Volkswagens in disguise

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Need a car to take to the boulevard or travel to the beach this summer? Auctioneer RM Sotheby’s is there to help, with its online ‘Sand Lots’ sale. “Sand Lots will feature beach-ready cars just in time for summer,” they write, “Offering a variety of cars that are ideal for getting you and your gear to the beach in style.”

1966 Meyers Manx

We picked out three Volkswagens in disguise from the catalogue. First of them simply had to be a Beach Buggy, and it is, but what a nice and clean example this one is! Registered as a 1966 Meyers Manx it looks to have come straight from a copy of Hot Rod magazine, or Hot Car magazine if you’re from the UK. Lime green paint, wide white rims with chrome hub caps and fat General tyres and California black plates. Oh, and that ultra-simple interior with even the standard Volkswagen steering wheel … love it!

1994 Beck Spyder

Quite different in its looks, but technically perhaps not so much, is the Beck Spyder that’s on offer. That is, of course, a fibreglass-bodied replica of the famous Porsche 550 Spyder as manufactured by Chuck Beck of Indiana, USA, and using modest VW Beetle mechanicals rather than the fragile racing engine of the ultra-expensive original. This one dates back to 1994 but it’s hard to say if that was the year of manufacture of the body, of it being sold, or built, or first registered. Fact is it’s been painted and dressed up to look like James Dean’s famous ‘Little Bastard’, which you will have to like. But it does look like a great example of the species, which will fool many.

1973 Volkswagen Type 2 '23-Window' Conversion

Last Volkswagen crossbreed is a conversion we hadn’t seen before. It’s a Brazilian-built Volkswagen bus of 1973 vintage with 1500cc flat-four, but this one has been converted into ‘23-window’ classic T2 Samba looks. No surprise perhaps, since original Sambas have sky-rocketed in price in recent years. The conversion includes split windscreen, pop-out windows, two-tone paint, double cargo doors and retractable sunroof. According to the seller the modifications have resulted in a “Concours-quality conversion undertaken in Brazil and completed in February 2022”. Fact is it would have us fooled when we saw it parked on a surf spot near the beach …

Words Jeroen Booij. Pictures courtesy of RM Sotheby's.

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