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Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:14 am

Ok so I just realized that this old beetle that my buddy has is actually a sports beetle. He was always told it was really special and that it was worth alot of money, it's been in his family since the late 70's early 80's and is the 2nd or 3rd owner. So questions are:

is it worth any more because it's a sports beetle, I mean enough to where it should be restored properly and not modified in any way? I ask because it needs restored and if it were me I would talk him into upgrading certain aspects of the car such as the brakes, suspension, maybe the steering to a rack and pinion and swap out the engine with either a bigger one or possibly a subaru since that seems to be a cheaper alternative.

How available are the parts for a 73? It needs probably fenders and the side pieces, we've already got a donar car for a new floor pan. But I've heard since super beetles got no love and they kept making so many little changes in the 70's that parts were difficult to find for supers.

Any other thoughts you might have on this.

Thanks,
Bruce

Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:28 am

I have never been that much of a fan of supers, but it is still a VW, and is definately worth redoing! Whether its restoring, or turning it into a custom, there are plenty of resources on this site, as well as other places out there where you can get what you need to do your car right.
I have a 73 standard myself, and am smack dab in the middle of rewiring it! I have a laundry list of upgrades that I wanna do kinda like what you are thinking.
If I were you I would look at several types of styles of looks and take them to your buddy. He might even want to sell you the car and you can do what you want! When it comes to supers, I like the German look!!

Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:30 am

Depends who you talk to. The 70's SE Beetles do command a higher re-sale price but it isn't a huge amount and only if they are stock with all the correct parts. The Sports Bugs have a loyal following (I would love to get one) but owners either keep them stock or modify them in some way. Some increase the engine size, some upgrade the braking system etc. IMHO upgrading to the rack and pinion of the 75+ Supers is more trouble than it's worth. If your friend's Sports is complete and still stock, I would restore it to factory and not upgrade.

That's just me though. :wink:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/73sportsbug.php

http://www.sebeetles.com/sport.htm

Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:34 am

Yes it is still stock. But unfortunately it needs so much now that's where the concern is. If it's some crazy valuable Beetle that gets $$ restored to stock then that would be a good investment but not so much fun/safe to drive (well the way we drive). The beetle currently needs floorpans, complete interior redone, fenders, wheels redone, tires, engine rebuilt (probably), steering rebuilt (it shook alot at speed), suspension and brakes. It was about 120K miles on it but hasn't been driven in about 8 years and the body has several rust spots that need taken care of. My though since everything except the body needs touched would be restore it with all modern suspension, steering, brakes, tires, heating (maybe AC), running gears, and modern fuel injection through either a subaru 2.2 swap or megasquirt on a performance VW engine. If they are both worth about the same in the end to me that seems the easier route instead of scavenging for proper parts that are good. On a side note we used to own a performance shop and still have most of the tools so custom and fab work isnt the concern it's just he doesn't want to ruin a car that he thinks is truly rare.

19super73 wrote: Depends who you talk to. The 70's SE Beetles do command a higher re-sale price but it isn't a huge amount and only if they are stock with all the correct parts. The Sports Bugs have a loyal following (I would love to get one) but owners either keep them stock or modify them in some way. Some increase the engine size, some upgrade the braking system etc. IMHO upgrading to the rack and pinion of the 75+ Supers is more trouble than it's worth. If your friend's Sports is complete and still stock, I would restore it to factory and not upgrade.

That's just me though. :wink:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/73sportsbug.php

http://www.sebeetles.com/sport.htm

Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:46 am

Is he rebuilding it to keep or resell? If it's to keep, he can do whatever he wants with it. If it's to re-sell, I would suggest keeping it stock as there are fewer all stock Beetles (especially the SE ones) than modified Beetles. If he thinks he will get $30,000 or more for it, he is mistaken. By the sounds of it, he will be sinking $20,000 or more into it to fix it up and he will never see that money again.

Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:12 am

For every one dollar you put into a bug,, you get back less than 25 cents back !
Unless,, you are a magic man and do every single thing yourself and I mean everything - well, then you might - I say might, break close to even .

Those of us, that like it in the beetle mania, are not owners because of the money and we most certainly are not in here to flip and make money. We love the cars, the people, the fad, the style, and the dreams of happiness that these cars can bring to you !

Never met a bettlemaniac, that I didn't like !

Except, a, er, a, wel,l er, a,-- you know who you are!

Jerry