1957 Canadian Deluxe Volkswagen Beetle — SOLD

Offered through Lane Russell for a customer, we have a beautiful 1957 Canadian Deluxe Beetle for sale. They say a photo is worth a thousand words; see below. You can reach out directly to Manuel. Also, general questions can be directed to us.

Status: SOLD
Mileage: 40,317
Location: Nor Cal, CA
Price: $15,000
Owner Contact: Manuel Clément
General Questions: Eric Shoemaker

Media
Vehicle walk around
Vehicle carwash
Full photo gallery

Vehicle Overview
This beautiful 1957 oval Beetle was in storage for most of the last 8 years, at my home in Santa Cruz. Originally sold in Canada, then the Seattle area where I purchased it in 2009. I drove it a bit, but then changed jobs, moved my family to Northern California, and kept it in my garage.

Background
I heard this car was owned by VW club owners in Canada for many years. I once received a message on The Samba from an older gentleman saying: “I saw this beautiful car come off the boat back in the day, in Canada!” I believe he said it was in Alberta. Thanks to TheSamba messages database being deleted a few years back (no!!) I lost all traces of this message, as well as others who had sent me more details about the 62 years history of this car.



My VW Story
When I was a kid growing up in France, my older brother got a 1972 Beetle badged “1200cc”. It was the late 80s, and we drove all around the beautiful South of France, blasting The Beatles, Procol Harum, and more. It was magical to me, as a youngster. The sound! The smell! The beautiful design! I was hooked... My brother bought VW Magazines, and I spent most of my time admiring the featured cars. I even took piles of the magazines with me on vacation, falling asleep on them… This being the late 80s, the magazine was full of crazy, massive body kits,  but I was drawn to those BEAUTIFUL vintage cars… Splits, Ovals, whitewall tires, thinking: ONE DAY SHE WILL BE MINE (pre Wayne’s World.) I remember reading all the classifieds, but being 8 or 9 years old, what was I thinking?

Thirty years passed… In 2009 I saw a beautiful Oval on the road in the Seattle area where I lived. The driver smiled, and waved, seeing my reaction. Instantly, I was a kid again. I couldn’t stop thinking about it… Soon after, I attended the big Seattle VW Meet. As you can imaging, this didnothelp my condition!

Shortly after, I bought myvery own Oval! It had been lowered by the previous owner, with Porsche Fuchs wheels. The work had been done by Franklin from Franklin’s VW Werks in Seattle, and he did not modify the body. I am including pictures of the car with these modifications, as you can see plenty of details, and you may enjoy them.

At the 2010 show, I was so proud to bring my own car! On top of that, as I’m well versed in photography, I got my own “STAFF” shirt for taking photos of the show! I’m proud of these photos, and made a  nice short movie you should watch. You’ll see the car, with black rims, before I painted them to period correct colors.

Not long after the 2010 show, I suddenly changed job, and had to move my family from Seattle down to Northern California. I did not drive it much after that... It has been in my garage. I did take care of the car, and even got the 1776cc engine recently rebuilt, with Mahle pistons and cylinders, and a strong balanced crank, among other things. It’s still in break-in!

Specs

• L331 Horizon Blue, original color. A few scratches, but beautiful!
• Number-matching body and chassis
• Newly rebuilt, still in break-in! 1776cc engine with restored Solex carburetor, new Flame Thrower SVDA
• 40,317 on odometer
• Manufactured in January 1957
• The 1776cc engine was rebuilt by Jim, the well known, OG 1970s Santa Cruz VW machinist.
• The last VW expert from that era, according to legend. Back then, Santa Cruz had the highest ratio of VW per-capita, so he knows his stuff! The engine was then installed by the good people at Old Volks Home, nearby.

Some Additional Details

• Original interior, seats, Canada-only color combination
• Original steering wheel, gear shifter
• Original dashboard was *not* messed with, and still has the radio cover
• Canada-only metal Volkswagen logo
• 12 volts, newer transmission with tall 4th gear
• New clutch from recent engine installation
• Recent Coker white-wall tires
• Recent front-end rebuild, brakes etc. by Franklin’s VW Werks (Seattle) back to stock
• Interesting  old-school dealership “gas gauge” dipstick, and sun visor clip-on “odometer” to help you not forget to fill up!
• Repop Albert mirrors
• I’ll include a beautiful, genuine Bambus shelf
• I’ll include a Year Of Manufacturing, 1957 Washington State plate!

Also...
I will include a new carpet set, in box, ready to install. I just bought them a few months ago. I was going to take the body off, put in a fresh body rubber kit, patch areas of the floor pans, heater channels, and left wheel well, some corners, with fresh steel... It's the usual stuff, the car being 60+ years old, and not restored. I’ll throw in a big can of black POR15 paint, and metal-prep spray, so you’re good to go. Some pics of the work I had to stop. I even hand-fabricated several fresh steel patches, if you want them! 

I can weld, but unfortunately I don’t have the time and need to sell the car for family reasons. You can have fun doing those last touches. It’s a beautiful car! It should be driven!