Newly introduced legislation aims to give old cars same footing as bridges and buildings
09/30/2016
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Through the years, VW vehicles have built a reputation for reliable transportation, their home-away-from-home ethos, psychedelic dream machines and more. Hop on to our magic carpet for a quick ride as we search through some choice offerings in the Hemmings Marketplace Volkswagen sales listings. These vehicles are all looking for new homes and might even be listed in a town near you.
1965 Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle
This 1965 Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle has been restored from the ground up. Powered by a VW 1200 cc engine, it has been meticulously maintained by a certified Volkswagen technician and only shows 8,664 miles on the clock since restoration. It is a left-hand driver, with a manual transmission. The restoration was completed using original manufacturer-specified parts. The engine shows nicely and has been well cared for. The interior is nearly flawless in its restoration with clearly the utmost attention to detail. There is no audio system so you might enjoy bringing your smartphone and Bluetooth speaker along for the ride.
1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 14
The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 14 was the second Volkswagen passenger car ever produced. Showing signs of a life well-lived, this Karmann Ghia features a larger 1500cc Boxer engine. Painted a deep shade of burgundy with a beige interior, It was refurbished by a prior owner and is listed by the current owner as a ready driver. The flat-four-cylinder engine is matched to a four-speed manual transaxle. Standard front disc brakes show off this car’s advanced 1969 technology. The retro-styling is complete with steel wheels and finished with “dog dish” hub caps. It remains mostly stock except for the addition of an aftermarket audio system. This KG is ready to go and is in Suwanee, Georgia.
1971 Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus
If you like attention, have we got a Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus for you! Relive your Woodstock past in this Volkswagen Microbus. Wrapped in period-specific colors, it features looks that are sure to draw a crowd, whether you park outside a restaurant, a school or a music festival. It shows typical wear from over 53 years of use and is powered by a 1.6-liter flat-four cylinder with a four-speed manual transmission. It spent most of its life in Nebraska, but photos show a clean undercarriage. The interior is complete with flower-power seat covers and cabinets for additional storage. Located in Hopedale, MA, it’s the perfect ride to go “Truckin,’ like the Doodah Man.”
1969 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback
This 1969 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback was delivered in 1968 from the VW factory at Wolfsburg, Germany. Repainted in Savana Beige, this classic VW color alluded to simpler times. A 1600 cc engine with dual carburetors and four-speed manual transmission making 65 horsepower was installed in 1971. Extras include cargo area Venetian blinds, stainless moldings and amber marker lights. We can’t forget the chrome overriders on the front and rear bumpers or the stock VW hubcaps to offset the BF Goodrich Silvertown radial tires. The interior was restored in 2016 with a new dash pad, door panels sunroof handles, oatmeal carpets and updates to the Super Beetle front seats. It’s ready to go, in Salt Lake City, UT.
1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible
This Super Beetle convertible rolled off the line in 1972. Delivered new in Portland, Oregon, it moved to California and more recently Illinois, where it has been since 2020. It has been refinished in its original color of Marina Blue with a white convertible top over white and black interior. Power is from a 1600 cc flat-four engine and four-speed manual transaxle. Restored and repainted by the previous owner, the brakes were rebuilt in 2019. Late-model taillights, and a replacement convertible top and glass rear window finish the deed. An aftermarket four-spoke steering wheel and combo speedometer, fuel gauge and five-digit odometer make actual mileage merely an estimate.
1974 Volkswagen Thing Acapulco
This VW Thing Acapulco is a classic beauty that offers open-air freedom that you can only find while driving al-fresco. Finished in Blizzard White and Blue with a white interior, this Acapulco model is, according to the seller, even more desirable to collectors and enthusiasts. It shared its platform with the Type 1 Beetle and is powered by a 1.6-liter flat-four engine and a four-speed manual transmission in a rear engine/rear drive configuration. VDO instruments keep the driver informed of the Thing’s operation. A black convertible soft top, quad exhausts, fender-mounted turn signals and a spare tire mounted in the front trunk supply some other added details. It is fitted with bucket seats, a rear bench seat, manual crank windows and an AM/FM radio. Surf’s up!
The birth of the Packard Car Company was humble in Warren, Ohio. Brothers James and William Packard bought what was then called a "horseless carriage", a Winton, in Cleveland. When they tried to drive it home, the car broke down several miles before they reached Warren. They needed a team of horses to tow it home, where they repaired and improved the engine. When they informed Winton, the manufacturer, what improvements they had made to the automobile, they were told to go build their own car. That is exactly what happened for the next 50 or so years, with an attitude toward making Packard automobiles durable.
Henry Joy, a wealthy businessman from Detroit, liked his Packard because of its durability. He drove it to Warren, Ohio, and negotiated the transfer and sale of the car company to Detroit. In Warren, they built 400 cars by 1903. In Detroit, they had a factory designed by Albert Kahn that was a state-of-the-art building that could turn out a considerable number of luxury cars, in the scale of tens of thousands.
The “superintendent of inventions” at Packard was Jesse G. Vincent and he was Vice President of Engineering, holding this position for about 40 years. The University of Michigan, in bestowing him a degree of “Masters of Engineering,” recognized him as an inventor and engineer. They said his inventions in the mechanism of motors had profoundly influenced the development of the automotive industry. Packard developed the steering wheel, the “H”-pattern shift, the automatic transmission, and powerful eight-cylinder engines, among many more innovations. The champions of the early automotive business were its engineers. In under three decades, they would develop cars that could go more than 100 miles per hour and last for years.
Fortunately, it wouldn’t be long before Jesse Vincent didn’t have to test his experimental cars driving to and from the factory; he’d earned too many speeding tickets! His home was on Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe, and the distance to the factory on East Grand Blvd. was a scant 6 miles, so testing facilities were clearly needed. In late 1926, Packard purchased a 340-acre plot north of Utica, and a concrete test track was constructed on what was then farmland. Later another 220 acres were added, and the facilities were expanded to include test roads made up of sections of gravel, sand, and hills, to give the cars thorough testing under varying conditions. Inside of a 2.5-mile oval track was a landing strip and hanger; this was to be used for the development of airplane engines. Charles Lindbergh would visit the facilities in the 1920s.
The new proving grounds would be first-class all the way. This facility included a golf course and putting green for the executives who were avid golfers. Packard had spent more than $1 million on it by 1930, at which time it included not only the speedway, airfield, and test roads, but also a large lodge building containing superintendent living quarters, an eight-car garage, and a water tower. A separate building was used as a mechanics’ garage for tearing apart the engines of their competitors. In the early 1940s, a building for deconstructing tanks was built, and used during World War II.
Charles Vincent, Jessie’s brother, was named superintendent, and he would raise his three daughters in the gatehouse. That building was also used for the drivers and mechanics to sleep, as they gave endurance tests to new Packards in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. A cook worked there five days a week.
Each year they would randomly take three cars off the assembly line and drive them up Van Dyke Avenue to the proving grounds. “Ten days and 10,000 miles” was the motto for testing.
From the road, the Packard Proving Grounds looks like a wealthy family’s country estate, almost like a Swiss chalet. With its looking so elegant, you might think famed aristocrats lived there. The compound is set about 50 yards from the road, with a long cement driveway leading to a gate, behind which are two large home-like structures in the Tudor Revival design. The roofs are made of slate, which preserved them for close to 100 years; today they look new. The buildings were designed by famed architect Albert Kahn, the “man who built Detroit.” It is ironic that the Packard factory, also designed by Kahn, has become such a national eyesore, crumbling away on East Grand Boulevard in the city of Detroit. That factory has become the symbol for what is wrong with the American auto industry. Meanwhile, the Proving Grounds are pristine and a living history that so many, even in Detroit, are unaware of.
Today you can stand just above Miss America, a speedboat piloted by Gar Wood on the Detroit River in 1932 to a record of 124.91 miles per hour. It has four Packard engines and generates 7,000 horsepower. Also here is a scale model of the PT boat used by John F. Kennedy during World War II. An archive of 16,000 photographs from the company reside here, along with a directory of 50,000 employees. In the engineering building are 20 Packard vehicles from various years. In 1954, part of a movie starring Tony Curtis was filmed here, titled Johnny Dark.
Today the Grounds have been repurposed. Car shows, a farmers’ market, and weddings –where blushing brides throw their bouquets– are here on the remaining 17 acres of the Proving Grounds. The sounds of wedding bells are more likely to be heard instead of engines being hooked up to dynamometers for testing in the mechanics building.
Auto history is recent history, for sure. Some things you just can’t find in books. Take for instance what Dave Dolby, a board of trustees of Packard Motor Car Foundation member, knows. He is a longtime engineer, automotive expert, and Packard owner. On the Grounds, engines of various competitors were deconstructed. Packard engineers used the nickel test to see how much vibration the engines produced: stand a nickel up on the block of a running engine, and if it remained upright, it was a well-balanced engine.
The proving grounds is a non-profit 501(c) historical organization and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.
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