Seems a shame to break it, the damage is already done!

My vote would be to get the welding done so it is structural, quick cheap spray job and use it. You could then sell it, obvously as a cut n shut not a 53!:wink:

Most people dont give a hoot! It may be the only way that people can afford an "oval" do they will buy it! :d

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im no bodywork expert but cant all the cut areas be lead loaded & smoothed out & the dodgy welds ground back?

Lead loading would'nd bridge some of those gaps! :shock:

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I think I'd want to re weld all those dodgy welds first, after all they are holding (well sort of holding:shock:) the car together.

Sorry to read about this, I realy feel for you, you must feel sick.
to start out with all the good intention only to uncover that:x 😞

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I am shocked. I dwelled on this all day yesterday while I was working in the field 😞 I can only say that if it were me I would take the car on a trailer and be camping right outside the guys house with it until some resolution is reached at least for a chunk of cash.

It is SO unusual for someone to do this and sell the car deliberately as something it is not in 'stock' form as said above. The fact the seller made a 53 rhd standard tells me that he has a lot of knowledge of old vw's, as the majority of vw owners dont even know about standards. Is he known in the vw scene? did he have any other vw's? what's his name?

I know it is easy to say and annoying to hear but I really hope you try not to let it get you down too much. As said above there are a lot of people out there, racers, modifiers and guys who want to buy an oval shell they can hack up to build beetle/rat rods and similar anyway, so given that it was a complete driving car that had a lot of good early parts on it from memory of the original advert? you should be able to break it and sell ALL the parts to recoup a lot of the money, even if you end up having to cut it completely to bits for panels/repair metal. Ovals are often worth most as parts, sad, but in this case as pre55 parts, maybe to your advantage. Research parts prices on the samba. Good luck. There is always a way out!

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Phew, never seen or imagined anything like this would be done to fake up a Beetle, Split, Oval or whatever! I weep that a Beetle 'enthusiast' could do such a thing :cry:

Its such a rotten, sick thing to do. I can't offer anything constructive to add to previous comments.

I really am even more resolute on my feeling that buying a nice shiny car with fresh headlining is something to be very careful about.

This applies especially to zwitters as I have said before on this forum. There seems to be a good few turning up considering how short the production run was. An easy way to increase the value of an early ratty oval before you restore it is to change that rear window. I have seen at least two that I would consider fakes on the market for top split-window prices :shock:

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Wont be bying another "restored" beetle ever again

That's bad.
Don't know what to say.
Feel for you.

The bank system has selfish and greedy people, same goes for politics, sport and society in general. Even the VW scene attracts people we'd rather never meet.

Don't let this awful experience put you off Beetles. I've had so much enjoyment from them over the years and there really are some great people in the vintage VW scene:wink:

The Beetle is without doubt, to me anyway, the best car ever 😎

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Very, very sorry to hear about such an upsetting discovery. It's really the last thing you hope and think might happen...It's true, you never really know what's under a shiny car until it's been revealed. What I can't understand is what is the 'base' of this car? Did you get some information from the museum regarding its chassis number? There must be a way of tracing what year this car is, unless it's really a patchwork of different elements. If you do discover that deep down somewhere, there is an oval in all this and a true RHD standard model too, I wouldn't give up. I would let the disappointment and anger settle and put it away until the time comes to approach the project again. Easier said than done but it's better than throwing it away and losing all the money...Good luck with your decision anyway:cry:

Hi all new here but served my apprenticeship in a VW specialist restoration shop in the mid 80s.....:? been a police vehicle examiner etc now living semi retired in the sun
Re this oval, are we sure its a hack job or has a 58-60 shell been used as a reshell for an accident repair quite legitimately and the oval grafted in aka "Rattletrap". Im always suspicious but could there be an innocent explanation. Could be made a fine car even if its only a replica.
Dont dismiss all cars have a history this is part of this one.
I have no connection with the car in any way, just a thought!!
Regards

Mark:d

I know its hard to be positive now but buying a restored car is fine if the work was documented .years ago most people never bothered taking photos, especially companys .Like mrs herbie says there are people who would love to have your car as a project .VZi is your best bet .As someone that has renovated many cars i actually get excited when i see cars like this .i start to think what i could do with it and how i would make good the shell.What i am saying ,is that there are lots of people who, like me are driven by this sort of project .My advice to you is not to rush into anything .Start by advertising the whole lot and work it from there and most of all dont loose heart .

I seem to have missed some previous info along the way about this tragic Beetle :?

Presumably it has the ribbed pre '55 doors with chunky latches.

Is it a full cable brake 'Standard' chassis ?




Rattletrap is not just a rear window swap :twisted:

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Hi guys,i can see your points on repairing it ect, but, it really is not worth doing. Theres loads more things that i havent mentioned or photographed...it needs to be seen really......if anyone wants to talk to me about it your more than welcome, pm me and i will send you my phone number.

Re Rattletrap, seems bits from a lot of cars were used to rescue it, my point being the same may have been done to this car.It doesnt take away the fact the car remains when others are lost and, to be frank,new panels used panels repro panels, who cares as long as another car is rescued for its current and future custodian to enjoy. Not all cars can or will be cherished museum or show pieces,some cars are used and enjoyed daily and all help should be given to keeping these on the road safely, to original spec or otherwise

Fair point :wink:

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thank you :d

Oof! Jeez! I only just saw this. Looks like everyones worst nightmare.
I do wonder if we are being a little quick to blame the previous owner though. Did he actually do the work? Even if he did, maybe he did it to the best of his ability and was proud that he´d done a good job. Not everyone has the skills they think they do.

Hope you manage to get your money back out of this, and I´m pretty confident that you´ll do alright selling off parts. Better maybe also that you found out about it now, rather than after a respray or a lot of expensive work on the car.

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