1964 Double Slider Door Panel with Optional Rear Window Delete!
 
We all see a huge overuse of the term "Rare" in the Vintage Volkswagen World but this 1964 Double Slider Door Panel Bus with Optional Rear Window Delete certainly qualifies for use of the term.  This is one of approximately 6 or 7 Split Windshield Double Slider Door Panels known to exist in the World and this seems to be the earliest known example.  As if that weren't already enough to quantify this Bus as super special you then add to the package that it has an extremely rare option of having no rear window and it's as special as it gets.  Most people have never laid eyes on a real windowless rear hatch.  Just for good measure how about adding a second layer of frosting on your cake and top the Bus off with a beautiful original set of sekurit safari windows?  This is a serious Bus lovers Bus.

Since the completion of the restoration and its initial debut earlier in 2009, the Bus has taken an award at all 3 shows it has attended including Top 10 Honors, Best Paint, and 2nd Place in the Bus Class which included Buses of all years.  Not bad to take awards 100% of the time.

Many NOS parts were used in the restoration and the list includes complete taillight assemblies, complete front blinker assemblies, gas gauge, miscellaneous rubber throughout including the rear hatch rubber, and most impressively the windowless rear hatch was also NOS.

There is some interesting known history of the Bus in that it was originally delivered to Windward Volkswagen in Hawaii straight from Volkswagen in Germany and its good condition is in great part due to its use as a delivery van for a bakery.  The original and valuable Windward Volkswagen license plate frame is still present and included in the sale of the Bus.  From there it made its way to sunny Southern California which certainly helped to preserve its solid and dry status as exemplified by the beautiful original undercarriage.  This Bus has clearly never been abused.  The original owners manual with the vinyl cover from the dealer are also still present and will accompany the Bus as well.  That is something you very rarely see anymore.

This Bus has survived very well over the last nearly 46 years and being that the owner is a true purist his approach was to retain as much originality of the Bus as possible during its restoration.  Therefore, the paint from the door jams in is mostly original while the exterior has been professionally resprayed in the correct original L87 Pearl White.  The paint is very nice having won an award for Best Paint earlier this year.  The Hawaiian Primo Beer logos were hand painted by a 65 year old sign painter just as they would have been done back when the Bus was new nearly a half century ago.  There are also some cool Primo Beer cans and posters that will be included with the Bus.  The body is extremely solid, straight, and looks incredible.

The interior is very nice, mostly original paint with just some touchups on the dash, inner roof, small spots on the front floor, and cargo floor.  There were also a couple patches put in the front floor that are literally undetectable.  The desire was to preserve the original feel of the Bus as much as possible so what was great and original was merely cleaned, polished, and kept as original.  Another interesting point is that the Bus is originally M-coded for seat belts from the factory.  The original cab divider is in place and it is so quiet in the cab that people often comment that they can't hear the engine running.

Mechanically the Bus has been completely gone through by the very well respected early Bus specialist, George "Big Baby Jesus" Schmidt of the Butcher Shop in South El Monte, California.  He got everything up to speed just under 3 years ago and there are very few miles since having left his shop.  The original 1500 single port engine runs great, has only 70,000 original miles on it, but it does have a very mild knock upon initial cold start up only.  For that reason the owner located and completely rebuilt a very closely numbered longblock in the event that the original engine eventually needed to come out for a rebuild.  The original engine runs great and can be driven without issue but now you know the exact status of its condition.  The Bus also received a full set of 5 new white stripe radials mounted on stock 14 inch Bus wheels and were topped off with correct grey commercial hubcaps with painted logos.

This Bus is a beautiful, very faithfully executed, and preservation-minded restoration of a extremely solid survivor that is as rare as it gets.  Thanks!

SOLD!

This is a TON of rare and trophy winning Bus for the money!  You could never come close to building something this spectacular for that low price.

Please visit my website at http://www.holygrailgarage.com to view the full album of pics of this cool Bus, more Vintage VWs, Classic Cars, and Parts for sale.  Thanks!

*Please note that this Bus is located in Frederick, Maryland.

Brendan Finn (858)366-2549
http://www.holygrailgarage.com
brendanfinn666@yahoo.com