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Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:58 pm

I have to say I'm shocked. The price, the hype, it's condition. My heart is
heavy. It wasn't a perfect car when I sold it, by current standards only a
cosmetic restoration. But to see it now....clearly someone disrespected the
poor thing.

Hopefully someone with the time, the money and the passion will give it a good home.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:28 pm

It is really good to see a lot of pictures from this car but......

O my god :shock:

Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:47 pm

Hi Phil,

What is the big handle for?
I don't have this on my rometsches

Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:48 pm

That look like a Bus church key sitting there - for the Bus engine lid or gas door.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:36 pm

You're correct, its a bus tool. Both the panel covering the battery area and
the vertical panel under the hard tonneau use simple latchs to lock them closed.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:01 pm

SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:

Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:21 pm

johnshenry wrote: SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:

at least it has a "what you see is what you get" appearance. sure, it could be vacuumed and all detailed out but i think comes across as a more honest car with storage dirt on it. not bad for 20 years.

the car has been in storage like he ad states. i see issues that only time creates. yellowing etc. i bet it sells.

i don't see any signs of disrespect. i know it's a bummer to see a vehicle that you used to own resurface for many times what you sold it for. you have to consider what the price might be if you still owned it. would it be even more? maybe less money? rare cars deserve top dollar. the seller is someone who has a handle on the market.

i'd like to see someone doing donuts in the snow in it. i think that would really add to the hype. :wink:

Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:45 pm

UZI wrote: johnshenry wrote: SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:
i'd like to see someone doing donuts in the snow in it. i think that would really add to the hype. :wink: =D>

Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:49 pm

spookymulder wrote: UZI wrote: johnshenry wrote: SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:
i'd like to see someone doing donuts in the snow in it. i think that would really add to the hype. :wink: =D>

Its in California. Good luck with that........ :D

Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:09 pm

johnshenry wrote: spookymulder wrote: UZI wrote: johnshenry wrote: SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:
i'd like to see someone doing donuts in the snow in it. i think that would really add to the hype. :wink: =D>

Its in California. Good luck with that........ :D Try again, it's east of the Mississippi :wink:

Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:34 pm

UZI wrote: johnshenry wrote: SplitPersonality wrote: Phil; This is even better than the lost pictures.....the real thing:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1109077

And trust me: If the Rometsch Registry of today had a big bank account - we would spend it on reuniting our founder with the "founder-car". But ....unfortunately there is not even a bank account...

For $125k do think he might have been able to at least vacuum it out!?!?

SHeesh.... :roll:

at least it has a "what you see is what you get" appearance. sure, it could be vacuumed and all detailed out but i think comes across as a more honest car with storage dirt on it. not bad for 20 years.

the car has been in storage like he ad states. i see issues that only time creates. yellowing etc. i bet it sells.

i don't see any signs of disrespect. i know it's a bummer to see a vehicle that you used to own resurface for many times what you sold it for. you have to consider what the price might be if you still owned it. would it be even more? maybe less money? rare cars deserve top dollar. the seller is someone who has a handle on the market.

i'd like to see someone doing donuts in the snow in it. i think that would really add to the hype. :wink:
To be honest with you I'm thrilled with the asking price, I hope they get it.
The condition its in is contrary to having been in a private collection of a respected collector.
It unfortunately appears to have been kicked outside and left to rot. This car(s) was far from weathertight and in the 18 years that we owned it, the car only saw water twice.

If treated with a little care it would at least still be considered a "driver", not a project. I won't
apologize for being passionate about a car. Because this car was an icon in its day and it
represents the untold efforts on our part to help save the marque from extinction. Pardon me for
beating my own drum, but on the west coast concours scene "Tin Cockroaches" weren't welcome.

But the Rometsch/VW was. TV, newspapers, magazines (USA & foreign) and books. We promoted
the cars as hard and as often as possible, always at our own expense. We're not responsible for
the status of the cars today and time may only show our names as a footnote in Rometsch VW history.

But hopefully it will be as caretakers, not abusers.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:20 am

so you acquired the car in 1976. at that point it was 18 years old. you owned it til 93. another 17 years went by. now another 18 years have gone by and clearly it needs work again. i take back what i said about the yellowing. it needs alot of stuff, hopefully not much. the insides of the doors have all sorts of paint peeling. that looks like a combination of bad prep work and the storage conditions. the chrome needs help. again, storage and climate. maybe the handles were rechromed back in the day? the rubber is dried out. there is some bubbling on the rockers. maybe it was driven one day, one of those "last drives" and it started raining and never truly dried out. the list could go on.

restorations only last so long before they look tired. restorations don't age gracefully. original cars do and can stand a bit of that "neglect" and don't look "ruined".

it's a sweet car. it's always cool to see a car from back in the day reemerge. if i wanted it, i could have it. i would need to sell a few cars. no big deal. if i got it, i would just leave it alone and enjoy it. that would never happen because it's out of the range that i would feel comfortable spending on a car and i won't own restored cars. wanna know why?

"tin cockroaches" :lol: i love it! can you spell out exactly what that means?

Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:31 am

I don't really see the point in saluting price inflation that gets this kind of car out of reach for most of us. A lot of people express their hopes that he gets what he's asking. Why? The VW hobby used to be a cheap way to get into the world of classic motoring. The oddballs like Hebs and Rometsches always stayed well above the beetles, but now the prices of slightly rare cars keep skyrocketing. Nothing we can do about that, but why cheer? It just means the cars gets tucked away as investments, and never gets to be seen again.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:06 am

The issue is, like most coachbuilts, there is not enough of them around, and sold to have a "market value", so prices are just picked out of the air. Some people would be fine driving cars in the condition shown in the ad, but none of those people are likely to spend $125k on one. And as Uzi points out, tired/patina'ed original is one thing, a tired resto is another.

In any case, I see a nice resto base when I look at those pics, not a driver. $125k is too high for a resto base, and $125k is too high for a Rometsch in that condition also...... just my opinion.

And BTW, I know Mac and I also know that if he had snow down there, he'd have no problems doing a few donuts in the snow with it.....

Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:10 pm

allsidius wrote: I don't really see the point in saluting price inflation that gets this kind of car out of reach for most of us. A lot of people express their hopes that he gets what he's asking. Why? The VW hobby used to be a cheap way to get into the world of classic motoring. The oddballs like Hebs and Rometsches always stayed well above the beetles, but now the prices of slightly rare cars keep skyrocketing. Nothing we can do about that, but why cheer? It just means the cars gets tucked away as investments, and never gets to be seen again.

VWs are still cheap in the world of classic cars. it's a hobby for most of us, a business for some here and an investment category for others. you buy the car, you do what you want to it if you choose. you sell the car, it's in someone else's hands and they do what they want to it.

i sold a car to someone. i saw them selling bits off of it, stuff that came on the car since it was new. i called them up and bought the car back. i paid too much but i have my car back. still missing some stuff but it didn't get any worse.

agreed-mac would do donuts.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:00 pm

"tin cockroaches" i love it! can you spell out exactly what that means?

A derogatory term used to describe the VW Beetle.

Hopefully the new owner will Show/Share the car with the VW community.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:45 pm

kingsburgphil wrote: "tin cockroaches" i love it! can you spell out exactly what that means?

A derogatory term used to describe the VW Beetle.

Hopefully the new owner will Show/Share the car with the VW community.

oh man, i thought it was the vultures and thieves of the VW scene :lol:

Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:21 am

The price on this car is about twice the highest price I have seen on a Lawrence. Granted I am a bit out of touch with the "scene". It looks to need a re-restore... and I cannot tell what kind of condition the metal is really in... so the price seems high.

Has the Red Beeskow sold yet???... at around the same price as this car... it is probably a better deal... because the Beeskows have always been in higher demand. The two cars at first glance seem to be in similar condition... both seem to have needs... but are not too bad.

To buy a cheap Rometsch (15- 30k or so these days)... like the rusted out crusty and bent ones... missing windshields etc. may seem like a good deal when you see asking prices on the cleaner ones... but ask anyone who has restored one exactly what it cost to get an alloy bodied, steel over wood frame car restored. Nobody wants to discuss what kind of money they spent on their Rometsch resto... but many of them have over 100k in resto cost in them.

This car... MaryBeth and Phil's old car... now has needs. I would say that fully restored... a lawrence might fetch 80-100k these days... after 8 months of marketing... and when the stars line up. So the price needs to be lowered... and then adjusted by the cost of the re-resto to find a buyer IMHO. (I'm not a a huge Lawrence fan... mind you.)

In the end they are fun cars.... They are fun to drive (with an okrasa)... and they are fun to talk to people about. Whether or not they are worth 100k+ even restored is just a matter of whether you like them or not... and whether you are willing to put that kind of money in your garage when you won't be able to get it quickly back out if need be. In all honesty it is a stupid financial decision to buy a Rometsch... restored or not!

I bought my Rometsch Beeskow because I really love the shape of the beeskow... and I love VW's and restoring them. My car has been restored about 15 years now... and I drive it a lot. And yes... as a matter of fact I HAVE done donuts in it... (ask the Golden Gate Vintage vw guys about this). (albeit... not in the snow) It is my favorite car.

You really need to decide whether you are willing to commit to own a Rometsch or not... as you may be owning it for a long time.. and unable to get your funds back out of it. (it isn't like spending 125 on a porsche speedster... which you could easily sell in a day or two if need be) The pool of buyers for a fully priced Rometsch... is pretty small.

Bottom line... if you like the car and have the money... negotiate a fair price and buy it. Do it because it will make you happy. They don't grow on trees.... In the last 25 years... I have seen less than two dozen sales... about one per year on average. Decent ones are QUITE hard to come by. The Beeskow and the Lawrence for sale right now... are the two best cars that have been for sale in about 10 years as far as I can see without actually having inspected them.

Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:30 pm

I can tell you something about rometsch prices:
I ve bought a rometsch coupe (nr 517) last year for a fraction of this askingprice. A few weeks later I bought togehter with christian Grundmann the 515 for almost the same price.
As far as I know last year a restored black convertible was sold for about 100K in Germany. A few years ago, a convertible on ebay was sold to vw for 70-75K USD. kieft and klock in the netherlands tried 1,5 Year to sell a unrestored rometsch coupe for 50K USD (I could not find it anymore on their homepage, is it sold?)
So, im my opinion the 125K is far away from a fair asking price.
Regards
Rene