This Volkswagen Beetle-Based Pickup Is All The Weirdness You Need Today

The classic Volkswagen Beetle was the basis for about a million different project builds in the 1980s, when it was common, cheap and easy to work on. At some point during all that, this thing happened...

Matt Kimberley

05 Sep 2017

This Volkswagen Beetle-Based Pickup Is All The Weirdness You Need Today

You do see some weird things in the American classifieds, and this is right up their with the strangest. It’s a Volkswagen Beetle, believe it or not, that has been treated to fibreglass bodywork sort of in the shape of a classic pickup.

We found this oddball on eBay US, up for sale in the town of Mendon, New York. Underneath the interesting additions it’s a 1969 Beetle with, sadly, very little history listed in the advert. The seller implies that it was converted a few decades ago and says that it has lived most of its life in California before being bought and moved to the East Coast.

It’s in excellent condition, we’re told, with a recent refurbishment on its books and wheels and tyres that are in as-new fettle. There’s apparently no rust on the chassis (we’d definitely want to check that) and several small, niggly jobs have been carried out. The seller says the total mileage on the car is unknown, though, because the Beetle’s five-figure odometer might have been around the block a few times.

There’s a radio but it isn’t connected, and the heater and windscreen demister aren’t working. The seller says they only used the car on warm, dry days anyway so never got them fixed. The buy-it-now asking price is a fairly steep-seeming $8800, with an opening bid invited at just $500 less than that.

Much as we like the chunky wheels and tyres, the air intakes in front of the rear wheels and the two-tone paint job, the bonnet is as awkward as a fart at a beauty pageant and the price is a little off-putting. What say you, CTzens? Do you like, or do you not?

Comments

I had once found a Rotary powered 911 replica.
https://www.carthrottle.com/out/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F1980-Porsche-911-Covin-911-Widebody-Cabrolet-Replica-%2F112424830896%3Fhash%3Ditem1a2d0ac7b0%3Ag%3A830AAOSwq1JZLY9n%26vxp%3Dmtr

I would drive that

I only hope it doesn’t have the original engine. If that’s the case, then you’re stuck with something which has both no style and no power.

And since it’s rear engine you can’t access it becouse of the pick-up convertion.

How hard was it to make a good looking pick-up truck based on a Beetle? I mean, seriously look at that, and tell me it was harder to get finished than that “thing” with the fiberglass body:

This is how it should be done. Not the above awful pastiche of a Willys that has no reason to exist.

Also, *seriously.

Front: Nice
Back: Not so
the one you posted has in my eyes not the fitting front. I prefer the original posted ones

I think it looks nice and original. Of course you’d need an engine swap and to make it front engined unless there’s a hatch in the back for the engine.