Curbside Classic Outtake: One Too Many
It’s yellow convertible week at CC, and I have one too many. And since I have a lovely early sixties VW Cabriolet (un-yellow) in the can, this less desirable early seventies Super Beetle Cabrio gets nudged into the Outtake position. No hard feelings.
This was ’71 or ’72 presaged the end of the line for the Beetle Cabrio. According to wiki, it continued to be made by Karman until 1980, on the Super Beetle platform, which was discontinued for regular Beetles in 1976. But were they really imported into the US that late? Hmm.
The first Beetle Cabriolet was a hand built prototype built for and given to Adolf Hitler himself. A forty two year run, not bad for a car that was still attracting buyers to its cute looks and very solid construction. The VW top was a revelation to Americans who hadn’t been exposed to such a nicely padded and lined top. Never mind that one couldn’t see out the back when the top was open.
More by Paul Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
I asked guys cause my "clinical supervisor" professor at the end of my undergraduate work had a 1977 Super Beetle with about 50,000 original miles on it. He was a collector of antiques and the only reason he had the car was to collect it. It had the chrome eyelids over the lights and the stupid lady bug floor mats, topped off by a thick gold metal flake paint job. He got divorced during my final year in college (caught in a loooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggg term affair) and he gave the now ex-wife ALL his property including the bug. Saw it in the local auto trader at $2500 OBO. (This was 1999.)
I'm not generally a fan of convertibles, but IMO VW has always made the best-looking ones around, particularly when they are open.