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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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 Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 1:06 am Post subject: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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Hi all,
My name is Nacho and I write from Valencia, Spain.
I open this thread to follow the history of my beetle since the day it came to our family  three years ago now in November. Also for learning more about the model and year specs. When I bought it, several modifications were done by previous owners. I am not a purist but my intention is to leave it as original as I can with some personal touches.
As I know the car was imported from the US to Europe by BBT around 2010.And the biggest modification done was a colour change. Now is magenta, is the less I like and the most expensive and hard to change.
This is the first photo I saw when I was looking for buying one.
And this is the happy day when we brought it home. It was in a local dealer that sells classic cars.
So, one of the first thing done was to contact the Vw museum and order its Birthday certification.
Sold in Florida originally.(I don't know if someone from this forum would recognize it). After knowing this, we called it "Tornado" that means twister. |
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lboos
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2015
Posts: 409
Location: Marietta GA.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:57 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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A beautiful 63, it look's great the way it is. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it, you did good.  |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:09 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| lboos wrote: |
| A beautiful 63, it look's great the way it is. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with it, you did good. |
Thank you, I have made many changes since then.I will try to post them chronologically.
It came with 5 spoke polished wheels (Rockets I think is their name), Porsche seats with all the interior in black, chrome engine parts, a lot of of little rubber missing, turn signal not correct for a 63 (oval or vw t1 maybe)wooden steering wheel...
interior as it was:
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:14 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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Anyone knows what is...
M358 US-equipment ?
And "De luxe" means that had anything special compared with other versions? |
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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2502
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| nax wrote: |
| And "De luxe" means that had anything special compared with other versions? |
Nice looking car...enjoy!
Here's a discussion about Standard vs. DeLux: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=456345
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone) |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:38 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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Thank you! |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:47 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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December 2019
One more picture of the interior:
And one of the engine as it was. Is a 1641cc with Weber ICT´s
Nor important but little things wer done. had a "VW" emblem over a hole in the dash and I remove it anp cover with the Empi sticker...
before:
after:
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slave1pilot
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2010
Posts: 943
Location: Tehachapi CA
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:54 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| slave1pilot wrote: |
That stereo is vintage from 78-80
kinda cool |
Now is stored!  |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2022 5:03 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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December 2019 (cont.)
No chrome molding in the windshield rubber and incorrect taillights for the year
The Rockets I guess:
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 12:40 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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Next Modification I did was to install Swan neck mirrors
And in this photo is still installed the chrome plate under the handle of the hood.... |
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fl59bug
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2005
Posts: 1976
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:01 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| nax wrote: |
December 2019 (cont.)
No chrome molding in the windshield rubber and incorrect taillights for the year
The Rockets I guess:
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I really like the stance of your car in the first picture of this thread. It's a very cool and trick looking '63 ragtop.
I personally prefer black ragtop cover, no chrome trim in window rubber, no trim on body with filled in and painted holes, shaved turn signals and blacked out running boards with no chrome trim - old school cal-look. On your car though the white ragtop cover really goes well with the Magenta paint.
Back in the late '80s I had a Porsche Magenta '74 with a 1776 Dual Dellorto engine.
What seats are in it? They look like Scat or Recaro, but could be from a Honda, not sure.
Enjoy your '63 ragtop!
Ted |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:11 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| fl59bug wrote: |
| nax wrote: |
December 2019 (cont.)
No chrome molding in the windshield rubber and incorrect taillights for the year
The Rockets I guess:
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I really like the stance of your car in the first picture of this thread. It's a very cool and trick looking '63 ragtop.
I personally prefer black ragtop cover, no chrome trim in window rubber, no trim on body with filled in and painted holes, shaved turn signals and blacked out running boards with no chrome trim - old school cal-look. On your car though the white ragtop cover really goes well with the Magenta paint.
Back in the late '80s I had a Porsche Magenta '74 with a 1776 Dual Dellorto engine.
What seats are in it? They look like Scat or Recaro, but could be from a Honda, not sure.
Enjoy your '63 ragtop!
Ted |
Thank You! Well these photos are old and some chrome trim has been already installed.
The seats were Porsche retrimmed in black
Last edited by nax on Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:19 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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Antenna was broken so I ordered the same in black to replace it.
New:
Was an original accesory?
And the water spout was missing:
nothing big but needed to be solved. |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:58 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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After that I changed the number plates to an "old style" ones
Here in Spain before 1971 the numbers were raised (I think is the correct way to say that)
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wdfifteen
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2019
Posts: 528
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 7:07 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| fl59bug wrote: |
What seats are in it? They look like Scat or Recaro, but could be from a Honda, not sure.
Ted |
They are Scheel seats, as supplied to Porsche. Likely out of a 911, but possibly they were used in other models. |
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Buggeee
Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2016
Posts: 4406
Location: Stuck in Ohio
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fl59bug
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2005
Posts: 1976
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 1:38 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| wdfifteen wrote: |
| fl59bug wrote: |
What seats are in it? They look like Scat or Recaro, but could be from a Honda, not sure.
Ted |
They are Scheel seats, as supplied to Porsche. Likely out of a 911, but possibly they were used in other models. |
Well they definitely weren't from a Honda then I see  |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 11:48 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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| Buggeee wrote: |
Good looking Bug!
I like the look of the swan neck mirrors very much. Are they functional? Or are they too far away to see in them?
Beautiful car. |
For me yes! I have them installed in all my bugs. |
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nax
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Valencia (Spain)
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| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 11:58 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop "Tornado" |
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December 2019 (Cont.)
First I removed the chrome plate under the hood handle:
And some days later I installed the emblem, is not correct for a 1963 but it I like a lot, maybe in a future paint restoration I'll remove it.
And Porsche lenses also came with the car...
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