Photo: Barrett-Jackson
In the world of custom builds, nothing screams outlandish more than a car that seems to have been eaten away by rust and chopped to pieces by bullets. They call them rat rods and, most of the time, their looks can be deceiving.
The car we have here may have or may have not been a Volkswagen Beetle at one point in its life. Supposedly, it was a regular car back in 1958 when it was produced, but it was turned into something else entirely when it was shown at the Denver Institute of Art a while back.
Looking partially unpainted, partially rotten away and partially unfinished, the roadster is a custom build with quite the number of secrets behind its deceiving looks.
The body of the car, after being media-blasted, has been coated in four layers of patina paint to give it an aging look. Under the flimsy hood lies a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder air-cooled engine linked to a 4-speed manual transmission. In between, all new stainless nuts and bolts.
The VW has been envisioned as some type of war relic. There are hand-polished bullet casings fitted inside, four aircraft bomber-style seats wrapped in hand-tooled leather, complete with matching seat belts, and copper gauges highlighted by copper and aluminum rivets.
There are, of course, modern touches, despite most all of them being near invisible with the naked eye. The car packs a Kenwood head unit, four 6x9 inch speakers, and even bright-white LEDs fitted inside the big gaping holes in the sides of each door.
For some reason, the guy who built it decided its time to part ways with the car. During the 2020 Barrett-Jackson auction in January, the 1958 Volkswagen Roadster is up for grabs with no reserve, meaning it will go to the highest bidder.
As a side note, whoever will purchase it will get behind the wheel of a vehicle that has only 40 miles on the odometer.
Update: sold for $15,950.
Looking partially unpainted, partially rotten away and partially unfinished, the roadster is a custom build with quite the number of secrets behind its deceiving looks.
The body of the car, after being media-blasted, has been coated in four layers of patina paint to give it an aging look. Under the flimsy hood lies a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder air-cooled engine linked to a 4-speed manual transmission. In between, all new stainless nuts and bolts.
The VW has been envisioned as some type of war relic. There are hand-polished bullet casings fitted inside, four aircraft bomber-style seats wrapped in hand-tooled leather, complete with matching seat belts, and copper gauges highlighted by copper and aluminum rivets.
There are, of course, modern touches, despite most all of them being near invisible with the naked eye. The car packs a Kenwood head unit, four 6x9 inch speakers, and even bright-white LEDs fitted inside the big gaping holes in the sides of each door.
For some reason, the guy who built it decided its time to part ways with the car. During the 2020 Barrett-Jackson auction in January, the 1958 Volkswagen Roadster is up for grabs with no reserve, meaning it will go to the highest bidder.
As a side note, whoever will purchase it will get behind the wheel of a vehicle that has only 40 miles on the odometer.
Update: sold for $15,950.
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