"Audri" 1963 VW 1500 Variant

Bill Byrum was the first owner from Ellinwood Kansas.  It was discovered on ebay in 2015, sitting abandoned in a garage with 55,000 original miles. It had been painted white over the original Gulf Blue before 1969 but was otherwise untouched.

 

Jack Fisher saw the ebay ad and won the auction with a $2000 bid.  The car was transported to his home in Imperial Beach.  First thing he did was to begin stripping the white paint off the body to reveal the original Gulf Blue color.  Next he restored the rims in two-tone.  And he worked on the mechanical components (brakes, engine, electrical) to make it a reliable daily driver.

 

Lee Hedges from San Diego is good friends with Jack and when he saw the early Variant he thought it would fit perfectly into his collection.  Lee was born in 1963 and after one test-drive knew that he had to own an early Variant.  Since Jack had always lusted after his 1968 Type 34 Electric Sunroof with Automatic transmission, Lee proposed a swap straight-across to make both friends happy.  The swap happened March 2018.