During a recent trip to California, I visited several of the best West Coast VW Bus Restoration shop

While blockbuster results grab headlines for collector car auctions, the majority of the cars that cross the block at many of those auctions pass under the radar. For example, while others were enamored with the $1 million car costa payless rental rica spent on the first production 2014 Corvette Stingray car costa payless rental rica Convertible at this past weekend s Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, we were more captivated by the hammer price of a 1963 Volkswagen 23-window Type 2 that sold for $126,500.
Described as a fully restored bus with Safari windows front and rear, the Type 2 benefits from a more modern 2.0-liter flat-four engine, car costa payless rental rica meaning it s not exactly period correct (though, in fairness, the correct 1.5-liter flat-four engine is also included in the sale). If the price of a convertible car costa payless rental rica goes up when the top goes down, then the price of a Type 2 goes up when the number of windows goes up: A 1958 Volkswagen Deluxe 15-window Type 2, also restored to a high standard, sold for $40,700 at the same auction.
Another car that sold for a higher-than-expected amount was a  1971 Buick GS Stage 1 with matching numbers and a desirable four-speed manual transmission, which helped it draw a selling price of $63,800. Our value guide puts a #1 value of $53,800 on the car, with a #2 value of $39,000, meaning that the Buick s seller likely pocketed more than he expected to on the sale.
There were bargains to be had in Palm Beach, too, particularly on Friday. One of the cars we d call especially well bought was a 1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1 in Goldenrod Yellow with its original H-code 351-cu.in. V-8 and just 85,000 miles on the odometer. Equipped with the original three-speed manual transmission, car costa payless rental rica power steering, power brakes and the optional stripe package, the car sold at $18,700, including buyer s commission. Hagerty s value guide puts a #2 example at $33,600, meaning this Mach 1 sold at just 56 percent of its potential value.
A 1968 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 convertible with its original 400-cu.in. V-8 engine and Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 transmission car costa payless rental rica and just 32,362 miles  on the odometer, sold for $27,500. Per the information supplied by Barrett-Jackson, the car came with its original car costa payless rental rica Rally Super Stock II sport wheels, original convertible top and even the original exhaust hangers, and our value guide puts a #2 example at $39,500. To put that another way, this car s new owner spent roughly 30 percent less than can be reasonably expected for his new 4-4-2 convertible.
Mopar fans could find a bargain as well, such as the 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T with just 23,835 miles that sold for $121,000. Per the description, the car was stored for some 30 years before being unearthed by a Mopar National Judge. It was restored to as new condition over a period of several car costa payless rental rica years, though it s not clear if the car s 426-cu.in. Hemi V-8 and four-speed manual transmission are original or simply period correct. While $121,000 isn t an insignificant amount of money, the value for a #1 car should be $185,000, with a #2 car still drawing in $134,000; at $13,000 under #2 pricing, this Hemi Challenger was likely well bought, particularly if it came with the original drivetrain.
I agree. What is this current fascination with VW buses thats driving the price so high? Id NEVER EVER pay those ludicrice figures for a VW anything! Nice when restored, but I just don t see where price equates to rarity, etc. on these. For $121K, car costa payless rental rica I want a numbers-matching Hemi of some sort, or better yet (to me anyway) a 100-point vintage Cadillac of the 50s. Does this mean we can expect Vega s to fetch $50K anytime soon?! I sure hope not!
That s a bit unfair comparing a VW with a Vega or Micro Car VWs are actually popular! car costa payless rental rica I woudn t pay that for a VW either but it really doesn t surprise car costa payless rental rica me they re starting to fetch that kind of money VWs are one of the most popular car costa payless rental rica vehicles around and the earlier buses are pretty rare depending on the options like any vehicle you pay more for rarity.
Fillippo, we re talking about two different VW Buses. The one you cite was sold at Barrett-Jackson s Orange County auction in 2011, while the one we re referring to was sold this weekend in Palm Beach. Here s the link:
I cannot understand anyone paying any amount of money for a VW bus. I drove a rental one during car costa payless rental rica a trip to Mexico in 1985, and it was a typical piece of VW of the time junk. It was way underpowered with what had to be the world s worst and sloppiest shifter, with all the comforts and crash worthiness of a tin can.
During a recent trip to California, I visited several of the best West Coast VW Bus Restoration shops. Their rack price for restoring an old 23 window bus started at 75K. Find a bus on the market, spend your time searching, traveling, transporting etc and ad that to the cost of the bus, and you will start to realize why the prices are what they are.
I dont buy it. A select few who are into these with both hands have driven up the prices, and for what? A bus that was imported here by the thousands? No. Especially in today s market. If you have that kinda money to throw away, throw it in MY front yard. Trust me, I ll put it to MUCH better use.
Mo windows, mo money is more like money out the windows!!! I could have ten of my cars for the price of one of these tin cans. These things are plain dangerous no power and a crosswind sends them all over the road.
The VW mystery reminds me of the late 80s, when the Japanese were buying `59 Cadillacs, etc. for $250K shipping them back home. Remember all that hype? It had collectors car costa payless rental rica shaking their heads all over the place. BUT, that too, died off and prices came back down a bit. Perhaps they will one day on these buses too.
Part of the story needs a correction the car came with its original Rally II sport wheels . Oldsmobiles were NOT equipped with Rally wheels. The correct term for the rims on this car was Super Stock II . They were available on the Cutlass until the rear-drive era died.
Super Stock I was the rim known elsewhere as the Magnum 500. Super Stock III was a FRONT-wheel drive offset car costa payless rental rica variant of the SSII, used from 79 to the 90s on the Omega, Cutlass Ciera, Firenza, Cutlass Calais/Achieva, and the GM-10 Cutlass Supreme.
Not totally correct. The SSI info is right, and the SSII is correct as far as it goes. The additional car costa payless rental rica info is that the SSII was always painted in a gray finish. RWD Cutlasses also had a SSIII wheel option, which was similar in style to the SSII but painted body-color car costa payless rental rica instead of gray.
So a hippie sold out to the establishment around 73 , worked 14 hr. days for the man, was rewarded for his hard work with partnership in big firm and was able to buy back some memories of the summer of 69 when he had to share his beloved, microbus with the rest of the commune car costa payless rental rica till it wore out. Good for him. Hard to put a price on good memories.
Anyone who has driven one these classic vans across the Golden Gate/Oakland car costa payless rental rica Bay Bridge/Tacoma Narrows Bridge can attest to the wonderful roadability of these terrific classics .treacherous car costa payless rental rica personified !! But I have always loved em !!
For all those who think an Auction sale represents a market get real . An Auction and its transaction only represents what happened on the day. That could include frenzied car costa payless rental rica buyers, chipmunks with a hippy background and a big inheritance etc etc . And if they want to go along and pay that much for a car or a wooden box or a vase etc etc they can.
A friend of mine wanted to buy a VW bus and she brought it over for me to give her my opinion and drive it. I hate to admit it , but my mind was almost made up before we even took it out. Anyway. there was around a 35mph to 45mph wind blowing car costa payless rental rica and we took it out onto hwy 99 for the test drive . Heading North into the North/West wind away we went, me driving. Wide open, we were finally doing about 54mph and it was leaning about 4 or 5 inches off perpendicular and I was holding the steering wheel [tightly] at a 30% to the right just to keep it on the road, that, plus the swaying back and forth in the wind due to sudden gusts and appropriate steering corrections!! I looked over at her and her eyes were big and she asked if this was as fast as it would go and was all this to be expected in a little wind?? I said yes and in the mountains it would be tough for it to even keep up with the 18 wheelers!! That was it, we came home and she took it back to the dealer with a big No Thanks!!
That s why I d take a Karmann Ghia over a Bus any time! I ve driven VW Bugs for many years and even those are pretty hairy at freeway speeds in gusty cross winds. I wouldn t want to mess with a Bus in those conditions at all. A Ghia with a well built 2 liter engine may not hang with a Mopar, but it ll give 90% of the cars on the road a run for the money in both handling and acceleration. I wouldn t mind having a VW single cab to haul parts around, but an old Toyota pickup would do the same thing with a lot more reliability car costa payless rental rica and efficiency.
I watch the market on these all the time VWs are my thing and I run a related business and see what really sells on the private market, and while this might seem high to the layman, it is really not that out of whack! The 67 21 Window that sold at BJ Scottsdale at $160k+ and the 23 Window at BJ OC in 2011 at over $200k those are stellar car costa payless rental rica sales. This one was pretty much going rate..maybe just a hair above counting the buyers car costa payless rental rica fees but really not insane in the current market. These aren t hippie busses anymore when you get into the 21 and 23 window models they are yuppie busses for sure! Lesser models and newer years are still quite affordable and almost as much fun as the wiener car costa payless rental rica windows and sunroof!
[ ] with a 1971 Eriba Puck camper, sold for $128,000 in Scottsdale, and in April of 2013, another 1963 example sold for $126,500 in Palm Beach. Last August, a slightly less desirable 21-window microbus from 1966 sold for $110,000 in Monterey, [ ]