1957 Oval Window Beetle

Thirteen years ago, a young Stéphane discovered the air-cooled VW. It was thanks to Super VW magazine (our friendly French equivalent) that did it. There it was sitting on the shelf of the local newsagents in Baisieux, North France, calling out to Stéphane. He picked it up, bought it, went home, got lost in it and was hooked - he had to own a Beetle!
The following year, after deciding that a pre-1968 was the way to go, Stéphane bought a 1961, which had been hit with the Resto-Cal wand. This was quickly rectified - Old School was more Stéphane's thing, so a quick restoration followed comprising of a Turkis Green paintjob, a 1776cc motor and a set of BRM wheels.
In this guise the car got taken on a trip to Santa Pod in 2001. It ran a few good times, enough to make Stéphane happy, but what really got him excited that weekend was the quality of the cars the UK had to offer. He had previously been to The VolksWorld Show too and had been amazed at how many showroom condition VWs had been sourced to fill up the halls - oh how he would love to have his Bug to be amongst them.
Since 1999, he had returned every year to admire the cars at the VolksWorld Show and left every time wanting to own a show car himself. Finally, in 2004, after arriving back on French soil following yet another awe-inspiring trip to Esher, the old noggin' got ticking. Enough was enough! It was time to get stuck in and restore his '61.
"I began the restoration in August 2004 - the same month that I met Andreas at Le Bug Show and whom I ordered a set of Der Steiner Rad wheels off [aka Iron Cross Wheels - JG]," explains Stéphane. As you will probably be aware, the DSR wheels are made in a very limited run and they are only ever made to order, so getting hold of a set is a bit of a waiting game. Stéphane had always admired these wheels so was wise to get them when the opportunity arose.

“I was quick to get the ’pan separated from the body, sanded it down and painted it up in black epoxy, put on a CB Beam, welded the frame horns to stiffen them up, put on a traction bar, renewed the brakes for CSP versions all round and got a new steering box before replacing every nut and bolt in favour of stainless steel ones. I was going strong, but just when I was about to get stuck in to the body, my friend Ben [who is a coachworker] recommended I find another ’shell as this one needed a lot of work to sort it out, having been subject to bad welding and lots of filler from a previous restoration”. On hunting for a new donor body, Stéphane stumbled on a 1957 Oval Ragtop situated across the border in Belgium. It had not been used since 1977 and needed a total restoration, but it was complete with a ragtop and, better still, was an older vintage than his current ride. Perfect! 

For the full story check out the October 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 05 September and then available through back issues.

SUBSCRIBE
Never miss an issue again by setting up a subscription to VolksWorld magazine!

VW Wallpaper
You can download a wallpaper from this feature for your computers desktop in our VW Wallpaper section.