Holzwagen: 1965 Volkswagen Beetle Custom Woodie

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As Volkswagen Beetles converted into Woodie wagons go, they aren’t as rare as you might think. DT has featured three of them so far…better scratch another tally mark in the wall of your cell, dear reader, because here comes the fourth.  Find this 1965 Volkswagen Beetle custom woodie for sale in Bloomington, MN for $10,800 via craigslist. Tip from Graeme in Minneapolis.

Being designed as it was in the 1930s, the venerable Type 1 (Beetle, Käfer, Fusca, etc) lends itself well to Woodification; the classic woodies (or is that woodys?) were based on prewar American cars that had streamlined styling, pontoon fenders, and flowing lines. Check out the 1940 Ford as an example…especially because this particular custom cellulosemobile has a fiberglass ’40 Ford style front hood & grille kit.

This particular Holzwagen looks to be built fairly well, with further nods to the classic American woodie style with the exposed slat & beam headliner, general styling and lines of the bodywork, not to mention the prerequisite surf memorabilia (bamboo shades, board, stickers, etc). As a 1965 model year this started out as a basic but not ancient Beetle; it should have a ball joint front suspension but retain the swing axle rear. If the sellers claims are true, this is a 2-owner car that spent the first part of its life much closer to the actual beaches, in California.

This thing has the mother of all hat shelves in the rear, accessible by turning around while sitting in the back seat or (I hope) by lifting the dual-windowed rear hatch. It looks like the builder retained the lower half of the rear stock bodywork and then built the shelf to fill the gap between the top of the remaining body and the square outline of the rear cargo area. It looks fine from the interior but sacrifices some cargo space, and looks a bit funky when the rear engine hatch is opened and what’s left of the blacked-out fenders emerge from the shadows.

So what’s the verdict – is this guy smoking crack for nearly $11k, or does a handcrafted custom cruiser demand that type of coin these days, no matter how plebian the base vehicle? I will admit that I’ll likely never be able to afford a real classic woodie, so this is the closest I’m personally ever going to get to that body style – which might be just fine.

See another Beetle with a body that a bark beetle would covet? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com