Give me your honest assessment of this 55 please (50pics)

[dnh1263]

My step mom owns this 55 semaphore bug. She had a family friend offer to restore it for her. He's had it for 6-7 years and has done very little if anything. She was under the assumption that it was slowly being restored but never asked for updates or progress pics. She's in her mid 70's and very patient or really didn't care much about the VW.

I recently reached out to the guy and asked about the bug. He told me it was in bad shape and he didn't really have the time to work on it, didn't have the money to buy parts, parts are really hard to find, the dog ate my homework etc. etc. etc. I asked for pics and finally got them 2 weeks later (last night).

I know nothing about restoring a 55 VW. I can say that back in the early 1990's this bug was mine and my dad and I rebuilt the engine with all new German parts, rebuilt the front end and the entire brake system. Everything electrical worked back then too. Even the semaphores flipped up and lit up.
Since those repairs, it was driven less than 10 miles and parked outside to rust away. THE ENGINE DOES RUN NOW. The interior panels and seats are with the VW but not seen in the pics.

I'd like to get some professional/hobbyist opinions from people who have restored or had an old bug restored. I'm hoping to help advise my stepmom what to do next after the guy brings the bug back to her.
Please look at the pics and tell me...

1. Is it worth restoring?

2. How long should a restoration take roughly?

3. How much is the bug worth as it sits?

4. How much would the restoration cost roughly? By restoration, I mean a nice looking driver that you'd be proud to drive and occasionally take to a show... not a concourse show winner.

5. Once restored, what would its value be?

[dnh1263]

The more I look at the pics, the more I realize the 67 year old patina is amazing. Vintage car owners probably spend weeks trying to fake a patina like this on their car .

What about doing a resto of the interior, the mechanicals, floor boards, heater channels and patch any holes and leaving the exterior as it is? That would be much less expensive right?

[FritzCP]

The car is an early 55 Ribbed Door Oval and should be restored by someone and not parted out. It has many of its march and earlier parts on it which are extremely hard to find and expensive when you do. The Fenders, hood, early Spring W decklid, 5 bolt front hood, small hole heater channels, OG egg tail lights, headlight buckets probably too etc etc. Seat frames, door panels etc all add up. Engine looks half period correct, and if it runs, thats fantastic.

The car is very desireable to collectors and is worth restoring correctly. nowadays correct panels exist by more vendors to put it back to investment level. Klassicfab, Wolf parts, autocraft and WW are a few. but the car has issues and will show many more sins once media blasted and finding anyone to fix rust is very difficult to do at any labor rate.

If you want to restore a rusty VW to keep forever, this is a great car to do. If you do not want rust , dont really car about being a purist or correct and this car doesnt carry sentimental value or time/ cost is a concern, in lieu of halfassing it, Id sell it and buy a mid 60s solid driver turnkey and enjoy today.

I think youd have about 4-500 hours in dirty work/ metal work, prep and paint to a good resto level. 5-10k in metal panels, paint and supplies to make it pretty
couple hundered hours in assembly and clean work
15k in correct pre/55 parts refurb/ restor and interior.
5k in drivetrain and suspension re-refresh.

so 800 - 1000 hours of time invested in finding, buying using correct as you can get parts,/ fixing the OG sheetmetal on there.
$20-30k in parts and specialized mechanical labor

Its a 5-8k car as it sits with title. - maybe more depending on the guy.
once done w/ correct parts, OG color, and correct materials used, above average level - 40-50k+ in todays market

Chris at classicvwbugs.com has a recent video he covers this exact question as well in regards to early bugs and would be a good resource to inquire about.

generally speaking, you will spend 2x the money and take years off your life fixing the turd you have than it would cost to buy an equivelant car today by writing a check and just driving away. my .02
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[dnh1263]

Thank you fritz for the in depth assessment.

[esde]

That car could be saved. But if you do not have the ability to do some of it yourself it will be very expensive. I see an easy 15k doing the aprons/ heater channels/ floors/ luggage area/ rear fender wells. And that doesn't address the doors/ hood/ hard to repair rust at the folded rain gutters. By the time you pay a shop to do it all...
It is a great car as it has almost all of the correct 55 parts, and as noted they are hard to find and expensive to purchase. But absolutely everything needs to be gone through. If you're paying someone you'll be underwater on it quickly.
The other route would be to do the floors, channels and hinge pillars, and drive it like the crusty barnacle that it is. Get some enjoyment out of it, and decide if you want to take it further. If it drives, you would always be able to sell it quickly.
Just my .02
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[VW_Jimbo]

[pig-pen]

[Bugged Again]

While it’s a great car to be saved it needs a full time commitment otherwise it could take somebody years and that’s not practical. I know value can be a tough one. I would go with what someone else mentioned at 3500-7000.

Give Chris a call? Thanks for sharing.

[dnh1263]

Thanks everyone. I doubt she's going to want to dump $60k into it or even half that amount to be honest. But at least it should soon be back in her possession so she can decide what to do.

[Major Woody]

All of the input here is good. Get it out of the weather, though. VWs are reliant on their rubber seals to keep water out, even if the windows are up. What little paint is left is doing nothing.
Unless she's super into it and willing to spend the 30-40k it would take for a decent restoration, she should sell it while there is something of value to sell.

[markendee]

[quote="VW_Jimbo"]

[adaysnight]

the chrome headlight rings are most likely a relatively recent replacement but why? also, i see what looks like a windshield washer jet, was this a dealer option? i don't think stock 55s came with that...

early 55s are rare and, from what i hear, they are not making them anymore. but this one needs a lot of work and it won't be cheap, even if you do most yourself. i would start with a car in much better condition, pay upfront and enjoy restoring the "little" things while driving it around...

[janerick3]

[dnh1263]

[dnh1263]

Here's the same VW the last time I drove it. I'm guessing it was the early 1990's. My dad (rip dad) was a VW mechanic for 30+ years working on mostly older models out of our 6 bay home garage. He and I had rebuilt the engine using all German NOS parts, the front end and the brake system.

Dad was especially proud of the NOS muffler he found for the car. He said it was very rare because it had "VW" embossed on the round side and only one exhaust pipe. I can see the square tip in the pics. I'm sure this NOS muffler is rusted away today though.

[EverettB]

The VW-stamped single tip mufflers are hard to find but maybe easier now with the internet, etc.

I still see them pop up from time to time in the classifieds here, although very expensive now even though there are non-VW-stamped repros.
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[txoval]

$60k if your lucky

The bottom 12” of the car need to be replaced, luggage area, trunk, etc

I’d part it out…seats and tail lights will bring $$

[dnh1263]

How blasphemous would it be to put a 56 pan under this 55 and incorrect heater channels?

[VW_Jimbo]

It is your car, do whatever you want to!
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