"Gretchen" 1963 Beetle - origins of the plaid upholstery?

[smoofcrew]

Hey all,

I'm brand new to the forum and brand new to Beetle ownership. I picked up this beauty a couple weeks ago and am super excited to have her! She's a '63 ragtop in pretty good condition. I'm only the third owner, and she comes with all of the service records from the original owner, who named her "Gretchen" and absolutely babied her. The second owner has had her covered in a heated garage for the last 20 years and barely used her during that time.

I'm trying to decide what, if anything, to do to her. The paint is original and in excellent condition with just a couple chips in the fenders and some minor rust in the door frame and the engine bay. There's hardly any rust underneath. The motor was rebuilt in 1978, but otherwise there doesn't seem to have been any major restoration work.

I'd really like to find out more about the upholstery and whether it is original or not. From the research I've done so far, I can't see that plaid was an option in any of the 63's. However, the upholstery looks fairly old, like it could very well be original, so I'm a little perplexed. I also found a card tucked in the back bench seat springs from the Enkev company in Holland (see pic below), which I understand made the hair cushions but has also manufactured fabrics in the past. The card looks like it hasn't been touched in decades. The original owner was a German fellow who lived in Arizona. His records indicate that he purchased it from a dealership in AZ, but perhaps he had it special ordered?

Can anyone shed some light on the possible origins of the plaid upholstery?

Also, I haven't decided whether I want to do any restoration work or keep her as is. I'd appreciate any input on that subject!

Thanks, and I'm excited to be joining this community!

-Smoof

[kpf]

Hi Smoof,

Beautiful car! As far as what to do with it, I'd suggest driving it as-is for a while (assuming brakes & fuel system are in good condition). Get yourself a "baseline" feel for how it drives, what it can do and can't do. If you don't, and you dive into modifications, you'll never know whether or not you've improved it.

It seems the car has been converted to 12v (alternator, modern stereo, black-knob cigarette lighter).

I wonder if the plaid seat covers are accessory covers that have been installed over the original upholstery? I've read some build threads here in which people have discovered just such a situation.

Good luck,
Kris
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1971 Super Beetle

[smoofcrew]

Thanks, Kris, and good catch on the 12v conversion!

I definitely plan on driving her around for a few months before making any changes.

That's a good point about the seat covers. I'll give it a closer look.

Thanks!

[Raisedup58]

Not sure on the seat covers, but that’s a gorgeous original car. Remember they are only original once.
Where in Idaho are you located? I’m down in Pocatello.
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L245 Original Paint Light Bronze 1958 Ragtop
L456 Original Paint Ruby Red 1961 Sedan
Orignal Paint Beetle Wheel Collector
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[Sharp64]

Looks like a nice car. Couple of things. It looks like it may have been possibly painted at some point. The window rubber has been replaced which is usually a telltale sign that paint was redone. Also the wheels would have been two tone originally. Possibly another clue. Couple of other things is the screen behind the dash panels look to be white. Normally these aren’t painted the color of the car. Hard to tell but the steering wheel and column look to the thesame color as the car? These would have been silver beige the same color as the seat frames and those are not original seats. Really is a pretty car, but I would venture a guess, I would say it’s been resprayed.
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1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[hitest]

There's two super rare things happening in this thread-
First, rarely does a first time beetle owner EVER buy such a great car out of the gate! Congratulations!
The second thing is until today I never got excited about a white beetle

I agree with the plaid being a later update- but simply taking out the rear bottom cushion will tell the story in seconds. The material is made for comfort- but I doubt to the durability of VW's interior design team standards. Plaid was popularly used on Porsche 356 accessory seat covers.

The locking glove box is neat too.
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[smoofcrew]

Thanks everyone for the great info!

Raisedup58 - I'm in Coeur d'Alene, but I come down your way a lot to visit the in-laws in Firth.

I'll take some more detailed pics of underneath the seats tonight and post them. I checked yesterday and they definitely are not seat covers, they're upholstered.

Is there any possibility this is a European car and would have had different interior options? The story I got from the second owners was that the original owner had purchased it from Germany and had it brought over. He was a German ex-pat, so I suppose it's possible. However, his handwritten records indicate he picked it up from a dealership in Arizona, but maybe he had it shipped to the dealer?

Is there a quick way (VIN#, etc.) to determine whether it was a Euro car?