looking at/buying a '57 this weekend - anything to look for?

[royta]

I'm buying a '57 this weekend. VIN and engine code is a May 1957. Original fuel pump and distributor with the threaded fuel and vacuum lines. Engine turns over by hand. The original Diamond Green was painted over with blue 20 or more years ago, both outside and inside. I'm pretty sure it's Diamond Green because of the green seats, but under the hood looks kind of golden. Original green upholstery with the front seats also covered by black slip on covers. Is there anything I should be looking for in particular? It looks all original except for the blue paint. Oh, and the different color headliner and door cards. I'm not sure if they're painted or covered over. The seller is retired and his parents had the car, and I guess his mom did that to the interior. I wish I knew exactly how much these Ovals are worth. It's a one-owner, and I know these cars aren't easy to come by. I wonder how hard it would be to remove the blue and get to the original paint?

Thanks.

Roy

[finster]

diamond green is a golden green and the proximity of blue paint will bring out the yellowness. see here for paint removal
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=76072
plus time and patience too

otherwise it's hard to answer your questions without knowing what you are expecting/looking for and what you are prepared to take on. I guess rust, bad repairs, accident damage are obvious things.
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[5500]

I think you'll find it helpful to search through threads here. General searches in titles usually bring up more threads than specific searches. I have stumbled on tons of information quite by accident that I would never have found. I'm sure all your questions have been answered somewhere, some time in here. The one caveat is be prepared to spend a lot of time reading. For pricing I like to use the Bring a Trailer website as a reasonable place to check pricing trends if you're looking for complete drivers. Navigate recent sales, enter your year and make and it will bring up auction histories with sale prices. Good luck!

[esde]

The biggest surprise on these cars is rust that you didn't catch, or is worse than you thought. And while you might buy that car no matter how much rust is there, bringing it to light when you're making the deal will help you get a good price.
Check the heater channel carefully from the front hinge pillar all the way around to behind the pedal cluster. Check it behind the door around to where it turns in under the back seat. Where the running board attaches, inside the front fender well. All of these areas are more advanced repairs and should reflect heavily on sale price. Floors and spare tire well repairs are almost expected in cars this age. Rear apron and bumper mounts. Take your time, find everything that can get you the right price
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[lardawge]

In addition to what esde stated, I also look for fenders, hood, decklid being original metal. That will tell you if there is damage to the body you should be looking at. I also check for damage under the fenders on the body. Check if the bumper mounts have been replaced or repaired. If the car has undercoating (a lot of these cars do), it can hide a ton of rust or banged up metal. Look for newer undercoating on top of old. It can indicate a cover up.

I usually care less about the mechanical because I can fix things but it cost money. If the engine is old and tired or has leaky fuel pump, carb, etc… factor all of that in to cost.

Lastly, everyone has a different idea of doing something right. So if the owner says the brakes have been fully gone through and engine, transmission rebuilt, ask for builders name and receipts or assume you will have to do some work.
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11/2/54 L227 Strato Silver Ragtop - Soon to be L41 Black - Build Thread
1/7/55 L275 Light Beige

[royta]

The car has been garaged/parked for 25 years. Maybe the occasional drive? Spare tire well is in great shape. Bumper bracket attachment points are straight.

[lardawge]

The front has been hit. You can see the deformation of metal on the driver's side. It also looks like there is damage below the brake reservoir shelf as well.
The rear looks intact and accident free from the parts that I can see. We would need way more pictures to evaluate the car properly.
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11/2/54 L227 Strato Silver Ragtop - Soon to be L41 Black - Build Thread
1/7/55 L275 Light Beige

[heimlich]

I'll take it if you don't want it.
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[royta]

The right side of the rear apron was pulled out and it looks like there is some body filler there. There's some rust under the windshield on the passenger side. There's a dent on the passenger door right below the wing window. He has the original taillights, license plate light housing, and wiper arms. I'm not sure about the rearview mirror, visor, and door mirror.

[Major Woody]

You're right about it originally being Diamond Green Metallic.
The front bumper is aftermarket, you can tell by the little rubber grommets where the overrider bar attaches to the bumper blade. It has been hit lightly in the front as evidenced by the minor crinkling in the front quarter panels and deformation of the front tire well/brake reservoir shelf crosspiece, but can be pulled out by a shop with a frame rack. That will bring the front edge of the hood into alignment. It appears to have been pushed in about an inch.
The front right fender doesn't look original. There is a photo of the back edge of the fender where it meets the running board; on an original fender this area is better contoured to meet the running board. Can't tell about the driver side fender.
Slight fender benders are common on cars this old. This car looks quite complete and rust free. From what I can see, it would be a good candidate for restoration.

[royta]

It's been a Southern California car it's entire 65 year life. I want to ask what the car is worth, but maybe I don't want to know?

I'm always apprehensive when it comes to spending money, even though I have a great job. And then I allow myself to get overwhelmed now because I have a spinal cord injury and my left fingers and hand don't work as well as they used to. My right either, but my left is really bad. So I end up passing up really good opportunities. I had Bugs in high school, a 63 and a 70, and now my 20 year old son has a 66 and a 70 Baja. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I can sell it for what I paid for it. Hopefully that won't be necessary, and if it is, values don't drop over the next year because the economy is weird right now.

Anyway, do I want to know what a SoCal car like that is worth? Haha!!

[adaysnight]

if you won't be doing it yourself, restoration will cost you plenty, and even if you were doing it yourself it's not cheap. although this car is complete, it does need interior, most likely engine, tranny, suspension, brake/bearing/seal, and body/paint/window rubber work. as it is, not running, untested on the road for engine/brakes/suspension/shifting, etc., i would not pay more than $5K for it. you'd be better off buying a, say, $15K road worthy car that you can enjoy immediately while you fix a few "little things", which are often "bigger" than your first estimate

if it was an early '55 or older then yes, it's worth more, even in this condition. rarity is a factor with these cars.

[stale air]

[Bub]

On the SUPER low end if it's not really crusty I'd put that in the $9k-$12k range as it sits. You could pay $9k for it and invest almost nothing and in a couple weekends flip it for $12K + just by taking it home and carefully sorting out whatever weird stuff has been done (if anything), and cleaning and straightening out what is original.
If the engine turns over and doesn't go 'clunk' at any certain point 70% chance it would run. Could have been parked for a variety of reasons that aren't the engine- brakes, trans, steering or they just got tired of it.
The big thing this car has going for it is nobody has had their way with it yet. Looks uncut, complete and straight and pretty rust free where it matters. So the important thing would be to be gentle with it; don't change a single thing. Don't cut a wire, don't drill a single hole.

The market for these cars in 'as-found' is always really good. And what you have to consider is the demographic that these cars have. There are millions of people who just can't justify or afford an old VW over $10k so ANY decent oval under $10k will always have tons of buyers. The more money someone has the more picky they can afford to be.
Complete Ovals under $10k are rare and sell fast and the buyers for these cars can't afford to be the picky ones.

Anyway- IMHO LOW low-end is $9k at that price or less I'd grab it (unless there's stuff we can't see , definitely worth considering at $12k. More than that and you might need to roll it out into the daylight and see what 'feelings' you get from it.
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