Only on Craigslist can you find a pile of junk for free, a lost and found advertisement for a cat named “Taco,” an apartment rental, and a haiku discussion forum. Often the place of strange listings, Craigslist also is where a 1983 Volkswagen Beetle with only 122 miles on the odometer is currently listed for sale.
According to the listing, the Mexican VW Beetle is in superb condition, complete, and original—so much so that the seats still have the factory plastic coverings. Also included in the sale are the owner’s manuals, tool kit, a full-size spare, temporary registration, and two sets of keys. The asking price for this Craigslist hidden gem is a not-insignificant $49,975.
The car was first purchased brand new at a dealership in Tijuana, Mexico, for VW tuner and noted collector Gene Berg. It joined a collection at his showroom in Orange County and was never registered. More specifically, Berg wanted to add a white Beetle to go with a pair of red and blue Beetles he received as a gift from Volkswagen for being a top seller of VW parts.
This classic Beetle spent several years on display and remained in Berg’s collection until he passed away in 1996. His wife Dee then sold it to VW enthusiast Danny Zepeda of San Bernardino, who owned it for over ten years before selling it to a Beetle collector in Watsonville, California.
There it sat in dry storage and was discovered with the help of vintage explorer Mike Johnston.
The pristine interior features vinyl and fabric seats and a minimalist dashboard with basic instrumentation and a glove box. There is no radio, but installing one should be an easy and fun project, especially for audiophiles.
Updated with new NOS (new old stock) parts, services performed include engine oil, transmission fluid, brake lines, and a fuel tank flush. Also replaced were the master cylinder, battery, fuel lines, and filter. It has drum brakes all around, dual exhaust, and comes powered by a 1600-cc (1.6-liter) air-cooled flat-four engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission.
The unregistered, gorgeously original Beetle starts and runs like a dream and still has the original tires. (We’d change out those well-past-usable donuts for fresh rubber if you plan on actually driving the Bug.) While there are plenty of these built-in-Mexico classic Beetles roaming around the U.S. (and many, many more still on the road across the border, where they were built all the way up to July 2003), we bet none are this … new. It could be yours for just under $50,000. Check out all the details at the listing here.
