For us old air-cooled Guys --- on The Samba . . .
1962 1500 Notchback: Excellent Orig. Paint Price: $31,000 obo
HISTORY OF “PEARL”
. . . This Volkswagen was ordered by Virgil and Thelma in 1961 in Visalia, CA. Virgil was most interested in the 1500 Notchback, which was prevalent in the sales brochures but was not available in the U.S. The dealership took his deposit, and offered Virgil a “Tourist Delivery” package on the Notchback Coupe. Virgil and Thelma combined a 3-month European vacation with picking up their new VW in Wolfsburg, Germany on March 5th, 1962. They drove Pearl 8000-miles while on their European trip, and the VW received its first 3 scheduled maintenances at VW/Porsche authorized repair shops at 2500km, 5000km and 10,000km (German Service book is present with the car) . . .
. . . Virgil placed the VW on board the SS Rotterdam in Amsterdam, Holland for shipment to New York City. During this transit, the driver’s door was dented when the adjacent auto door was opened into the VW door. (This dent remained un-repaired, and never repainted much to my delight, so I enlisted the talents of a dentless paint repair professional to remove the dent with no body work or paint touch-up.) . . .
. . . Virgil & Thelma drove their VW from New York City to Visalia, California where it received license plate FCP132, present today on the vehicle. Pearl was locally driven for approximately 9 years before they relocated to Napa Valley in 1971. Virgil continued to daily drive the VW for several more years before finally parking this beloved Notchback in the garage in 1978 covered with a heavy quilt for the next 14 years . . .
. . . Virgil & Thelma lived directly across the street from Robert who moved into the neighborhood in 1985. Robert noticed the VW lump languishing in the garage for years and when his daughter needed a car to drive to San Fransisco State University, he approached Virgil and made a deal in 1992. When Robert pushed Pearl across the street, the mileage read 59,000 on the odometer. As Robert was polishing the paint and renewing the mechanicals, he discovered that the Notchback held remarkable significance in the collector world of classic vehicles. It was decided to keep Pearl in the Napa garage and not expose it to the rigors of city life at the University, and the daughter received a used Honda . . .
. . . Robert drove the Notchback 3000 miles from 1992 to 2011. During his ownership he replaced the clutch, wheel cylinders , purged the fuel system and waxed Pearl 2 times per year (about 40 wax jobs). Bob attended three “Goodguys” VW shows where he took first place trophies. At age 77, Robert put the word out that the VW was for sale, and that is how it came to be in my stewardship . . .
CURRENT LIFE:
. . . Since in my possession, I have replaced the carpet with gray German wool square-weave bound with 356 herringbone binding and custom cut and installed by a prominent Porsche 356-only upholstery shop. The seat pads needed rebuilding and the original fabric woven seat top material was stained and threadbare. Gizmo Bob of the Type-III community had spent a considerable amount of money to re-mill this original material and had enough yardage for 20 cars and I procured enough to recover the 3 seats. The fabric was then paired with an exact factory vinyl and sent to Oregon to be heat-seamed in the precise manner done by VW. The final product was sewn into new covers and installed on the newly refurbished pads to create crisp flat seating with the factory “puckers” in the seat bottoms . . .
. . . Pearl was to be a reliable weekend pleasure vehicle for me and was fitted with all new ball joints, radial tires, Boge shocks, new ATE German master and slave cylinders. The fuel pump, distributer, and carburetor were rebuilt and the engine and transmission were removed, detailed and resealed. The wheel wells, front and rear suspension and transmission have all been cleaned and detailed in their original finishes and Pearl looks just as clean from below . . .
. . . We took the Notchback on a 4-day roadtrip to San Luis Obisbo, and Pearl frequently makes the run to Santa Barbara. Still in her original delivery as a “radio-delete” car, we prefer the mechanical music coming from the engine room. The Pearl White paint is 100% original and I have exercised restraint from touching up one single paint chip on the finish. This is a perhaps the best surviving, original, first-year notchback in the U.S . . .
OWNERSHIP:
Virgil, Napa, CA (1962 to 1992) 59,000 miles
Robert, Napa, CA (1992-2011) 62,000 miles
David, Calabasas, CA (2011-2014) 65,000 miles
. . . We are a VW family and would consider partial trades for a Type-2 deluxe or Westy, Ghia or ragtop beetle . . .
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifie...php?id=1620414
(Not mine)
Yeah --- I had one once. A '65 1500S + 'roof . . . and until only recently . . . the car that I'd put the most miles on . . . ~200k mi. Lovely things. Light + beautifully put-together, tough, economical, need only basic care. Wonderful to drive, too --- nimble . . . w/acres of glass
Only sold mine to buy my 1st Porsche
PS . . . now this guy knows what I want to see w/ his pictures
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