She’s a classic VW. She’s air-cooled. She has her original 1300 factory engine. Those aren’t the first things you notice about Helga.
She’s… unique. She looks like an art project. Why?
Like most classic Beetles, she’s had a few owners. We are the fourth, which is pretty good for any car born in 1966. Still, it was inevitable that someone would decide she needed new paint.
From the factory, Helga was a beautiful Bahama Blue. I actually love that original color. You can still see it in some places. That’s because when a previous owner decided she needed repainting, they chose the cheapest option. How do I know? A few clues:
- The paint is flaking off in a lot of areas.
- Where it’s flaking, I can see blue (where it’s not rust)
- Whenever I remove something to repair it, there’s blue behind it.
I’m not judging. Whoever had it painted made choices based on their economic status and probably just did it cheaply to make her look nice after an accident (more on that later).
One of my goals is to repaint her completely, which means taking off the body, sanding it down to metal, and starting over from scratch. Because that will take (has taken) a few years, I need to manage the rust as much as I can. That means covering the bare spots with primer. And as long as I’m doing that, I may as well do some fun art along with it.
One day, she’ll have a beautiful new paint job. Stay tuned!
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