What happened to all the cheap Beetles

I seemed to remember being able to find old air cooled Beetles for less then $500 all day long now you can't find them for less then a g.

They got more expensive once you could get them on iTunes.

Wait, what?

Hoodrides happened. What once was a rotting hulk is now a car with patina, destined for air ride and phone dials.

mndsm wrote: Hoodrides happened. What once was a rotting hulk is now a car with patina, destined for air ride and phone dials.

I swear that wasn't what I was going to do. Actually I was going to weld up rust, Throw some flat black paint, dump the engine cover and rock that E36 M3.

I'd do a hoodride bug. Get mad.

Actually even better drab green with iron crosses on the side.

The poster formally known as 96DXCivic wrote: What happened to all the cheap Beetles

Time. Rust, mileage, sun, accidents, etc. all have their tolls. You can still find them for cheap, but not nearly as easily as it used to be...now the amount of people that want to collect them is becoming greater than the number available, so prices are going up instead of down. It happens with most any car eventually, just a matter of time.

Bryce

I wonder why someone isn't bringing in mexican ones. They made em down there til recently, seems that a penny or two could be made on the bug crowd.

mndsm wrote: I wonder why someone isn't bringing in mexican ones. They made em down there til recently, seems that a penny or two could be made on the bug crowd.

Because they dont meet DOT requirements for the year of manufacture. For a brief time there was a good business in buying old dead beetles and "restoring" them in mexico (ie. VIN swaps) but that stopped.

To the OP, as others have said, time has made them a bit rarer and they are now collector material instead of just an old car.

I lucked into a $500 bug looking for one for my dad over the summer but it was just luck. had sat for 5 years but started right up with fresh gas. Put another $500 into it to put it on the road but mostly just precautionary stuff like replacing all the soft lines and tires.

mndsm wrote: I wonder why someone isn't bringing in mexican ones. They made em down there til recently, seems that a penny or two could be made on the bug crowd.

Back in the late 90's there was a guy over on Stocking Ave in Grand Rapids, MI, that did just that. Only problem for me was they were 12k.

Brian

I think we've reached the crossover-point, where you're at least as likely to find a New Beetle for $500, as you are an original.

I had three bugs; a '64 Cal Look, a '67 Baja, and a rust free, fuel injected '75.

They were all free. I should have kept the '75.

The newest one north of Mexico is 35 years old. Even when I was in Mexico last year, there were not very many of them.

B13 Sentras (Tsuro), on the other hand, were absolutely EVERYWHERE.

My first 14 cars in a row were ALL air cooled Dubs.

The MOST I paid for any of them was $125.

Rust worms got 'em.

I see cheap ones occasionally but they are rusted beyond belief or just shells.

There are usually a bunch for sale out here ranging from stock ones to Bajas and Cal-looks but they've moved out of a the realm of a couple of Benjamins for a running one. More like at least 2k-3k for a decent running one.

I'm still tempted by a Baja bug but a lot of the ones that I'd consider cheap enough are 5th generation unfinished project.

I remember buying a really clean '63 sedan with a blown motor for $15. Also a nearly pristine '71 bay window with the motor removed for $50. And don't even get me started about the '67 Fastback....

But all of that was 30 years ago, and as has been discussed in other threads - if you could take today's money into a time machine, you could fulfill many automotive fantasies.

The question is - what 'killer deals' will you look back upon 30 years from now?

Lots of them are made into dune buggys

What is a hoodride?

Supply and Demand. What I can't understand is a thread about bugs with no pictures.

I am surprised that you can find a usable one for a grand.

I think what used to be a $1k ACVW is now a $2k~$2.5k ACVW...........

if you don't know, the samba classifieds are your friend.

You can probably find something close to your needs depending on year. I was searching a while ago and was dead set on an oval or split window beetle (pre-57). Those are rare/collectible and if found cheap are usually tinworm infested. Seems like the 70's era ones are the least desirable and therefore cheapest.

I'd love me some hoodride or better yet, volksrod type thing like was posted above.......

pilotbraden wrote: What is a hoodride?

This-

Basically, any rotten beetle, slammed, with a pile of E36 M3 on the roof and a mexican blanket interior. Sometimes they spraypaint stuff on the sides. Look kinda cool, but ABSOLUTELY useless. And with the beam front end, if the air ride it wrong, you get some of the funniest looking camber EVER.

http://ocala.craigslist.org/rvs/2102352144.html http://ocala.craigslist.org/cto/2105155729.html

not mine