WARNING.— The person in whose name this vehicle is displayed may or may not be the current owner of the vehicle. Readers are warned, therefore, that this entry is not proof of ownership.
Details
- Registration Mark
- ZV 27383
- (a) Type:
- Type 1
- (b) Year:
- 1967
- (c) Colour:
- Savannah Beige
- (d) Paint code:
- L620
- (e) Engine CCs:
- 1500
History
- (a) Country of origin:
- United States
- (b) County first reg'd:
- Cork
- (c) Current or last known location:
- Tipperary
Model information
1500 Beetle Deluxe
Info
I had seen photos of this very cool Cal Look 1967 US spec Beetle online and wondered when I’d see it in person soon. That day came on August 1st 2021 when I drove my convertible Beetle to The Vee in Tipperary to join up with the VAGE Club’s annual run. This patina beauty stood out amongst a sea of shiny paint and chrome, for all the right reasons. It’s the perfect blend of originality, patina and of course, Cal Look cool!
John Hennessy is the very proud owner and tells us all about how he caem to own this awesome piece of German metal:
“I bought the Beetle in May 2020 from (all round legend and nice guy) Mike Heywood in the UK. Mike had bought the car from an ad on The Samba website and restored it to look like it does now. The Beetle lived its whole life in California from 1967 until he imported it to the UK in 2019. He had originally built it for the 2020 Freddy Files show in Ninove, Belgium, which was unfortunately cancelled (like everything else) due to Covid. This led him to sell it to me after he responded to a post I put on Facebook VW group looking for a 1960’s era Beetle.
The car came with a fair bit of old paperwork in the glovebox. Piecing that together it seems in the early 90’s a young girl used it to move to Uni and drove it around the campus. A “movers guide” was with the paperwork as well as “what you need to know about the west” guide, a parking ticket, proof of insurance and receipts for oil changes and small bits of work. Loads of old coins too! The 1967 slotted wheels were painted pink as well as the centre of the hubcaps. After that it seems it was parked up at a farm and forgotten about until the seller found it and then sold it to Mike.
Mike had brought the car to the UK and did a really great job with his sympathetic restoration. He refreshed the interior, which included repairing the rear parcel tray that had rusted through. Mike then did some general tidying up all of the mechanicals while the body was off the chassis. The paint and bodywork is untouched. I liked the look of it and after thinking on it for a while I took the plunge and bought it on the strength of the resto pictures alone.
The car arrived on the back of a truck to Cork and all was good. Mike was great to deal with all the way through. Top man.
It’s a 1967 1500cc model in Savannah Beige. The 1500 single port engine has a rebuild plate over the engine code, but when peeled back a little I could see the case code is AB so it looks like a 1500 single port built on a later 71-73 dual relief engine case. It also has a Bug Tech shifter, hand detailed BRMs with Michelin XZY/XWX tyres. It’s lowered on an adjustable beam on the front with adjustable spring plates rear.
The interior was not up to scratch so some later high back seats were installed which came on US spec 70 -72 cars.
As the Beetle has had a lot of work done to it, there isn’t much I needed to do to it but I did tidy up some loose ends such as alternator conversion, new headlight relay, rear hub seal, oil cooler seal, new window rubbers and scrapers for the doors, a new exhaust, new steering wheel and seat belts.
Next on the list is dual carbs and an electronic ignition. The drivers seat is also coming apart pretty bad at this stage so I will need to recover it. I found a company in the States that will do the exact colour and weave so will get the ordered and done soon too. That’s about it for immediate plans.”
Thanks John for the info on your Bug!
Submitted by: John Hennessy
Additional Photos
