1969 Volkswagon Beetle Adult-Owned Classic

I inherited Dad's show-winning 1969 Volkswagen "Type I" Beetle -- and am doing my part in continuing her legacy into the next 50 years of enjoyment.

She has been in our family in California since my father purchased her from a friend and coworker at Hughes Aircraft Company in Torrance, CA in 1975. She has 89,616 original miles - which can be readily verified with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Not much is known about her history prior to 1975, but Dad had kept very detailed records during his ownership, so this car comes with an excellent logbook with all receipts going back more than 30 years.

Following his retirement from Hughes Aircraft and a move to the Central Coast, Dad did a full restoration on the car, after that enjoying the Central Coast Volkswagen Club meetings and driving her in several parades. When Dad entered her in the Volkswagen Owners Club of America's "Show and Shine", he won First Place in the "1968 and Later Type I - Stock" category. The log book shows just under 12K miles in the past 16 years.

In the process of restoration the body was disassembled, and all panels were either stripped or block sanded down to original paint. The body components were painted with urethane, color-sanded and buffed back to a gloss, matching once again the sunny yellow -- with the result being a stunning finish on flawless body. All new body gaskets and trim were installed after refinishing. The warm Yukon Yellow gets a lot of comments. It's really the perfect color.

From the logbook it looks Dad had rebuilt or replaced most anything that could wear, keeping everything stock and retaining OEM components wherever possible. Everything is detailed in his project logbook book by vendor, part number and cost. (If you are seriously interested in the car and would like me to e-mail a 30-year summary, feel free to drop me an e-mail -- My address is the same as my user name except that the "Home" network is now coxdotnet.)

When I inherited her she had been sitting in the garage unused for a several seasons. The oil appeared new but the fuel was stale and had mucked up the carburetor. I had the original VW Solex carburetor rebuilt, the original air cleaner serviced, installed a new fuel pump and fuel filter, all new fuel lines, and a full complement of Bosch tuneup parts (spark plug wires, plugs, distributor cap and rotor). In the process I upgraded to a CompuFire CF1000 maintenance-free opto-electronic ignition system and installed a brand-new Interstate battery. She now starts immediately hot or cold and runs like a new car. The logbook shows the engine and generator were replaced at 65,154 miles.

Before making the drive to Southern California I replaced all four tires with the top-rated Nexen SB802 165/80R 15 radials as there were some age lines on the 16-year old tires. The Nexens have only a few hundred miles on them.

Having originally intending to keep her, the only remaining consideration was the radio: I didn't want to deviate from stock but as a music lover, the Sapphire AM wasn't going to cut it, so I went a little crazy and ponied up $550 for a mint-condition restored 1969-vintage Becker Europa II AM/FM radio. The Becker Europa II was the most expensive OEM optional German-made upgrade radio of the era. Though it was available as a rare dealer item for the Beetle, most were supplied to Mercedes, Ferrari, Jaguar, Alfa, Maserati and Lamborghini. To an electronics engineer and audiophile this radio is as beautiful as the exotic cars it would typically be found in. It's one of the rare vintage radios with a rear-panel line-in connector which can be adapted to feed the line output of a digital music player through its (top-notch) amplifiers without modifications.

The car's interior is like new -- and I could not imagine modifying the interior in any way for speakers. So the Becker (stereo) radio is connected to a very fine set of easily removable Yamaha box speakers facing upward behind the back seat, with the single dash speaker connected as a center channel. The rear speakers are easily removed for car shows, etc. and the dash speaker then functions as it did from the factory - In mono.

I've gone completely through the cars' electrical system (I'm an electronics engineer) making sure all connections are solid and harnessed properly -- so I expect her to continue to be a highly reliable car. All lights, signals, etc. are working properly. This is really an amazingly simple car to work on.

As you might have noticed in the pictures, the Becker radio doesn't have the knobs installed yet and does not sit flush with the dashboard, this in spite of my having purchased the correct radio for the car. I've since learned that the car originally had a padded face on the dashboard. Apparently quality reproductions are available and the installation is trivial, but the sunny yellow dashboard is all we've ever known (it's been that way since before 1975) and the interior is MUCH more attractive without it - appearing like the earlier models. I'm still undecided about installing the dash pad or changing to a different radio. I will include the Becker radio and a new dash pad if the bid goes over $8500.

Finally, I'll have to say that the pictures do not at all do the car justice. The sunny color is warm and inviting - attracting much attention without being the least bit flashy. The paint is glossy and beautiful with not a single dent or ding and only the most minor flaws. The car certainly meets with the Nada Value Guide criteria for value at $17,025 - and I'd say that she is pretty much ready for another 50 years of enjoyment.

Thanks for reading...Happy Bidding, Good Luck...and Happy Holidays!

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