VW Bus Barndoor Samba

There's no reason to doubt Drew Colome when he says the 1954 Barndoor 23-Window Deluxe Microbus you see here is one of if not the best example in the world. You've only got to look at it to see how good it is. Also, take into account the fact Colome Motors was started by Drew's father 40-odd years ago, and today specialises in locating and supplying the crème de la crème in Vintage VWs, coupled with the fact he's been around VWs his whole life, you soon realise that, to dispute what he's saying, you better have some substantial facts to back you up. Not that Drew will tell you how good this Barndoor is to get one up on you; he's truly proud to have had a Bus like this in his inventory.
"Approximately 100 Barndoor Deluxes are known to exist today and this one is in the top handful of those remaining examples - early, rare, the top of the line, correct and absolutely beautiful throughout!"
We agree on all points! Prior to restoration, the '54 was what Drew refers to as an "amazing survivor, extremely dry, straight, correct, and complete". A true perfectionist, Drew's owned some seriously rare Vintage Volkswagens over the years and his father has been responsible for their restoration. Drew told us, "His approach was that if he already had a nice original part and had a chance to upgrade it to a mint NOS part, he did."
Despite its age, no welding was required so every panel on the Bus has been on it since it was built at Wolfsburg in 1954! So you can expect to find the correct Barndoor cab doors with the small door handle recesses, the seamed cab steps or ‘dog legs', as well as all of the other panels are 100% correct. The paintwork is obviously not 55 years old, but it is the correct Sealing Wax Red and Chestnut Brown combination, and done to an extremely high standard, as our photographs show. It's like a good mirror - straight and true.
When talking with Drew it's obvious he knows his stuff when it comes to the correct parts a '54 should have and to list them all here would be like writing a parts list, so we're not about to send you off to sleep! However, parts such as the bubble taillights and glass reflectors are two things to perv-out over!

For the full story on this car make sure you pick up a copy of the April 2009 issue of VolksWorld 

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