Volkswagen Restores this Beetle named Annie
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VW Restore this Beetle with a Great Story

PHOTOS VW BEETLE «ANNIE»: VOLKSWAGEN NEWSROOM

A few days ago we talked to you about an initiative that Citroën has just launched for its centenary: choose a classic of the brand with a good personal history and fully cover the costs of its restoration. Anyway, what exactly is a graceful car with a good personal story? Well, whether you are the owner of a classic Citroën thinking about applying or not… Here's an example. Of course, from a VW Beetle.

“Annie reminds me a lot of myself: old, worn, rusty, beaten and dented (…) I call her Annie because she has been in my life for many years. He has been with me through my marriage and divorce, buying a home and my own business, several jobs, and three outbreaks of breast cancer. (…) I can't tell you how many people stop and ask me about the car! "

This is how Kathleen Brooks expresses herself about Annie, her VW Beetle Type 1 purchased in December 1966. Of those, this Californian was only 21 years old. More than half a century later, many things have happened in his life, but still drives the same Beetle every day. One of those cases in which person and car write a biography together, giving full meaning to what we understand as a classic: adding a good narrative to the historical mechanics.

When Annie turned 2016 in 50, Kathleen spoke to a San Diego television to find out if they would be interested in the story. They were. And for those things in the media ... All this reached the ears of Volkswagen, which offered to provide and pay for a complete restoration for Annie at its facilities in Puebla.. The Mexican factory where tens of thousands of Beetles have been produced over decades, including the last air-cooled unit assembled in 2003.

11 MONTHS OF WORK. A PERFECT RESTORATION FOR THIS BEETLE

Now we enter a controversial terrain: that of patina. To leave her or not to leave her? To be or not to be? While we imagine Hamlet clutching the body of a classic instead of the skull of his beloved jester Yorick, VW has already made the decision: not to leave it. And well, although a Beetle with patina is something really charming ... The truth is that five decades of saltpeter and sun had shattered much of the bodywork.

The technicians at the VW factory in Puebla disassembled the entire car piece by piece, repainting it in the original shade of red taken from the remains of it that were found in a place protected from the sun: its glove compartment. This was just the beginning of a 11-month process in which 357 pieces were painstakingly restored. In addition, this Beetle has been fitted with so many new components that together they make up more or less 40% of the car.

In fact these new components have made it look even more “oldiesThan the one you'd look like in 1966, with that chrome and wood roof rack or those blank-backed tires. Although there has been a detail of restoration really on a whim ... That has been the seats, which now look embroidered with the names of the car and its owner.

A BEETLE IN FULL SHAPE

His 1600cc engine was stripped down to the bolts, thus initiating a thorough cleaning with which a slight increase in power has been achieved. Something that has gone hand in hand with a new brake system, including discs typical of models after the 60s.

When VW officials returned the restored Beetle to Kathleen… She noticed these changes from the first start. Not only did Annie accelerate harder, she sounded brighter and more forceful. With this restoration, who knows the new kilometers that await you. Knowing that its owner has seen the odometer flip several times, and that before going to Puebla it was about 560.000 kilometers ... We still hope a lot of life to Annie.

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Written by Miguel Sánchez

Through the news from La Escudería, we will travel the winding roads of Maranello listening to the roar of the Italian V12; We will travel Route66 in search of the power of the great American engines; we will get lost in the narrow English lanes tracking the elegance of their sports cars; We will speed up the braking in the curves of the Monte Carlo Rally and we will even get dusty in a garage while rescuing lost jewels.

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