1965 Volkswagen Beetle – Classified of the Week

There are few classic cars that are as instantly recognisable as the Volkswagen Beetle. With over 20,000,000 built, it’s a car that everybody has seen in passing. Failing that, the car’s silver screen legacy care of Disney’s Herbie franchise has seen to it that pretty much every pair of eyes around the globe have seen a Beetle. Many of us have owned them, many of us have spent hours window shopping Beetles on Car & Classic. Yeah, we’re all pretty familiar with Ferdinand Porsche’s first work. 

The Beetle was so popular because of its inherent simplicity. The engine was in the back, and being air-cooled it was free of a complicated cooling system. If you manage to buy a Beetle with a dead engine, you can remove the old one by removing some wires, some pipes and four bolts. It’s that easy. The Beetle is a car that anyone can enjoy, no matter their mechanical ability. And you’ll be glad of buying one. The Beetle makes people smile, it’ll make you smile, it’s not fast but it is fun. It’s cheap to run, it’s cheap to maintain and with myriad Beetle specialists across the country, a helping hand is never more than a call or email away. This is classic motoring at its best.

And then there’s this stunning stunning 1965 Beetle. This, if you ask our Editor, is Beetle perfection. Being pre-’67 it has the prettier, sloping front wings, it has wide-five hubs, the interior is absolutely flawless and the paint is the perfect hue. Yes, you can go faster and wilder, but that’s not the be all, end all. There’s nothing wrong with a Beetle that’s simply cool. Which is what this one is, from bumper to bumper.

This particular Beetle was imported from Malta around a decade ago, which is great news as Malta’s dry climate is kind to panels. Not only that, the original owner never took the factory protection off the seats, it was only when the current owner did it that the originals were unearthed, and as you can see they are immaculate. To balance the interior out, he had the carpet and headlining redone – it’s now nothing short of exquisite in there. 

The Beetle has been lowered, though fear not as it’s all simple stuff. It’s on dropped spindles, which is the easiest way to drop a Bug of this era. The car sits on Porsche 356 wheels with Firestone tyres. However, don’t fret if the look isn’t for you. The seller has the original wheels, the front link pins and even the original steering wheel, so you could go back to standard without too much work. We’d leave it as it is though, because as Beetles go, it’s pretty much perfect. And all for a mere £16,000. That’s a bargain in anyone’s book.