Ruth, Susie & James

"I wasn’t even looking for another VW Beetle. It’s not like I really have room for one. But when I heard about this one-owner car, that may be for sale in London, from a friend of a friend in Germany(!) – well I at least had to go and take a look at it. Just to look you understand…."

Meet Susie

The car, a 1300cc 1303 named ‘Susie’, had been bought new, in 1973, by Ruth, a German lady who’d moved to England not long after the war. It was bought from Abridge Engineering in Woodford, East London, at a cost of £1102.18p – which included a radio, fitted free of charge, but seat belts (£10), number plates (£5) a delivery charge (£12) and 12 months road tax (£25) at extra cost.

Call the Midwife!

Ruth had been using the car ever since then, initially for her job as a midwife and later on, after she retired, for getting around. However, despite being the mythical ‘one lady owner’ find, the truth is that this car has sat outside for – as far as I know – the entire 45 years it’s been around. It had been maintained by a local mechanic and always kept in good running condition, even receiving a respray in 1985, but the lack of use over the last few years had really done it no favours. Ruths sight wasn’t what it once was and after a chat on the phone, I got the impression that although she really didn’t want to part with the car, ultimately she’d prefer to see it go to someone who would look after it and give it some love and a new lease of life. When we arrived to look over the car, it was sitting on half-deflated tyres and I really started to wonder if it was going to be capable of starting, let alone getting me the 65 miles home.

A smokey start

But despite appearances, the battery still had a charge and a dash of fresh petrol tipped down the carburettor soon had the motor coughing back into (initially rather smokey) life. It seems that Susie must have become something of a local landmark, having been parked outside Ruth’s house for so many years, as the neighbour even came out to take a final photo of Ruth with the car. A price was agreed over a cup of tea, while we surveyed the stack of old MOTs and paperwork for the car, which even included the bill of sale from 1973.

Drives like a modern car!

Insurance was arranged and we finally waved goodbye and set off into the dark and rain of a windy late January evening, with a hesitant engine and the worlds slowest Beetle windscreen wipers. The trip home went smoothly, aside from losing various bits of the exhaust along the way and I was even shocked to discover that the heating worked very well indeed. The thing that surprised me the most though, was just how well 1303s drive, thanks to the strut front and independent rear suspensions. It’s just so much fun to drive - I’m used to the older Beetles, but this thing drives like a modern car and really puts a smile on your face. I spent the next day scrubbing the car as clean as I could get it, getting most of the moss out of the window rubbers and just generally giving it the once over that I should have given it before I bought it. There are some nasties on the bodywork, but thankfully it hasn’t been subjected to too many dubious repairs in the past, so I can see what’s what and what needs doing. Future plans, aside from a lot of body work, include getting an MOT (although it’ll be exempt in May), some slight lowering to the front end (basically, to get the car sitting level), a disc brake conversion and most likely I’ll be digging my Porsche 914 Pedrini alloy wheels out of the shed. Now then….anybody have any nice 1303 doors they don’t need….?