Itinerant Air-Cooled

I've been tossing around the idea of getting rid of the Ford Volvo and getting a Beetle as a daily. Spotted this one yesterday on Craigslist. Seems like a pretty nice car. I wonder if I should step into the abyss?
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2450499240.html

do it. that thing is a beauty.

what will you drive in the winter?

Yeah you can't do a Beetle year round due to salt. I did it for 3 years in the '90s and it did take its toll.
We drive a '68 daily here in the NW but no salt. Very reliable car.

Agreed. If it 'twernt for the salt I'd drive one all year too.

but, that's what mid-80's Toyota's are for.
never break down, great gas mileage and always start even in the coldest of weather.

winter beaters are fun cars to, and cheap to pick up in the middle of the summer when nobody wants a rusty brown 89 Camry with 200K miles.
people typically get sick of looking at them far before they run out of usefulness.

the only trick is finding a place to park it out of sight the rest of the year.

We don't get too much snow here so on those days it wouldn't be too inconvenient to share the other daily. I wonder if a '59 would be a good idea though or if I should keep looking for a later model. I really like the looks of this one. Availability of parts and all.

Later model. Safer, better visibility, easier to find parts. I'd say '68-74 are the glory years of ACVWs.
After '74 they start really getting shoddy, at least with Beetles....
What about a beater Beetle with solid mechanicals? Then you don't worry.

hambone wrote: What about a beater Beetle with solid mechanicals? Then you don't worry.

The lady will be driving this. A beater is not in the cards.

We looked at the '59 and it was not what we were looking for. It'll make someone a great hobby car. Next we look at this '70.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2436948736.html

I had a 73 Standard beetle for about 10 yrs. Great driving and plenty of power. Wish I never sold it

A million times different from the 60 I have now

Well the '70 was a bust. Rust free apparently meant other than the rust on the rockers and in both rear wheel wells. I knew something was up when I asked the seller to move the car out of his barn into the light and he asked what I expected to find.

rust free = the rust is free with purchase of the rest of the vehicle.

airkooledchris wrote:rust free = the rust is free with purchase of the rest of the vehicle.

Agreed-

I drove mine daily except for when the roads were wet with snow/ salt. I took it to the carwash frequently, but some stuff still became rusty. I think that's what happened to most of the VWs and other old cars around here- rust.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2486958165.html

Here is another one that might be worth a look at. The seller said it has a couple of dents in the bottom of the front fenders from a tow bar but the body is supposed to be solid

That's right next door. Seems like worth a looksee. I gave almost that for a '64 back in '03 that needed quite a bit of work.