All car restoration projects require a certain amount of blood, sweat, and tears. While street car overhauls can be labor intensive, the building of a race vehicle adds a new layer of complexity to the project. The result needs to perform—remain safe while doing so.
The description of this incredible 1963 VW Dune Buggy tells you a lot about how far its builder was willing to go: “Once we ammonia dipped the chassis, we decided that this chassis was not the beginning of a winner.” Rather than attempt to cobble together a good car from less-than-ideal bones, the builder acquired a second clean-titled 1963 VW Bug chassis, stripped and ammonia dipped that one, and started again from the ground up.
Aside from emerging in gorgeous form after soda blasting, smoothing, shaving, reinforcing the body, and painting it with a black-based gold flake hue, this builder clearly had a vision that this buggy would be more than just a pretty face: it’s a serious performer.
Motivating the buggy is a custom-built 2609cc air-cooled four-cylinder monster that will happily shoot flames out of its specially fabricated exhaust system. That grunt is routed to the rear wheels by way of a manual gearbox with a retro-style short-throw shifter that sends the power through a narrowed rear axle—which made room for the massive Hoosier drag slicks—to a reinforced limited slip differential. Reigning in the speed is a set of Wilwood four-piston calipers which clamp down on with gold-anodized BAD Series brakes.
Meanwhile, this VW buggy doesn’t skimp on the interior details. Occupants are seated in a pair of custom racing buckets that have been professionally upholstered by Empire Auto Upholstery, who also installed a custom seat spine on the backs along with billet seat belt reinforcements to which the racing lap belt harnesses are attached. Carbon fiber-backed Autometer gauges are installed in the dash to provide pertinent information.
“No bolt, nut, fitting or bracket was left untouched in some fashion,” reports the seller, and to look at the pictures, that’s obvious. Everywhere you look, there’s fastidious attention to detail. More than 400 hours of labor went into the construction of this wild dune buggy, putting the estimated investment way beyond its current bid amount. Perhaps most importantly, the builder’s pride in the project is abundant from the care and attention given to every component—adding up to an extraordinary final result.