1955 Oval Window, Rag-Top Bug
After a long hiatus with VW’s Cameron Chavez caught the “bug” again when his father-in-law bought a 1952 Bug. So he was looking for this car which he found close-by in Downey. He started putting new parts on it and it took over from there with about a year of restoration from the pan up.
Car was hit in the front and rear and needed quite a bit of body work pulling the nose and tail into place.
Some of the neat touches to the car are the blades in front of the bumpers. They were fabbed out of leaf springs to help protect from any “fender benders”. The car has everything, semifores, 3-fold rag top, original 6v radio, heater knob and beautiful red leather seats. Every nut and bolt has been rebuilt. 3″ narrow beam front, lowered rear 2 notches and the front was brought all the way down. The gauges rebuilt, the gas tank was re-lined and the steering wheel is original and re-cast from original mold. Disc brakes up front with a dual master cylinder.
He had support from local shops in Lakewood, Long Beach and Acton. Bob Koch Paint and Body, Foreigns Unlimited rebuilt the motor, Griffiths in Paramount did the front beam. Grumpy’s in Huntington Beach for the rag top and Wolfsburg West was a supplier of reproduction parts.
