Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I’ve been scanning the ads lately for good examples of the car many of us began our love affair with German vehicles, the Volkswagen Beetle. We saw a nice 1962 Beetle Cabriolet last week that was lightly modified. This week we have come across a 1963 Beetle in Virginia that is all original. Purchased new in Florida, this car had but one owner until recently and comes with lots of documentation to add to its provenance.
A 1935 Auto Union Type B Streamliner used for both records and the annual Avus race in Berlin
This past weekend weekend we saw a bit of hubris and bad strategy lead to Mercedes-Benz losing to Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Despite the massive investment and seemingly pedantic attention to detail, the same problems existed in the 1930s for the company. Increasingly Mercedes-Benz needed to differentiate itself from Auto Union by undertaking extreme efforts. These efforts were not always profitable; indeed, one could argue that – as we saw last week – since they were already having difficulty delivering cars thanks to raw material shortages, undertaking new forms of racing and record-breaking might have seemed ill-conceived for the company. However, still at stake was preferential treatment from the government, especially when it came to lucrative military contracts. As such, Mercedes-Benz undertook some unlikely projects to not only gain international prestige for the Daimler-Benz model range, but indeed to curry favor with the government.
FOUR : PUSHING THE LIMITS – THE GOVERNMENT GOES RACING
The LT45 is Volkswagen’s Sprinter-like, light-duty van/truck that was sadly never officially sold here. Like the seller says, however, it serves as a great “Goldilocks” between the Syncro T3s and Unimogs we love to feature here – not too big, not too small, but just right and with all of the capability. Featuring two locking diffs, diesel power, seating for 6 AND a multi-use truck bed; sounds ready for whatever kind of adventuring you can throw at it. Exterior framing and a snorkel look tough but mean heading into the jungle is possible too. The canvas-covered truck bed means its only achilles heel may be winter camping, but I do love that it looks like there’s some suspended-bed contraption back there currently. A little easier to park than a Mog and certainly more space than a T3 van or DoKa, this Goldilocks means business.
The two-door estate, or shooting brake, as it is sometimes referred to, is a bit of a dying breed in the automotive realm. MINI revived the concept a bit with the Clubman based on their second generation platform. Technically, this was a five-door vehicle, but it was essentially a two-door vehicle with a third door for rear egress and two dutch doors for the tailgate. Volkswagen has dabbled in this breed as well, most recently with the Fox, a variant of the Brazilian market Gol brought to the US in the late 1980s. It wasn’t a huge seller, being pulled from the market after a few short years and two years before the Fox disappeared altogether. You could almost consider the car you see here, the Brasilia, as that car’s ancestor.
The Brasilia was developed by Volkswagen do Brasil as a larger, more luxurious alternative to the Beetle, with some being built in Mexico, like the car we see here for sale in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. This car was never sold new in the United States, but a few have appeared in enthusiast circles north of the Mexican border, serving as a curious and slightly more up to date version of the Type 3 Squareback.
Is it April 1st yet? I thought it might be based upon the number of vehicles I’ve previously written up that are back up for sale this week. Sure enough, this is a Scirocco we’ve seen before more than once; last time back in early February as a revisit. Though it looked nice, that time around this Scirocco sported some BMW wheels and some not-hugely flattering photos. It sold for a touch over $6,100. Well, if you wanted it that time, the joke is on you – the car is back with some more fitting Rial wheels, a new set of photos, and a healthy price bump:
