Lots of hate for AS/Late cars?

[Brandon]

I was talking to somebody in a forum the other day and they mentioned that I should forget my current car (74 Autostick beetle), and find a early one to restore, and just drive the 74 into the ground. They are under the impression that it will never increase in value and are relatively boring compared to older ones. Looking on the Samba, this attitude seems pretty prevalent, ESPECIALLY towards Autosticks. I just shrug it off, but I was wondering about other peoples opinions? Will these late beetles ever appreciate in value, especially if they are autostick? I most certainly do not think they are boring, I really enjoy driving the AS as opposed to the standard..

[FlamingChris]

As with anything your car's only worth what people are willing to pay for it..

[hercdriver]

Drive what you like. As far as the super argument. Only time will tell.

As for me, I think they will always have a place in peoples heart since so many drove them in the 70's. The more that are driven into the ground, the fewer left to own, ergo the value of those left goes up.

But let's face it. We're not talking big bucks here. An average super costs around 3000. A show quality oval maybe 30,000. Don't get me wrong 30,000 is not chump change, but it isn't any where near what some other classics fetch.

[Bookwus]

Hiya Brandon,

To get to the bottom of this issue you have to ask yourself a few questions.  The answer to those questions will guide you in the discussion of one particular car's worth.

Ask yourself............

1.  Do you enjoy driving the car?
2.  Did you buy the car to drive or as an investment?
3.  What sort of people are telling you that you must do this or must do that?

The old saying that one man's meat is another's poison was never more true.  As has been stated before, it's most important that you do what you like.  To give up driving a particular car because it's not in favor with another crowd is ridiculous.

Asa to future worth...........certainly the value will appreciate.  How much and in comparison with other cars is a question open to wide speculation.

[68for500]

Hey Brandon-

If you've spent time over at Samba, then it should be fairly clear there are more than a few elitist types over there....it's a great website with tons of info.....but opinions are like certain types of the human anatomy.....everyone's got 'em. I guess to me it seems weird to get into aircooled VW's with big dollar signs in mind....there are FAR more valuable cars out there for investment sake. As far as the "boring" comment goes, I dunno.....I guess if excitement is searching in vain for that exact NOS part for a '56 etc, then yeah, late models are boring. The only real kind of exitement Autostick owners get I guess is looking for a few seals. I kinda like being able to find parts for my car. Your approach of shrugging it off is by far the best one going. I use Samba alot for info, but I have learned that I have to do alot of shrugging off over there. The "autosticks sucks or don't suck" debate occasionly rears it's head and I just ignore it these days. Bookwus usually does an excellent job of defending the Autostick and says it better than I would.
You can always keep it mind that everytime some yahoo converts an A/S to standard to the value of ours all go up, in theory!

[Brandon]

I have no intention of doing things stock on my car either (I took my dash pad off last night, I prefer the old metal look...), and I figure that, as you said, so many people reccomend switching AS cars to 4 speed, that they will become a rarity. Does anyone know how many A/S cars were made in total?

[Bookwus]

Hiya Brandon,

I've been looking for the numbers for some time now.  Although VW provides production numbers by type, they do not (or I've not been able to find them) provide numbers on specific options such as the M9 (Automatic Stick Shift).

I have seen that, on average, VW's production of AutoSticks during their eight year production run, ran about 10% of total Type 1 production.  So, in theory, one could just take 10% of production and arrive at a reasonable estimate of AutoSticks produced.  But that approach is complicated by a other factors.  Most AutoStick production was destined for the North American market.  But obviously not all of it went there.  Significant numbers went to Europe and Asia. 

Was the 10% figure good for only North American market production?  Did that 10% include cars not destined for North America?  Or was the 10% a figure that reflected world wide production?  We don't know.  Perhaps with some more scratching around we can come up with better information and, consequently more meaningful numbers.  Best we can do right now IS to take that 10% figure and apply it against production/import numbers for any particular area market.  But realize that the resulting number is just a fairly reasonable guess.

Do realize that whatever number one comes up with, the number of AutoSticks still on the road today will be signifcantly less.  This is not only due to the obvious and expected attrition (just as with manually equipped cars) but also due to the numbers of cars converted to manuals.

[68autobug]

Hi Guys,

Back in 70s & 80s, 1303S Supers were NOT accepted into the VW scene in Australia
so, most were owned by Non VW people and they were not looked after
so, they are now getting scarce over here...

Dyed in the wool VW enthusists didn't like the new look dash and curved windscreen..
but these days, they are accepted as they are still a beetle..
and as stated above - All beetles are getting scarcer each year...

Many of the 1303s that are Now owned by VW enthusists have been restored
and will be around for a long time...

the Autosticks in Australia are fairly rare...  as we don't know how many manuals there are left..
We aren't sure of just how many...
Manual beetles in Australia from 1969  didn't receive the IRS rear suspension... as in the USA..
so anyone wanting a Non super chassis with IRS have used an autostick chassis...

as also mentioned in another post.. the purists still prefer the early oval window beetles
and those with torsion bar front suspension..

Now, because many beetle owners are now younger than the cars they own
a beetle is a beetle.... a volkswagen a volkswagen...

Lee


http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug

[68autobug]

Its still fairly rare to see a beetle driving about...
especially during the weekdays...
unless they drive a beetle to work...

many people take their treasured beetle for a drive during the weekends..

I was pleasantly surprised to pass a late model beetle less than 100 metres from My House a few days ago...

I do know of 4 or 5 beetles that are driven to work in a town 20 miles away..

there are many beetles for sale on ebay in Australia all the time...

even autosticks...  there was a nice early autostick for sale last week for $2200AU
all it needed was a new hoodlining and painting...
I wish I had a large shed and plenty of money....

I'd rescue all of them... lol

Lee

[68automaticFoVay]

I too wish i had a Aircraft hanger lol and the coinage to rescue all the dead or dieing beetles out there. $2200Aussybucks IDK what that translates to in US but it probably what I see alot of beetles going for in the Craigslist here in so cal
Oh to be rich and save all the bugs!
I could convert them to run on water like Stanley Meyers did and never they would be worth Big Bucks! lol
Dreamer that I am..

[68autobug]

Hi
the poor old Aussie dollar has taken a beating the past 6 months or so..
its now worth around 66 cents US...  which makes a large difference
when buying from the US in US dolllars
it was up around 90 cents about 2 years ago.... lol

I put all these inexpensive parts into My basket at CIP1 website
then when i go to checkout...
its nearly double in price...
then add air freight and Yikes...
maybe if I bought one thing... lol..

LEE