UPDATED : My 51 Beetle · International Vintage Volkswagen Forums

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ianmac
Guest Topic Starter

15 years ago

For many moons I fancied an early beetle, but stuggled to find one that hadn't been messed with.

Cut a long story short I found this one in Holland, but had come from England some 3/4 years previously and having been owned previously by a well known poster on these forums:wink:

I took a long drive to Holland from my home in Devon with my brother to find this one tucked away, unfortunately P and O wouldn't allow trailers on the ferry without 24 hrs prior notice so we had no choice other than to bump start the car and drive it 500 miles home, which we achieved in a respectable 11 hours including the ferry.

Anyway the car flew through its MOT and I have driven it ever since for the last 2 1/2 yrs without any attention other than an oil change.

I bit the bullet this winter and inspired by LT's Barn Find 57 thread I decided a sympathetic overhaul of the underpinnings but maintain the exterior look / patina.

Any way I decided that I had enough projects of my own so called on the services of Ben Lewis of EvilBen fame in Cornwall to carry out the overhaul.

Some pics for you all to see

Edited by user 10 years ago | Reason: Not specified

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ianmac
Guest Topic Starter

15 years ago

some more pics:wink:

Rattletrap
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

Nice looking straight car, love it.:beer:

Looking forward to more pics as progress is made :d

Rattletrap – the Volkswagen Beetle that has covered an incredible mileage equivalent to over 35 times around the planet :omg:
Running nifty since 1950… the King of Volkswagens:beer: Why not make friends with this famous little VW – he's on facebook! :d
http://forums.pre67vw.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=16378

GKL 7
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

:d I had some fun times with that car.
Another poster here(vintagebug)owned it as well.I owned it twice over the years buying it back from him after a while.Super solid car.
KET is a sheffield plate,that's where i purchased it from.It had been floating around Yorkshire for years.

Rich Oakley
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

Great post Ian and I'm glad to see it's in safe hands with Ben and Co.

This is one of my all-time favourite 'UK' deluxes imported in 1953 from Germany, most probably by an ex-serviceman from Rotherham- it spent most of it's life there as George mentioned. I can't believe how solid it is! You need to bin those '48 hubcaps though 😉

47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.

Ovaltine
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

Remember this car from a long way back, KET.

How can a car that has been in this country for so long be so good:?:

Great see it has such a keen owner:beer:

The way to end a good day out with your Split is with an Ovaltine!

vintagebug
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

How can a car that has been in this country for so long be so good:?

Ovaltine wrote:

Because it has had a few good owners who have taken care of it! :wink:

I owned it for a few years in between George's two spells and it was a very very solid car. I can't recall finding any welding anywhere on it. Very original!

I drove it to Bad Camberg back in 1999, in a small convoy with George (in his black sunroof '52 he had at that time), Keith Lessiter's '49 standard & Keith's Oval (driven by his son). The whole trip was trouble-free except for a broken fanbelt on KET which required a stop to fix it in the rain on the motorway in the middle of Antwerp if I recall...

I should've kept hold of that car... :wink:

Glad it's obviously in good hands now, Ian!

Dave

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Keith Lessiter's '49 after he sold it (reg was 49 STD, what a, ahem, coincidence :wink: )

Dave
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading"

Ovaltine
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

I should've kept hold of that car... :wink:

vintagebug wrote:

You're not kidding:roll:

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Keith Lessiter's '49 after he sold it (reg was 49 STD, what a, ahem, coincidence :wink: )

vintagebug wrote:

Like the '52 Deluxe registered as 52 DLX, amazing coincidence[-x

Edited by user 15 years ago | Reason: Not specified

The way to end a good day out with your Split is with an Ovaltine!

GKL 7
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

I drove it to Bad Camberg back in 1999, in a small convoy with George (in his black sunroof '52 he had at that time), Keith Lessiter's '49 standard & Keith's Oval (driven by his son). The whole trip was trouble-free except for a broken fanbelt on KET which required a stop to fix it in the rain on the motorway in the middle of Antwerp if I recall...

vintagebug wrote:

Great times Dave,fanbelt was all part of it......
What a trip,i remember us all being so sad because we had to go home...back to the real world.

ianmac
Guest Topic Starter

15 years ago

#10

This is one of my all-time favourite 'UK' deluxes imported in 1953 from Germany, most probably by an ex-serviceman from Rotherham- it spent most of it's life there as George mentioned. I can't believe how solid it is! You need to bin those '48 hubcaps though ;)

Rich Oakley wrote:

You're like a VW encylopedia Rich :shock: thanks for the info I didn't realise it came over in '53 !

ianmac
Guest Topic Starter

15 years ago

#11

Because it has had a few good owners who have taken care of it! :wink:

Dave

vintagebug wrote:

Aha you were the other owner, I think it had you as the previous owner on the V5 when I bought it, luckily the guy in Holland never returned the DVLA form declaring it had been exported, so I was able to retain the original 6 digit plate:d

Yes someone had carefully brushed the underside with grease, which although messy has preserved the car beautifully, probably far better than any underseal treatment 😎

GKL 7
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#12

Sorry to rain on the parade Rich......It came from Switzerland.

vintagebug
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#13

Great times Dave,fanbelt was all part of it......
What a trip,i remember us all being so sad because we had to go home...back to the real world.

' wrote:

Yes George, reality always gets in the way of a good time! :lol: Halcyon days...

Dave
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading"

vintagebug
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#14

...luckily the guy in Holland never returned the DVLA form declaring it had been exported, so I was able to retain the original 6 digit plate:d

ianmac wrote:

Excellent, what a stroke of luck. It would've been a shame to lose that number.

Dave
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading"

vintagebug
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#15

Sorry to rain on the parade Rich......It came from Switzerland.

' wrote:

Yes George, I agree. I seem to remember seeing something somewhere which mentioned AMAG, the Swiss importer. I don't remember what the document was though!

Dave
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading"

Rich Oakley
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#16

Yes George, I agree. I seem to remember seeing something somewhere which mentioned AMAG, the Swiss importer. I don't remember what the document was though!

vintagebug wrote:

The 'Germany' part was a guess :lol: :wink:

Ian, if you want to find it's full UK history, the Sheffield archives office should still hold all the information on your car from 1953 onwards. The 'ET' series records have survived in their archives.

Sheffield Archives
52 Shoreham Street, Sheffield, S1 4SP
Tel 0114 203 9395
Fax 0114 203 9398
Email archives@sheffield.gov.uk

Edited by user 15 years ago | Reason: Not specified

47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.

pre67vw
Administration

15 years ago

#17

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Keith Lessiter's '49 after he sold it (reg was 49 STD, what a, ahem, coincidence :wink: )

vintagebug wrote:

I think it went to Brian Burrows (of Volkszone/Bug Jam fame). Not sure if he still has it or not though

Rob Amos
Happiness is a stock VW

Rattletrap
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#18

I think it went to Brian Burrows (of Volkszone/Bug Jam fame). Not sure if he still has it or not though

pre67vw wrote:

Slammed and on 'Earlies':?:

pre67vw
Administration

15 years ago

#19

Slammed and on 'Earlies':?:

Rattletrap wrote:

When I spoke to him about what he was going to do with the car, he was pretty keen on keeping it stock. But I've not seen the car for quite a few years, so who knows...

Rob Amos
Happiness is a stock VW

Rattletrap
pre67vw Junkie

15 years ago

#20

When I spoke to him about what he was going to do with the car, he was pretty keen on keeping it stock. But I've not seen the car for quite a few years, so who knows...

pre67vw wrote:

It was a great car that my friend Harvey Simpson found in Belgium around the same time that he found my '49. Geoff Marks bought it from Harvey and stripped it down. Geoff was well annoyed when a chroming company lost some parts he'd taken in, and sold it on to Keith still dismantled I believe. It was Pearl Grey but Keith wanted to paint it Bordeux Red same as my '49. He even came over and borrowed a sample, (fuel filler cap) to have a match. He did an amazing job, hope its okay today.:beer:

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