FINDING A GOOD HOME FOR A BELOVED BEETLE
Calgary man discovers the perfect Bug to reignite his love of air-cooled Volkswagens
With the sump plate snugged back into place, the mechanic at the Jasper Park Esso Service in Edmonton poured 2.5 litres of oil into the 1200-cc air-cooled Volkswagen engine. On a door jamb sticker he marked the date, April 23, 1970, and noted he’d filled the Beetle with 10W-30 Esso Extra oil. He also inked in the mileage — just 50,839 miles were on the 1964 Volkswagen.
The Beetle was driven another 880 miles before it was parked in an Edmonton garage, where it sat for the next 46 years. When the garage began to decay and collapse around the car, the Volkswagen came out and was tarped up on the driveway. That’s where Kelly Hammerschmid of Calgary found the faded green Beetle, just in time to buy himself an early Christmas present.
“I wasn’t looking for a Bug, but I was sort of looking for a Bug,” Hammerschmid, a retired autobody technician and painter, says with a chuckle.
Hammerschmid says he’s had a long history with air-cooled Volkswagens, having owned three of them before turning 16.
“About twice in my life, I’ve thought I was through with them, but they have a way of getting deep into your DNA,” he explains.
His previous Beetle was a classic 1957 oval-window model that he’d slightly modified, lowering the car and beefing up the engine. In 1996, he sold the ’57.
“That’s the Beetle I should have kept,” Hammerschmid says. “Oval-window Beetles are now so pricey, they’re out of my reach.”
Occasionally, Hammerschmid would search Kijiji listings for a Beetle, knowing that any of the oval-window cars were not going to be an option, and neither were the many rusted-out projects that routinely cropped up for sale.
In mid-December 2018, Hammerschmid simplified his search. Because he was born in 1963, Hammerschmid typed “1963 Volkswagen” into the Kijiji search field. What popped up was this car, with three or four pictures, and a simple description along the lines of “1963 Volkswagen Beetle, needs work, original chrome.”
Hammerschmid reached out immediately and got the story.
“He said it had been his wife’s grandmother’s car,” Hammerschmid says. “It was parked in the early 1970s in a garage, and that about a year ago it had to be removed and was tarped up. He said it hadn’t ever been in any major accidents, and there was no rust on the body or on the pan.
“I asked if he was free that weekend, and that I’d come up from Calgary with a trailer.”
Hammerschmid had his suspicions the Beetle was in fact a 1964 model. From the photos, he could tell the front signal lights atop the fenders were orange — on a ’63, they’d be clear. Also, in ’64 the steering wheel had two buttons for the horn push instead of the half-ring of the earlier Beetles.
And indeed, when he got there, met the sellers and saw the car, he confirmed it wasn’t a ’63 as advertised. When he pointed this out, the sellers were apologetic, as they were when Hammerschmid discovered the car had been in an accident, with evidence of a poorly repaired and wrinkled front apron.
“The metal was in really good condition, though, and it’s fixable,” Hammerschmid says. “Any time you’re selling a Beetle, it’s like you’re interviewing the buyer to ensure that car’s going to the right home,” he continues. “The granddaughter was emotional about the whole thing, and they asked what I would do with the car.”
Hammerschmid told them he’d be leaving the car mostly stock — with the exception of slightly lowering the front end, upgrading the engine and adding a good stereo. He showed them photos of his 1957 oval window Beetle and said it would look very similar when he was finished.
With that, they were comfortable knowing grandma’s car was going to be in good hands. A deal was struck, Hammerschmid loaded the car on the U-Haul trailer behind his 1990 Chevy half-ton and headed back home to Calgary.
In the few weeks he’s had the Beetle in his garage, Hammerschmid has pulled out the seats and started to clean up the car. From what he can ascertain, the hood is a replacement. He thinks the car was in a minor front-end collision, poorly repaired and then entirely repainted. Much of the respray is peeling back.
“I’m going to go through it mechanically, looking after the fuel system and the brakes and make it a running, driving car,” Hammerschmid says of his plans, and he invites readers to follow along on Instagram (kellys_restorations).
“After that, the next step will be to deal with the bodywork and front apron and repaint the car,” he says.
“I’ve promised the sellers to send them updates and pictures as the work progresses, and if they ever come down to Calgary, they’re welcome to see the car and go for a drive if it’s running.”
It’s something to think about, that on April 23, 1970, the Jasper Park Esso Service mechanic might have been the last to turn a wrench on the Beetle. Now half a century later, with wrenches in hand, Hammerschmid says, “I’m beyond excited to have been chosen as the next custodian of the car.”