Strange Brew – ’56 Standard Beetle

I know I'm biased but I still think Oval Windows are the best all-round cars Volkswagen ever produced in the old days - they're old enough to still have that real vintage charm and the deliciously swooping body lines that so characterised the Beetle from day one, but also new enough that you really can drive one on an everyday basis and enjoy it - something only the criminally insane would try to do in a Split Window Beetle. Like all VWs these days though, almost regardless of their vintage, it's rare to see a completely stock one, so when we discover cars like this we get more than a little bit excited. But it's not just because this is a stocker that we got hot, it's a little bit more unusual than that. How about a Canadian market '56 Standard, but one ordered with a Golde sliding sunroof, too? Now that's something to talk about.
What's interesting about this car though is the odd combination of Standard and Deluxe parts it wears, which, by all accounts, is exactly as it was built. In our May issue this year we ran a feature on Nicolas Carr-Forster's home market '59 Standard - also an original sunroof car, incidentally - and waxed lyrical about the simplicity and austerity of it. Alongside that, this car couldn't be more different. For a start it's painted in a metallic colour, whereas all Standards we've ever come across before were in solid colours, most often the rather dour Jupiter Grey. Not only that, it's also got external body trim, a VW roundel at the top of the bonnet and a Wolfsburg crest down by the handle, chrome US-spec ‘towel rail' bumpers and chrome handles all round, as well as chrome hubcaps. For those unfamiliar with the differences between European and North American market VWs, those bullet indicators up front are correct, having been fitted there since May '55 after the federales decided semaphore indicators were next to useless (as if...). Look past the shiny bits on the exterior though and you'll see some of the telltale Standard signs - painted horn grilles (two, where home market cars soldiered on with just the one), painted quarter light frames, no running board trim and no trim in the window rubbers.

For the full story on this car make sure you pick up a copy of the September 2010 issue of VolksWorld

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