The Godfather: Justin Wong’s Volkswagen Beetle

The original VW Beetle is the great-grandfather of import car culture in America.  Just as Honda and Toyota found customers looking for more efficient vehicles in the 1970s, and Nissan’s 240Z won fans that preferred a lower cost option to contemporary European sports coupes, the German’s VW Beetle found foothold in 1950′s America as consumers looked for a cheaper alternative to the pricier domestic competition.

The “People’s Car” soon became popular with the West Coast surfer culture as owners modified them into dune buggies, creating a style that continues to be echoed in rally cars and the bosozuku scenes.  The 1968 movie “The Love Bug” told the story of an underdog VW Beetle that raced against faster opponents and ultimately proved victorious, a trope that will always be tied to import tuning.

The Beetle continued to be a staple in the American and European aftermarket scene throughout the 20th century. Examples of modified examples of the original Beetle can be found that are completely indicative of every single decade since decade since their introduction in 1938. There are hot rods, rat rods, dune buggies, sleepers, dragsters; perhaps the only thing more expansive than the Beetle’s 65 year production history is its breadth in the aftermarket community. When owner Justin Wong picked up this particular 1965 model, his initial plans were to restore a “cheap, rusty old Beetle” and build it into a fast daily with a killer paint job. As you can see, the project turned into so much more than that.

Perhaps the first realization in building a classic Beetle needs to be that you are almost certainly not the first person to approach the car with a certain mindset or theme. But this isn’t to say that the build needs to be cliche or played out. Justin and LRG Auto approached this car with an understanding of that, and built on the years of chassis development, but maintains a fresh, modern feel.

True to current themes in the Euro scene, Justin stuck with an OEM+ aesthetic. The body has been outfitted with Euro Style pieces and modern lighting. The body was completely sand-blasted and rust repaired before LRG Auto covered the car in this gorgeous blue hue. A set of widened VW steelies with German moon caps round out the classic, smooth look.

It is probably fair to say that any classic Beetle build today will never be a completely original, breaking-the-mold endeavor. With an almost two-thirds of a century history, this classic has been modified by thousands of people with various ambitions, goals, and opinions. But with that historical weight comes an enormous amount of community and tradition to which few other marques can testify. The Beetle can be called the Godfather of this scene; whatever is being done to a car today, has mostly likely been attempted on the humble VW Type 1 Beetle before.

Justin would like to thank everyone at LRG auto for accompanying him on the journey to get this car to where it is today. Additionally, he sends his gratitude to Loreto “Junior” Macadaeg, Spray Rei, James Bondo, Young Dave, Melvin YDS, Fred’s Auto Top Shop, and everyone else who hung out on the long build nights.