New, Old, Stock - '54 Stock Oval Ragtop

The builder of this stunning Oval is 38-year-old Greg Armendariz from California. Greg has been into VWs for more than 20 years and has previously restored a 1960 Ragtop Bug and a 1963 Karmann Ghia, both to stock condition. He builds cars to better than new standard. Being the son of an aircraft engineer and himself a graphic designer, attention to detail and perfectionism come naturally, as we're about to find out.
Greg's history with VWs goes way back to when he was three years old. His mother bought a 1956 Oval in shiny red and drove Greg to the beach almost daily. He remembers getting out of the ocean and shivering until he climbed into the car's luggage area behind the back seat, where the heat of the engine would warm him up. He still recalls lying there looking up through the oval window at the street lights and the tops of the palm trees as Mom drove home.
The subject of this feature is a 1954 Ragtop Oval, which was not originally sold in the US. It was in fact bought new in Germany by a US serviceman who was based there. The Reed Green Ragtop stayed in Germany for a number of years before being shipped to the sunnier climes of California when the serviceman had finished his tour of duty. Once back on terra firma, the Oval was used by the serviceman until the mid 1960s when it was sold on. The second owner, a teenager, was looking for her first car and what better way to enjoy your cruise to high school than behind the wheel of a ragtop Bug! The Oval stayed in her careful ownership for the next 30 years or so until she passed away in the late 1990s. The car was then put into storage and did not move until Greg stepped in to become only its third owner in June 2000.
The previous owner had done a great job maintaining her first and only car for more than 30 years, but time had taken its toll on the little Oval and Greg knew he had the ultimate project base - a complete, solid, two-owner Oval, and a ragtop at that.

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

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