I’ve been hankering for a fun self indulgent project that was retro, iconic and roofless.
And could be towed behind the campervan…
I figured a beach buggy ticked all those boxes and more. Plus it’s an air-cooled VW with no heating for our chilly British climate but roofless for those lovely summer days.
It’s currently yellow with an attempt at a WWII bomber mascot emblazoned on the bonnet and hips.
The tale begins as many do with an eBay listing that’s near enough to take the missus to as well…
Thankfully my wife is pretty understanding when it comes to the number of cars in my quiver! And it’s a beach buggy. Who wouldn’t want such a fine example of mindless simplicity and unadulterated fun?! Thank you Mr Meyer.
So I headed over to the seller to check the buggy over. He had it for more than a year but it’d never left the trailer. Not even fired it up, so it was no surprise then that we couldn’t figure out how to get it started. Once we got power to the coil the 1600 burst into life!
Long story short – a deal was struck and it arrived on my driveway!
I took it for a short drive around the neighbourhood, the magnificent exhaust announcing to my neighbours that it had in fact arrived to disturb their tea time.
Now it sits waiting for me to begin the inevitable process of making it mine…I even made a video about this 1962 VW Beach Buggy.
This beach buggy was build on a 1962 VW Beetle chassis around 1970 when the beach buggy craze was in full swing in the UK. It seems to have been built by GP and is one of their Mark 1 fiberglass beach buggies that was originally orange then painted yellow in the early eighties by the then owner – more about that to follow as I dig into the massive history file.
Anyway, it should give me something more to do while we are locked down during this pandemic. Stay safe.
Happy days.
