My 57 Oval has survived the last 60 years extremely well. It remained with the original owner until his death in 1978 and was then passed to his son, who used the car to teach of his four children to drive, one after the other. Then, in 1986, it was put in a lock up with a bent con rod with a view to it being restored one day. In 2003 the lock up was scheduled for demolition to make way for re-development so a new home was sought for the Beetle. It went through several owners in four years, each keeping it for no more than six months (sadly one decided to keep the original number plate before selling it on) then I bought it in 2008.
Since then I have driven it all over the UK and much of Europe, visiting shows and for pure pleasure. It's been in the Historic Line Up at Stanford Hall for all but one of the last 9 years and has also visited Heissich and Bad Camberg. Most recently I drove it in convoy along with a '58 bus, a 58 Porsche 356, 58 Beetle a '63 356 and a very convincing Herbie look alike to the 24 hour Classic Le Mans where it was displayed on the Real Flat Four Club stand.
However, despite being a solid car and having had only very minimal welding repairs in the last 60 years, it was becoming evident that some repairs were becoming necessary to the bottom of the sills, the bulk head and the rear corners. So it was duly dispatched to Karl at Wolfsburg Wizards for some sensitive surgery, intended to preserve the car and, most importantly make it water tight, as every European trip seems to be accompanied by passage through a storm cell!
It's all done now, and I'm going to post some pictures to tell the story. The first are of the car as it was before it went in for repairs. Enjoy
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Edited by user
7 years ago
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Reason: Not specified
July 1957 UK supplied RHD Oval. 1972 World Champion Beetle. 1978 UK supplied RHD 1303LS Cabriolet. 1973 UK supplied RHD 1303s.