1971 Volkswagen Beetle - Hemmings Find of the Day - Car News, Car Reviews, Car Maintenance & Repairs

Remarkably, it appears almost unchanged from its early Nineties pastel-and-tweed “extreme” configuration. Most shorty VWs rely on the reduction in wheelbase as wow factor enough, but this 1971 Volkswagen Beetle for sale on Hemmings.com used a cut-n-shut as the launchpad for a whole transformation into a doorless roadster kinda like a dune buggy but without the offroad pretense. From the seller’s description:

1971 Custom Radically Modified Beetle Aqua Metallic Green Roadster!! This car was featured in the 1983 Edition of “VW Trends” Magazine and was described as “. . . we had yet to see anything really quite like this ’71 Beetle. Its subsequent look is truly out of this world. But if a description was absolutely imperative, it could easily be summed up in only two short words — “Future Shock.” Specific mods include 14″ shortened wheel base; chopped windshield; welding and cutting up both doors; adding roll bar; wide custom fenders; short KYB gas shocks in front and rear; Iroc Z-28 front seats; custom dash; Formula France steering wheel; Rossi headlights; Enkei 15″ wheels coupled with Firestone P195/50 R15 tires; VDO speedo Sony sound system; Kenwood KAC-300 amplifiers, 10 Kicker drivers, Kenwood tweeters & Linear crossovers; stock powerplant was rebuilt slightly larger now displacing 1641cc’s Internal components include a 69mm crank,Cima 87mm pistons and barrels, stock rods and Engle 110 cam. Dualport heads are equipped with 35.5×33.0mm stainless steel intake and exhaust valves along with stock springs and rockers. Bosch 009 distributor; single 44mm Weber carburetor atop a CB performance manifold; 200mm lightened 10 1/2 pound flywheel and 1700 lb Kennedy clutch assembly.

My father bought this car at auction. I inherited this great car, but am now selling it to make room in my garage for a sailboat. The body of the car is in Mint Condition with just a little fading to the pink and yellow stripes on the interior (see photos). According to the sign that was with the car at auction, the previous owner invested over $44,000 in customizing this Beetle Roadster. Since the magazine article, someone added a cool surfboard to the rollbar (see photo). This car is a blast to drive and definitely turns heads whereever it goes!