Happy 2017 the all my fellow enthusiasts. It's been awhile since I last been active on the forum. The main reason has been work, trying to get some projects out the way.
I thought one or two of the projects that I've completed might interest you.
![Image](https://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/images/pbucket3/albums/aa385/vw59beetle/IMG_6329_zps2xjhfkzc.jpg)
I first remember seeing this 1964 Beetle at one of our club events. One of our fellow forum member's (Didi) had bought the car from an older gentleman in Edenvale.( Didi please feel free to correct me or ad to the post if I get it wrong) Didi told me that he happened to browse through the Gumtree ads and came upon a 2 week old ad and decided to take a chance and call. To his surprise this little Beetle was still available, but needed some love. Mr. G. Kruse bought the car new on 13 September 1963.
![Image](https://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/images/pbucket3/albums/aa385/vw59beetle/PB160065_zpsxefnx6bk.jpg)
The car has severed the family well over the decades, with all 3 generations driving it. At some point the car was parked and eventually listed on Gumtree. Didi immediately saw the potential in this little car and bought it on the spot. Over the next few months Didi gave the car all the love needed. He found matching material to recover the front seats, bought a new battery, replaced the carpets and sorted the brakes out with some new parts.
![Image](https://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/images/pbucket3/albums/aa385/vw59beetle/PA190003_zps7zcngw86.jpg)
Unfortunately circumstances forced Didi to sell the car before he could really enjoy her. The car was advertised in our Beetle Clubs email. I was very tempted to take the car over,but realized that I did not need another car. So I did the next best thing and told a friend of mine to buy the car. This all happened over Christmas and new Years 3 years ago. I remember driving back from holiday and calling Didi to find out how the sale went, only to be told that no one have really inquired yet. I immediately knew that this car had too much history for me not to buy it. I can not believe that everyone were missing out.I drove straight to Didi's house after a 13 hour trip and bought this gem. Over that next 8 months I took over where Didi left. I gave the car a sympathetic restoration. I tried not to loose any of the cars character or history.