If you're going to pick a VW to restore, you can either make life difficult for yourself or easy. Choose a late model saloon and pretty much everything is available off the shelf to do the job. You might even find some NOS panels and parts at swapmeets still, as the demand for these cars hasn't yet outstripped the supply of parts. Choose a '50s saloon and things get a bit more difficult but, if you really want a challenge, choose an early '50's Cabriolet - and why not make it a Split Window model while you're about it. But be warned, you had better have deep pockets because you're looking at a serious financial commitment to get the job done right.
To give you some idea of how rare these cars are, to the best of my memory, in the last decade we've only featured two British concours Split-dash Cabriolets in VolksWorld, and both were out of this world. Sadly, very few people will ever have the opportunity to own one of these cars, and to take on the restoration of one you have to have - how can we put it? - a somewhat obsessive personality. You also have to be prepared to travel the world - literally and metaphorically - in search of parts and be ready to stump up the cash when they do turn up. It's not uncommon to hear stories of people buying complete Split Window Beetles just to source body parts.

 For the full story check out the August 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 11 July and then available through back issues.

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