Hey my VDuB BuDs!
Nearing the end of June and it is a Scorcher in NY!
Here is what I have in store for you this week;
1. The Value of the VW Beetle Continues to Rise
2. Brief recap of Litchfield
3. Two Help Tip Videos, Brakes and Door handle Repair
4. Sunday July 1st Classic VW Bugs Gathering at shop.
The Value of the VW Beetle Continues to Rise
I get this question all the time, “How is the market going for the Bug?” People worry from time to time about investing into a project or buying a bug that is already fully restored.
Everyone should hone up on the market before buying anything, and if you are buying a project to restore yourself, do your HW on what parts will be needed to get the car back on the road, maybe even bring a body/fender man to see the car before purchase so he can give you an idea of what it will take to splash a fresh coat of paint on it. Grab the calculator and do a worst case scenario, purchase price, parts, paint, and your time, this will all play a deciding roll whether to go forward or not.
Keep in mind that every car is different depending on year, the price for say a 70s project may seem high, but not for a 50s project.
Too many people I see buy on impulse and think they have a weekend project on hand, be careful not to fall into the trap. The older these cars get the more TLC they will need.
Two sites I like to use for evaluation are www.collectorcarmarket.com and www.hagerty.com
www.CollectorCarMarket.com I have been using for many years as a good guide to go by. Many of the sales that I have had in the past have pretty much fell into the price breakdown that this site presents. You just have to make sure you are realistic on the REAL condition of your car or the car you are about to buy.
www.hagerty.com will show some different pricing compared to the Collector Car Market site. They show right off the bat just an average price of what the cars are going for. They will seem LOW. Remember though that the average beetle for sale today is not show worthy. Check ebay at any given day or week and you will see that 90% of the cars for sale there are drivers at best, have incorrect color schemes or horrible color combos to begin with. Many have hacked up dashes, incorrect parts, and on and on and on.
But the one thing I like to see on hagerty’s site is that they show a line graph on the appreciation of the Beetle, the great news is that they keep climbing even in the recession. Some beetles have even seen a spike up in the past year. You can jump right into the evaluation section HERE.
Brief recap of Litchfield
We convoyed to the Litchfield BuG-In this past Sunday (Father’s Day) to a great show, weather was nice even though I burned like a piece of bacon, sun did get hot at points. As funny as this sounds, my lil fans came out in full force, it was amazing. I appreciate all the “Thank Yous” that I got and the thumbs up for the work my Pop and I do on the air-cooled Bug. You guys are the best, so glad you are fans of our passion to keep the Vintage VW Movement Alive.
What was even better was seeing the folks wearing our T-shirts at the show, I love it.
Get a spot on our site with one of our T-shirts! Take a pic of yourself by your Classic VW with one of our Tees and a brief story about you and your car, and we will post you up on my site.
Don’t forget your Vintage VW Movement Tees HERE.
Two Help Tip Videos, Brakes and Door handle Repair.
Decent tip HERE on VW Beetle Front Brakes
The Best How To tip on brakes is by the www.BugMeVideo.com DVD series on Brakes.
And my good friend Eric Shoemaker posted a video on his 1967beetle.com site on Door handle Repair. Now they are using of course 1967 door handles, but you can get a general idea on how to fix them for your year bug. See the video here.
Sunday July 1st Classic VW Bugs Gathering at shop.
Free to all, no judging, no trophies!
Come one come all! Mark your calendars, Summer Kick – Off Air-Cooled Gathering at my shop Sunday July 1st 2012 from 10am-1pm.
Show off your air-cooled DuB of any shape and size, chat, mingle, relax, bring a picnic, whatever! This will be a great kick-off to the Summer. Free to all, open house of our new shop and the latest projects we are working on www.ClassicVWbugs.com. Food and drinks will be on hand.
Hope to see you guys all there, show off your DUB! Any questions contact me chris@classicvwbugs.com or call 845.290.9900
Until then, Have a great Weekend!
Chris Vallone
Last Updated: June 22nd, 2012
