My retirement car

[bandi]

I call it my retirement car because, well... this one's gonna take a while to do right... so being 29 now, I hope to have it finished by age 65. I've been after this car for 5 years and FINALLY convinced the owner to sell.

The car is a '52 Zwitter Deluxe which was rescued from a scrapyard in 1967, and had been sitting in the PO's barn for 30 years (which collapsed onto the car, hence the big dent in the roof), and then in his backyard for 15 years. 45 years of having nothing done with it is pretty impressive.

The plan is to restore the car, keeping it as stock as possible. I mean, in the meantime if I find an engine, I'm definitely going to drive it for a bit looking like this, but I want it back to its original state eventually.

This is how I found it in his yard. That's a '58 Ghia in front which has also been sitting for years.

4 months later, I finally had it on a trailer. We only had to chop down a couple of trees to get it out of the woods, as well as move a few Dodge Caravan carcasses.

Great sticker on the inside of the trunk.

Somebody "customized" the ashtray.

I'm going to be collecting parts for a few years but I'm going to at least work on getting the body straight in the meantime. I honestly can't believe how solid this car is, the pan is perfect, the heater channels are strong... I can't even find a 70's Bug around here with a good floor.

And today, I spent a bit of time and massaged most of the massive dent out of the roof. It's a tiny bit of progress, but at least the car looks a bit less mangled at this point!
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'60 Canadian Standard, '64 Bug, another '64 Bug, '66 Bug, '69 Sunroof Bug, '69 GT3 Bug, '71 Super, '72 Super, '73 Canadian Custom, '74 Love Bug, '83 Mexi Bug, '85 Cabrio, '94 Mexi Bug, '99 New Beetle, '02 New Beetle Turbo S, '03 New Beetle VR6. And some Fieros.

[LeviMan2001]

Wow! What a score! That thing looks like a perfect candidate for an OG paint/patina type thing as is. Clean it up, buff it out and just repair and re-attach the missing pieces and it'd be a great survivor.
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=366056 - My '73 Super Build. 2332cc, 16" Fuchs

[hemi]

nice score. looks to be an awesome project. good luck i will be watching to see your progress

[Rigamortiz]

What an amazing find!
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SBS UK #72 FNG

'65 Kombi (Daily driver)

[oxtaco]

congrats on the find.... now get to work you only have 36 years left to finish it.... LOL

[webberjames95]

[jmw1982]

gonna be following this thread for sure! nice score!!
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'60 Beetle Indigo Blue

[FunkFlex61]

Very cool find! Congrats!
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'60 Kombi Walk Through
'56 Euro. Ragtop
‘56 Standard Hardtop

[5lam]

What a find!! I hope I can come across something like this one day!
If I were you, I'd just massage all the dents out and roll it as is. It's pretty rare to come across something so solid, and that original paint would have a lot of stories to tell!
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Custom doesn't come in a Box!

[volkswagenut]

Very nice man . Good luck with the build
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We are a Republic, NOT a Democracy

[bandi]

[volkswagenut]

x2 OG paint.......
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We are a Republic, NOT a Democracy

[zuggbug]

congrats on a very nice zwitter.
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SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS
58 15 window
56 westy

[Quintus]

[Ghia Nut]

Here the thing about "patina"
I love it, when its good patina, I thought my car might have "patina" but it didnt so Im painting it.
GOOD paint is also HELLA expensive, time consuming, and hard to find a painter that knows what they are doing.
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'59 typ1 rajay turbo
'72 Ghia rajay 1641 dual 36DRLAs, 1 3/8" SS merged header and fat boy
78" GL Vert with ej22t swap
This will likely change tomorrow to something else.

[EMPIImp69]

That thing might retire you..

jus' kidding, good luck with it.
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1963 Ragtop Bug

[73sports]

Cool car. I brought a zwitter back to life after sitting for may years. It spent it's life on the east coast (New Jersey), and was amazingly solid. If you want to get all authentic with it, that ash tray is an oval one. The zwitter one doesn't have a handle or trim. Keep at it little by little, and you'll get it done.
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I will never lie, but sometimes the truth changes.

Central Jersey VW Society

[bandi]

[German U-Boat]

Have you ordered a Birth Certificate for it yet?!
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~Steven G.~
1957 Dove Blue Kombi

[bandi]