Miraculous Bug Find

[shrapnel]

I got this 1973 Super Beetle Playboy bunny edition for my daughter when she was in college. She drove it several years, then sold it after she got married.

Years later, I wanted to find it and get it back, and my son found it for sale on Facebook marketplace.

We raced to Livingston to get it at 11:00 at night before someone else got it.

It runs, needs a bit of work, but this will be a fun restoration…

 

[WNC2500]

You are right, that will be a good restoration and worth the trouble.

 

[Dave N]

Never heard of that edition. Dealer option?

 

[shrapnel]

Never heard of that edition. Dealer option?

I don’t know, but it has the Playboy bunny icon on the gas cap. That created quite a stir when she would park it in the church parking lot.

 

[Dave N]

I don’t know, but it has the Playboy bunny icon on the gas cap. That created quite a stir when she would park it in the church parking lot.



View attachment 407102

Ok, I couldn't find anything about them when I searched as a package. Pretty cool to find her exact car again, though. Long odds on that!

 

[CRJR45]

Fun cars , I’ve had a few , actually learned to drive in one on the dirt roads of upper Michigan.
There’s a local bug club down here and one guy has his lowered and and covered in patina. I love it .

 

[FairWeather]

Cool project! I had a 62 for a few months. Terrible choice of a car in Anchorage Alaska hahaha

 

[okie archer]

Awesome to find it again. I bought a 1985 GMC short bed truck as a HS senior in 1993. Unfortunately I didn't keep it and later regretted it. A few years ago I called the bank I financed it at hoping to find a vin. This was before Internet so no computer records and it had been to long to have any paper records. Ended up buying a different one very similar.
So cool to recover the bug.

 

[Indianajoe]

cool find. is your daughter interested in it? even if not it will be a cool project.

 

[Redmt]

My son used to buy whatever bugs he could find and afford. "Restore" them and made good money. He once bought one that had been burned pretty badly inside and out. He stripped it down, wire brushed it then painted it with Zolotone inside and out. It was a true messterpiece. Some guy approached him at a car show cash in hand and just had to have it. He made a butt load off of it.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Same real car as in same vin? If so, what luck !

 

[RojoGrande]

looks like a solid car. How are the heater channels and floor pans?
I pulled a '67 baja bug out of a field last year. Sitting about 20 years. Got it running, driving, stopping. Will be doing floor pans, heater channels and assorted rust repair next.

 

[shrapnel]

cool find. is your daughter interested in it? even if not it will be a cool project.

She died of cancer in 2010, which made the effort of finding the car a real quest!

 

[Gellar]

I’m very sorry to hear that. This will be a cool project in her honor. I’ll look forward to the restoration updates and finished project. I remember watching Herbie the love Bug as a kid sometimes.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Parts are cheap!

 

[Indianajoe]

She died of cancer in 2010, which made the effort of finding the car a real quest!

man Im sorry to hear that. I can see why the car means so much to you. Im glad you got it back, and hope you enjoy it and the memories.

 

[longbow51]

Wow, so sorry Shrap.

 

[HowaHunter]

It is always great when they can come back, especially in your case. Very special. VW's are certainly dear to me. Here is one of mine, a 1972 I purchased in high school around 1998ish and did a light restoration on in 2016. Holler if you need any tips.

 

[shrapnel]

It was a family reunion! My son, daughter and wife all jumped into my truck with tow ropes if we needed them at 11:00 at night to go get it. My son and daughter drove it home and it ran fine, although it does need a good tune up…