Trying to track down my old 1948 Beetle

[steve28]

OK...so long shot, I know. About 20-25 years ago I pulled a 1948 Beetle out of a barn in the Midwest, towed it home (with my 1971 Bus!), and began the process of what I thought would be a restoration. Had a guy cut out the rusted heater channels and weld in the replacements that were available at the time. It ended up being kind of a hack job, nowhere near today's standards, but could have been worse. Eventually, the restoration stalled, and I dragged it to Bandimere Speedway in Denver one Summer for the Bug-in and sold it. When sold, it was entirely in primer. This probably would have been about 1995 +/-

Now it's years later, no record of who bought it, no photos (or certainly none on my computer--might be some in a shoebox somewhere), and no idea what happened to it.

Never really got that car out of my mind and tonight I'm thinking: "why not post on theSamba and see if anyone knows what happened to it?"

So, any leads? Maybe it went to someone on here?

[mikeandkirsti]

Which serial number?

[steve28]

Lol!! VIN number? Don't think I have a record of that any more. I was just hoping someone from Denver might have seen the car, or know who bought it, or where it is, or something. Anything.

I've been to a LOT of Bug-Ins, and I don't remember ever seeing another primer'd 1948 Standard Beetle for sale in the swap meet, other than mine, so to those who notice such things, it was kind of a unique event. I've been out of the VW scene for a few years now, but I was always the guy at the swap meet with stuff nobody (in those days) recognized: Okrassa 36HP motors, Judson superchargers, semaphores, "heart" taillights, original bud vases, Eberspacher heaters, the list goes on. I had an Eriba Puck there one year (maybe late 1980's?) and nobody knew what it was. lol...

So, anyway, if anyone thinks they might have any info on the '48, please post here or PM me.

thanks!

[KTPhil]

have you checked here?:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/registry/

[steve28]

I checked the registry, but little hope of identifying my old car since I don't have record of the VIN. I did manage to find a couple of old photos.

One picture is on the way home with it when I drove across the country to go pick it up. The other photo (Beetle in primer) was taken the morning I drove it to the Bug-In to sell it.

Anyone on here attending Bug-In events in the 1990's?

[Martin Southwell]

Short of a tree falling on it, getting caught up in a garage fire, or left outside somewhere to rust whilst 'awaiting restoration', that car will still be around somewhere. It was even difficult enough to get your hands on 40's Beetle back in the late 70's, and that hasn't changed any time since.

For some odd reason, people can be very secretive about their car(s), and that is often the big challenge, plus somebody probably still has it in their garage, under a pile of boxes & old papers, but aren't part of the VW scene any longer, so unaware that a previous owner is trying to locate it. We watch your progress with interest!

[52brezelfenster]

Hello steve28, I'm 99.9% sure that that this is the same car in question. The timeline falls right into place.

It came out of Colorado late 1990s / early 2000s. Spent some time in WA state, and later went to HI (Island of Kauai). Not sure if the previous or current owner are on samba but maybe they will see this post.

[JonL]

I owned a 48 (I'm in the Denver area), about 15+ish years ago along with a 49. The 49 was on a BJ pan and really bad, and I wanted a custom, so I used that and used the 48 to fund it. The 48 had a lot of work done to it, including pans, but whoever did it did it pretty nice. It was in primer too. I remember the correct taillights were there too.
I'm not sure they're the same car, but being a 48 in the Denver area around that time, how many could there be? I bought mine from this dude Karl in this area who had several other splits and kubels. All gone now from what I understand-If memory serves me right, he had about 5-6 of his cars brought out to the Classic or Jamboree or something around that time frame.
I sold mine on this site some time ago, someone from (NorCal), I think, drove out and picked it up, unfortunelty I don't have any pics, just of the 49 that I kept for a while.
I wouldn't mind knowing what happened to that one too, very well could be the one shown above this post.

[steve28]

Wow! Thanks 52brezelfenster and JonL.

It sure looks like it could be the same car. I went back to the shoebox where I found the other photos and found some more with the hope that something in the pics 52brezelfenster posted might match up for a positive I.D. Nothing definitive, but nothing exclusionary, either.

Given the limited availability of 1948 Beetles, and the specificity of time and place, I'd bet it's my old car. Now I just need to track it down.

Anyone else got anything?

[steve28]

52brezelfenster--PM sent

[52brezelfenster]

Got it, thanks. I'll ping you back through the messenger.

Dustin

[steve28]

Couple updates: I went back through the box of photos and found a few rolls of negatives (remember those? FILM!) that I had taken when I had the car. Among the treasures I found was a photo that partially included the VIN tag. It's not in the center of the frame, and it's not super sharp, but with a good quality scan and some manipulation in PhotoShop, I can almost make out the last three numbers as 255. If I had to guess, the first three numbers are 070, but they're even less in focus than the last three numbers. Thus, 1-070255 is a likely guess for the VIN. Didn't see it in the registry, but that number would make the car a 1947, if I'm not mistaken, which is interesting because the guy I bought it from claimed it was a 1947, even though the title said 1948.

Hopefully, this new information will generate new leads.

[Martin Southwell]

The registry is full of mistakes & omissions, so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on what you do, or don't, see there.

[steve28]

Figured I'd post the pic of the ID plate. If you or anyone you know has a 1948-ish Beetle, check your VIN to see if it could be this car and let me know. I'm trying to track down the car for the guy I bought it from--he called and asked what ever happened to it, and I wish I could have told him, he's a good old dude.

[steve28]

BTW, hard to make out, but the number almost has to be 1-080255 or very similar. Kinda looks like 020255, but that wouldn't make any sense, AFAIK.