1976 Volkswagen Baja Beetle

Description

Just when we think we've seen it all, cars like this wild 1970 Volkswagen Beetle show up. Not your garden-variety V-Dub, it's been fully customized and is just as capable as its way-out looks would suggest. If there's a vehicle that screams "fun" more than this one, I can't imagine what it might be.

You've seen dune buggies made from VWs elsewhere on the Streetside Classics website, but this one takes the same idea in a different direction. Clearly designed to play where the pavement ends, only the front clip of this VW is fiberglass, with the rest of it being neatly modified factory steel. Clipped fenders are the most prominent modification, designed to give those oversized wheels and tires plenty of room to work when bouncing around off road. You'll also note that this is not a typical VW Bug, and has been clipped and tweaked to offer more strength with a roof rack that adds to its off-roading look. And, of course, there's that wild paint, which combines bright orange with black, gray, and white stripes to give it an aggressive look that works really well. This might be the toughest-looking Beetle we've ever seen.

It's a bit more civilized inside than its looks would indicate, not the bare-bones desert rat that you were expecting. The black seats feature durable and removable seat covers, but the dash has been painted bright orange to match the bodywork. The original Beetle instruments are still in the lone round pod ahead of the driver, augmented by a very neatly tachometer and auxiliary gauges around the central binnacle, right where they seem to belong. An AM/FM/CD stereo does its best to keep up with the snarky engine out back and the wind roaring past the windows, but you'll be laughing too much to care anyway. The back seat is gone, replaced by a custom storage box, but as the note suggests, the original back seat is available if you'd like to add it to the car to make it fun for four.

The Baja Bug look emphasizes the rear-mounted engine by cutting away most of the deck lid and showing off the exotic chrome header pipe and muffler. With 1915 cc worth of displacement, this is a burly Bug that makes notably more power than your average VW, particularly with a hot-rod carburetor and that far-out exhaust system. A big original-style generator supplies the juice, and the whole thing runs and drives great, so it's totally ready to go out and play. The lifted suspension hangs on a set of heavy-duty off-road springs and shocks all around, and it works well, even if all you're going to do is cruise the streets. A heavy-duty cage out back acts as a bumper (if you can call it that) to protect the vitals, and it rolls on blacked-out wheels wearing staggered radial tires for just the right stance.

If your only goal with a hobby car is to have fun, this party on wheels should be at the very top of your list, because it does nothing else besides have fun. Call today!