'55 VW Beetle Oval Cabriolet

Mike Attewell is no stranger to air-cooled VWs, having owned several cool cars since buying his first issue of VolksWorld in 1992. Among this list he cites his favourites as being a 1969 Beetle, a 1968 Deluxe Type 2 and a 1964 Karmann Ghia we featured. However, since selling his Ghia, Mike yearned for an earlier VW and set his heart on a Cabriolet Beetle - the one vehicle that had drawn him to VWs in the first place!
Mike set about trawling the internet in search of a worthy project. Much time was spent ambling through various uninteresting ads until he stumbled across an advert on a historic VW website listing a RHD 1955 Cabriolet Beetle for sale, in need of full restoration. With nothing to lose other than a bit of time, Mike gave the owner a call.
It turns out that the owner, Arthur Law, had bought the 'Vert gracing these pages over 30 years ago when his other Oval Cabriolet had caught fire soon after he had completed the restoration on it. Arthur's plan was to build one good car from the two, but, alas, this never happened. 30 years on, the Cab' still sat forlorn in the garage awaiting love, but Arthur had neither the time nor inclination to complete the necessary work. The good news for Mike was the car was pretty much complete and unmolested - a rare treat these days - and also came with a whole host of new old stock parts that had been collected over the years: RHD Bosch scripted headlamp lenses, door handles with keys, a locking decklid handle, front and rear bumpers including Euro style overriders and a full set of body trim to name but a few. The car even came with a spare floorpan and a selection of body panels salvaged from the burnt-out vehicle and an ultra-cool Motometer 3-gauge ‘Rally' cluster.