 pm

So not worth bothering with for 5700 dollars?

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:28 pm

Why would you care what other people think? If you like the car, buy it.

How much rust does it have? How beat up is it?

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:33 pm

I'm trying to guage what to pay. I would drive the car if I liked it. I think it's pretty rare to see rhd split windows even if it is a zwitter, which attracts me to owning it more that if it were a LHD zwitter. It has no rust just dull paint I've been told. The car is running and driving but needs work.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:38 pm

Quote: "It has no rust...."

The odds are not in your favor.... Let us know what you find...

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:42 pm

The seller told me it has been dry stored since it was imported from Sri Lanka 10 years ago, so he may be right. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:38 pm

A real RHD zwitter would be quite rare. Post good pics of the dash... only 36 or so RHD 53's were exported to Australia, so there weren't really many RHD 53 ovals at all. Zwitter RHD production is probably even lower....

Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:18 am

worth every cent to be able to get the ribbing from the "real Split" owners
;)

Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:48 pm

i say if you like it get it.
i personally like my zwitter better than any of my early splits that i own or have owned in the past.
the double dash and the popes nose just dont do it for me. yes, the zwitter is basically an oval with a split rear window and a bunch of bastard one year parts on it.
as for being a poor mans split. well i have around $30k in my zwitter
and im not sure how much i have in the 51-52 baja.

i have a good chunk of change in the 52 and i havent even started restoring it yet(yes i said restoring, going all stock with that one)
just remember that every missing part on a pre zwitter split is gonna cost you

Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:42 am

The car had no rust but it had been welded along the door bottom, rear quarters, underside of heater channels, the back part of the pans. The welding from the backside of the doors looked like very neat butt welds done with gas. The rear wings and lights were wrong. The black respray paint was crazed and peeling in places underneath looks like sand beige. The chassis number was not readable but seemed to be there. The dash has the zwitter ashtray and seems to be original so it looks like a RHD. The car is missing the rear window trims and one rear quarter trim. It has a broken semphore and replacement interior covers. As far as I have heard there are two other RHD zwitters that are known so far bus I'd guess theres quite a few more.

Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:47 pm

Is this one of the known ones you mention?

Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:09 am

I don't think it is. Do you know who's car this is and if it is an original ragtop?

Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:33 am

I know who's car it is, but I don't have many details. I think it spent the majority of its life in South America, if I remember correctly. It was in VW Trends quite a while back. If I get time this evening I'll scan in the article.

Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:32 pm

I was mistaken about South America, but this zwitter is well travelled. Read the article, it has a lot of details.

Sat Dec 05, 2009 1:03 pm

I'm lead to believe that 77000 zwitters were produced ,
does anyone have an idea how many RHD zwitters were produced?

Sat Dec 05, 2009 1:13 pm

Just under 58k Zwitters were made.
Nobody knows how many RHD ones were made because VW didn't keep track of that. Same thing applies to a sunroof car.

Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:41 pm

So the RHD zwitter in my garage is a rare car?
Roughly how many could have been RHD of the 58k?

Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:53 pm

madjoiner wrote:
Roughly how many could have been RHD of the 58k? Bruce wrote:
Nobody knows how many RHD ones were made because VW didn't keep track of that.

Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:00 pm

Thats the only RHD sunroof zwitter i have ever seen, and i have been into VWs for the last 25years .There was a thread on finding a rhd sunroof zwitter a while back and nothing showed up.Fantastic car :D