Sometimes it’s the smallest detail that makes one car stand out in a crowd. In this case, it’s the treatment of the wheels
This ’61 might look nice and fresh on the outside, but on the inside it smells like only a 55-year old Beetle can. That’s because, despite the fresh paint and the obvious custom touches, this car is a survivor. With only three owners from new – an incredible stat’ for any vehicle of this age – the responsibility now lies with Paul Charles worth to keep it in the life it has been accustomed to. Of course, being a red-blooded car guy, he couldn’t resist a few reversible alterations here and there…
Paul: “I’ve been into cars since I was about 16-years old. My dad owned a show-winning turquoise Beetle with Center Lines in the early ’90s, but for a long time I was more into classic Fords – RS2000s, Mexicos, that sort of thing. My dad buys and sells American cars, but nothing beats just cruising along in the Bug at 50mph. It’s definitely the best car I’ve ever had.”
The Bug landed with Paul after the previous owners, Gary and Esmi, went their separate ways in life. Paul: “It had been restored, but then sat for 12 years after the break up. Gary used to go and start it up every now and then, but eventually it was offered to me and, seeing as it had such great history, I decided to take it on and get it back on the road.”
Sleeping beauty
After a couple of weekends spent re-commissioning the electrics, fitting new brake lines and giving the car a general service, Paul took it for an MoT test. Considering it was the first time in over 12 years anybody under licence from the Ministry of Transport had so much as tapped a hammer on the chassis of this ’61, the fact that it passed first time is astonishing. Then to hear there wasn’t even a single advisory, the whole thing starts to sound more like a fairy tale.
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