2008 VW Classic Weekend: Rob Kingsbury's 1964 VW 1500 sunroof

To me, one of the most impressive cars at the 2008 Classic was Rob Kingsbury's '64 birch green sunroof. Usually when someone buys a nice, original notchback, they'll clean it up, fix a few things here and there, add a few accessories, and just enjoy it as is. Rob, on the other hand, decided to have his notch rebuilt from the ground up. It was completely disassembled and painstakingly rebuilt piece by piece to be better than new. It's not so unusual for a beetle or bus to get this kind of treatment these days, but for a Type 3 it's pretty rare. There were lots of ups and downs in the restoration process, but the end result is really beautiful.

Here are a few detail shots:



The seat upholstery was done by West Coast Classics using NOS Type 3 brown cord vinyl from ISP West. Nice selection of accessories including an original VDO tach. NOS Wegu rubber mats over NOS coco mats — when it comes to floor protection, Rob has got things covered.



The car was two tone when Rob got it, and the paint appeared to be original, but the break between the white top and birch green body was done differently than either the Wolfsburg or the Australian style. He had it faithfully reproduced when the car was repainted, maintaining part of the car's history.



Swedish gravel guards.



After following the story of the car's restoration is was great to finally see it up close.