January 1962 VW 1500 for sale

I don't usually post ads for cars but then this isn't just any car. It's 1500 Club member and fellow Type 3 blogger Charlie Harlock's '62 notchback. Not only is it a trophy winner at the top UK and Continental VW shows and a recently featured car in Volksworld magazine, but it also happens to be one of the earliest 1500s on the planet.

A cleaner interior you won't find, especially on such an early car:


This NOS VDO tach is just one of many super rare accessories Charlie has installed:


And it's not a trailer queen either — this car gets driven regularly. Not sure how much Charlie wants for it, but if you want to own one of the best 1500s around...

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Charlie's VW 1500 blog

Motor Tourist road test, December 1962

Motor Tourist, the magazine of the Deutscher Touring Club, published a glowing review of the new 1500 Ghia in its December 1962 issue. The 2000km extended road test, which included a trip to Paris, left the writer, Carl Otto Windecker, very impressed with the Ghia.






Windecker notes the significant improvements made to the carburetor and brakes, which were definitely weak spots on the earliest VW 1500s. He describes the seating position as perfect and says its performance on the road is comparable to earlier Porsches, though he strongly agrees with Auto Motor und Sport's recommendation of radial tires for spirited driving.

The review also states that production of the 1500 Ghia Cabriolet had finally just begun, and it praises VW and Karmann for delaying the introduction to make sure everything was up to the highest standard of quality before the Cabriolet was made available to the public. He may have spoken a little too soon.

In conclusion Windecker predicts great success for the 1500 Ghia. It's such a positive review that if it wasn't for a few telling details (such as his recommendation of radial tires) I would suspect it was just a recycled press release. He really liked it.

Eberspächer heaters can break even the polar cold

It's cold this morning. I could use one of these.


The driver of the VW 1500 is kinda cute.

The ultimate VW garage, c. 1963

[From The Samba, via a post on Aircult Blog, found while idly browsing flickr.]