1973 | Volkswagen Escarabajo 1303 S

This is an online-only NO RESERVE auction by Bonhams|Cars Online (www.bonhamscarsonline.com). The price shown is the lower estimate. To see more details, read the full description and see 200+ photographs & video please visit our website. It is free to Register an account and bid. There is no Buy it Now or part-exchange. Here is a brief excerpt taken from the auction description:

First registered in 1973, this charming late-model Beetle was initially known to the seller as the company car for his then-employer, which was used extensively by both employees and the owner alike, the former whom used to enjoy towing a small dingy with the car - hence the fitment of the rear towing eye and electrical connection, the owner states it has not towed anything in his ownership.

The car was then purchased by the vendor and current owner in October 1974, and it has remained with him ever since, through a number of relocations for work, family duties (it was a wedding car for his daughter) and even numerous pan-European road-trip holidays. Interestingly, the V5 shows 0 former keepers, but the seller is technically the 2nd keeper, after his former employer who owned the car from new.

Whilst in the care of the current owner, it was used as a daily driver for a number of years (including the aforementioned holidays to France and (what was then) Yugoslavia) before taking on life as a cherished second car, following the arrival of another company vehicle. The seller tells us that this Beetle has been garaged throughout his ownership tenure, and has always been pampered with an approach to ‘do what needs to be done, irrespective of cost’ which explains the condition of the car to this day - it even has a clean MoT until 2025, despite being exempt by virtue of age!

Whilst originally out-shopped in Volkswagen Moss Green, the car was given a respray in 2004 (the invoice for which is below) in a very similar, but perhaps not 100% identical, shade of green. To everyone else, it looks like Moss Green, but park a factory Moss car next to this one and you’ll see a slight difference.

Having covered a healthy dose of mileage in the first few years of its life (nearly 90,000 in the first ten years) the odometer has risen very steadily since the mid-80s, with a few periods spent SORN or unused, and a total of less than 3,000 miles covered since 2016. The odometer shows 2,978 as it is a 5-digit item, but the true mileage is 102,978.

Now, following a prolonged period with little use (sitting around does no good for cars, as the seller quite rightly states) the decision has been made to part with this 1303S, and you (yes, you reading this) now have the almost unrepeatable opportunity to obtain a ‘big’ Beetle with very nearly continuous ownership from new.

This vehicle is currently with the vendor in Swindon; if you would like more information or to arrange a viewing please get in touch with us directly. We run online classic car auctions every weekday, every week of the year 24/7/365. Please sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with what is coming soon.