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1969 Volkswagen Type 2: German-Accented Pickup

3/16/2015

 
PicturePhoto: G. Henderson
THE TRUCK AND ITS OWNER
1969 Volkswagen Type 2 Single Cab (SC) pickup owned by Gary Henderson

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING
As VW increased sales of its postwar “Beetle,” known as the Type 1, the company decided to introduce a utilitarian panel van, the Type 2, in 1950 that morphed into the familiar Microbus, camper and several other varieties, including this rare, head-turning pickup.  The Type 2’s “forward control” design, with the driver riding over the front wheels, was widely copied by European and American manufacturers. Henderson’s pickup has become an unusual sight on American streets thanks in part to a trade war between the U.S., Germany and France.  “In 1964,” he says, “Germany and France decided to put an import tariff on poultry from the U.S.  Our Congress, in reaction to this, wrote legislation nicknamed the ‘Chicken Tax,’” which curtailed American importation of German light trucks and later caused VW cargo vans and pickups to exit the U.S. market. 

HOW LONG HE’S OWNED IT
Since 2011

WHERE HE FOUND IT
It was advertised on an enthusiast site by a California owner. 

CONDITION
Henderson’s Single Cab features a striking red and black paint scheme inspired by a similar Type 2 that he saw on a cable TV show.  “The SC had little or no rust on the body,” he says.  “The truck bed was another story.  The previous owner ran a woodworking shop, so the continued use wore out the optional wood slats and cab paint.”  He restored the teak slats before the repaint.  “All the chrome was in good condition, so that just needed elbow grease.   The interior was really beat -- no headliner, ripped seats, etc. This was totally redone.”

TIPS FOR OWNERS
“A VW is a great first-time project to get you into the world of collecting and restoring classic cars,” Henderson advises.  “Always keep your pickups garaged.  Water is not very kind to these old truck beds.” 

VALUE
“I’ve seen these Single Cabs bring $15,000 to $28,000 online and at auctions,” he says. The NADA Guides puts a "high retail" value of $35,200 on a 1969 VW pickup.  Earlier Double Cabs bring even more and a perfectly restored Microbus sold for a record $235,000 last year.

THE BOTTOM LINE 
“As I started driving this beautiful VW around town,” Henderson says, “it seems that everyone I met and talked to owned some kind of Volkswagen in their lifetime and were eager to share that. I am always asked how I made this out of a VW bus.  Most folks never have seen a VW pickup.”


1969 Shelby GT 500: Designed for Driving.  Real Driving.

7/16/2014

 
PicturePhoto: Jeffrey Bates
THE CAR AND ITS OWNER
1969 Shelby GT 500 owned by Jeffrey Bates

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING

“You can tell that this is a car designed for driving.  Real driving,” says the sales brochure for the 1969 Shelby GT 500.  And that was no hype.  The Shelby – a heavily modified Ford Mustang fastback or convertible – was born in 1965 when legendary race car driver Carroll Shelby teamed up with Ford to produce limited-edition performance cars.  In the beginning, bare-bones Mustangs were built in the company’s California plant and then shipped to a nearby Shelby American facility, where engine, suspension and trim modifications transformed them into vehicles worthy of the track or the drag strip.  By 1969, Ford was doing the makeovers on its own and it soon ended its arrangement with Shelby.  A handful of 1970 cars were built with leftover parts. Ford would revive the model as the “GT500” in 2007 and they are still being built today. 

“Only five Shelby GT 500s were manufactured in 1969 in this ‘Grabber Orange’ paint scheme, two convertibles and three coupes,” Bates says of his car’s rarity.  “There were a total of 1,536 Shelby GT 500s produced altogether during the 1969 model year.  The car’s stated horsepower was 335, although its actual horsepower was close to 400” from the big, 428-cubic-inch V-8 engine, known as the “Ram-Air 428.”

HOW LONG HE’S OWNED IT

Since 1973


WHERE HE FOUND IT

“My parents sent me to the drug store when a woman pulled up in the car with a ‘For Sale’ sign in the window,” Bates says. “I was 16 and had just gotten my junior driver’s license and had been saving money from numerous jobs on local farms in the area.”

CONDITION
“The car is totally original with the exception of tires and mufflers,” he says. “It has several small dents and scratches, but looks good. The car has 47,000 miles on it. I have had two opposing views on the car’s condition: (a) leave it just the way it is, or (b) do a complete, ground-up restoration. I work with my father in our auto repair shop, which specializes in antique and classic U.S. and foreign cars.”

TIPS FOR OWNERS

“Keep it garaged and regularly serviced, regardless of miles driven,” Bates advises. 

VALUE

Bates estimates the value from $80,000 to more than $100,000.

THE BOTTOM LINE

“When I bought the car, I had not told my parents and my father took it away for six months as punishment,” Bates says.  “My girlfriend at the time, Patricia, who is now my wife, refused to ride in it then -- or now -- and I used a beat-up old Jeep on dates.  I take it on occasion to local car shows and it is often at our place of business.”


'69 Hurst SS AMX: Making Family History

6/20/2014

 
PictureClick to enlarge
THE CAR AND ITS OWNERS
1969 Hurst Super Stock AMX owned by Westbury (NY) Jeep Chrysler Dodge Ram

WHAT MAKES IT INTERESTING

When American Motors (AMC) and performance tuner Hurst crafted this limited-edition factory dragster, they made racing history and began a special family history for the Sporns of Long Island, New York.  The late Charlotte and Leon Sporn, owners of a Westbury, New York Rambler dealership at the time, were urged by AMC to buy the $5,994 coupe and race it.  “My mother didn’t want to do it,” says the Sporns’ son Joel, co-owner of the current family dealership with brother Randy. “It cost twice the price of a normal car and it was a big commitment.   My father felt strongly about it because it was something that would help him sell cars.  The idea is that you race the car Sunday, you win, and then on Monday, everybody comes in and buys cars from you.”   

Charlotte relented and AMC united the Sporns with Brian Higgins and Ernie Krieg of Lindenhurst, New York's S&K Speed Shop (now S-K Speed) and with driver Fred Dellis. The couple and their four kids would pile into the family station wagon to see the weekend races at Long Island’s fabled National Speedway and other venues.  While Charlotte knitted, the dragster – one of only 52 built and factory-rated between 340 and 405 horsepower -- went on to win significant races and set national and world speed records. The Sporns went on to sell plenty of cars and become the East Coast’s largest AMX dealer.

HOW LONG THEY’VE OWNED IT
The dealership obtained the AMX in December 2012, approximately 42 years after the Sporns sold it to S&K.
 
WHERE THEY FOUND IT 
“We never forgot the car,” says Joel Sporn, even though the family lost track of it.  A business acquaintance alerted him to a magazine story on the AMX, which had gone to a private collection and later to Ohioans Rick and Paulette Riley.  Sporn wooed the Rileys for five years before he was able to buy another rare AMX and trade it to them for the original car.
 
CONDITION
The car had been restored by the collection of late media mogul Otis Chandler.  “The mileage on the vehicle is only from racing quarter-miles,” Sporn says.  “It’s never been street-driven.  The parts are extremely difficult to find.  I am in the process of documenting every modification and race with Brian Higgins.”  
 
VALUE
He estimates the AMX’s value between $150,000 and $200,000. “The feelings we have are much more than any dollar value,” he notes.

THE BOTTOM LINE 
Sporn invited Higgins, Krieg, Dellis the Rileys and others to a December 2012 holiday reunion for the AMX, which attracts daily attention in the showroom at Jericho, New York.  “It was an extremely successful car and brought tremendous pride to our family and dealership,” he says. “It is also the rarest AMC vehicle ever produced.  It’ll never, ever leave the family.  It’s not the store that owns the car.  It’s me, my brother, my other brother, my sister. It’s S&K and it’s Fred Dellis, who drove the car.  Everybody involved has rights to own the car.  It’s a part of our winning heritage.”

Picture
Click to enlarge (Photo: Westbury Jeep Chrysler Dodge Ram)
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    Author

    David Fluhrer has been the classic car columnist for Newsday since 2008, and a new car reviewer for Newsday's auto section since 2018. 

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