Buying Classics Abroad Volkswagen Beetle
Beetles were never built to last across generations, so buying from a dry region of the world is a smart move
The worldwide production of the People’s Car is the stuff of legend. Built seemingly everywhere from Nigeria to New Zealand, production reached 21.5 million, so they’re not hard to find. While that helps to keep values under control, it also means margins are tight for UK import businesses.
Dry US states have traditionally been the go-to option for finding Beetles in a low state of corrosion, but the number of specialists doing so commercially has fallen away. Californian Classics is one such business (californianclassics.co.uk, 01424 752217). Pete Morley reports that, despite large numbers of Beetles passing through the workshop, demand has shifted in favour of a steady stream of imported Karmann Ghias. ‘Importing Beetles from the US can still be viable though,’ he adds. There’s no shortage of Bugs in the US, and an established network of international car hunters who will source one for you.
One relatively unexplored avenue is to source from Japan, where regular Japanese domestic market car importer, Kristian Geldard (specialistcars.net, 01423 358686) is currently sourcing Beetles for UK buyers. Your main issue will be the Japanese paperwork, which will be virtually impossible to navigate without the assistance of an experienced JDM specialist.
‘The ones to buy are German-built cars that were imported there as new, so in a dry climate and maintained the Japanese way all the way from day one, with the compulsory Japanese Shaken testing system,’ advises Kristian. By contrast, Pete Morley at Californian Classics warns that American-owned Beetles are often looked after on a shoestring budget.
Add right-hand drive to the mix, and it’s potentially a winning recipe. 1973-77 model year cars with the 1600 motor – or, even better, ‘S’ models – are the ones to go for, but there aren’t many about. Watch out for Mexican-built post-1978 cars back-dated to look older.
There was also a trend in the late 1990s and early 2000s for importing pre-1970 Beetles to Japan from the US, where they might have been in a wet state for years. Don’t assume that a Japanese Beetle is going to be decent, and as Kristian says: ‘Don’t buy over the internet, unless you’re very good at welding!’