Car of the Week: 1956 Volkswagen Beetle

[dodgechargerfan]

Bill Guettler has had a love for Volkswagen Bugs ever since he was a teen. He bought his first oval-windowed Beetle when he was a 14-year-old newsboy, using it to deliver papers in Wichita, Kan. Over the years, he has owned several Bugs, including a new 1969 and a 1971 Super Beetle that met its demise while tangling with a transit bus.

Guettler’s connection to his 1956 VW goes back to the mid 1970s when he spotted the oval-windowed Bug at a used Volkswagen lot in Downey, Calif. He gave the Bug a cursory once-over and in talking with a salesman, a gulf of $50 existed between the asking price and what Guettler was willing to pay. Guettler offered the salesman his business card, which the salesman initially refused. Guettler then forced his business card on the salesman, telling him to use it to light the pilot light on their heater when winter came, and then he drove off.

Read more.

 

[v8440]

My dad had a '56 he bought brand new. It's possible he bought it in CA, as he had been stationed there during part of the Korean war. What he told me matched the article-36 hp, no fuel gauge, and a foot pedal that kicked in an auxiliary fuel tank. He said that the interstates were being built around that time, and when he drove that car on the interstate he would sit back and lock his knee. It would go (in his words) 35 mph uphill and 85 mph downhill, and it averaged out about right. I don't think he was being literal about those speeds, but I do believe he probably did lock his right knee and sit back on the interstate. I'm pretty sure nobody was running radar on the interstates in the 50's. I don't know how long he drove that car, it may have been until he bought a new mercedes in '66.

 

[restoman]

That's pretty sweet!
It's no secret that I'm a big air-cooled fan (VW pun intended!) and that one would fit the bill nicely!

 

[dodgechargerfan]

That's pretty sweet!
It's no secret that I'm a big air-cooled fan (VW pun intended!) and that one would fit the bill nicely!

The guy we just hired recently bought a 74 Beetle. He's going to baja it.

 

[Stretch]

My Dad had a '73 Beetle when I was a kid. I remember very little about it other than it was yellow with a primer gray front fender. I remember him scraping the frost from the inside of the windshield as we drove through the cold Montana winters.

I have always had a "soft spot" in my heart for these cars. I'm sure that's why.