Given the way that Beetles have had all their parts swapped over the decades, I’m always reluctant to try to nail down an exact model year of a street-parked example, particularly when it’s a primered-out survivor owned by a guy who spends a lot of time at junkyards. If we are to go by the taillights and hood latch, this car should be a ’68… or it might be a ’64 with a fender swap… or a ’74 pan with a ’68 body. Anyway, the important thing is that it’s an old air-cooled Volkswagen survivor that gets used as a tow vehicle.
This car is the daily driver and freight hauler for an artist who’s something of a legend in my south Denver neighborhood. His studio is an overwhelming house-sized collage of found objects, including thousands of automotive emblems; I’ll have to get over there and document his place with my stereo camera one of these days.
Here’s a short video that gives you the idea. This VW makes a couple of cameos.
Some folks would say that a Toyota truck with a good heater would be the ideal Denver art-material-scavenging machine, but a Beetle with a small flatbed trailer works just as well (provided you dress warmly in the winter).
Those tailights with the blue dots are aftermarket units from EMPI aren’t they?
These cars will survive the nuclear winter. Well, at least the nuclear summer.
As long as you babyem along,The later suitcase engined Kombis handle the daily grind much better than bugs hot reather turns VWs brittle.
Love those slot mags! They suit a Beetle of this patina very, very well.
If you want to know the year – at least of the body – you can always just look through the windshield and read it off the plate attached to the top of the dash on the driver’s side. If memory serves, first two digits are the type (in this case 11), and second two digits are the year.
I think I had that same exhaust system on my 74 superbeetle.
Only if it’s 1965 or newer!
http://www.lightner.net/ybdb/serno.html
I’m guessing the first three digits of this example would be 119 (i.e. 1969).
Rear bumper is a ’68 or later IIRC. The washers under the lug nuts are a nice touch!
About the only way to externally identify a Beetle as a ’68 or ’69 is to look at the rear window. The ’69 will have fine defroster wires in the glass, but the ’68 won’t.
The 69 also has a remote release fuel door (from inside the glovebox). The ’68 had an indentation in the quarter panel to insert a finger under the fuel door. That’s what made me think this is a ’69.
What are those twin exhausts telling us..?
Those pop out rear windows are the best flow through ventilation. Apparently you could not get them if you ordered the S/R.
Are those 4-bolt wheels some sort of an adapter plate, or did “later” Bugs actually use that pattern? I had a ’67 with the wide-spaced lug *bolts*.