1953 Volkswagen Barndoor deluxe samba bus.
After some hesitation from the current owner, it is now definitively for sale.
In the vw scene a well-known barndoor deluxe bus.
It was built on March 2, 1953 and was sold through the German VW dealer Moritz in Reutlingen. This VW dealer still exists.
After a few years, it was exported to Athens, Greece, where it was used as a school bus. On the old photo in the album you can see 3 school buses, the one on the left is this one, the back one is a 51er that is now fully restored in the USA.
We bought this barndoor deluxe in 2012 and also sold it to the current owner in 2012. The current owner wanted to keep this barndoor optically as it is, but the bus had to be reliable. The following work was carried out by us:
The chassis was iceblasted and waxed. You can clearly see the original overspray on the chassis. Front axle, gearbox and engine were overhauled and built correctly. The roof mechanism was rebuilt and fitted with a new canvas ragtop cover. He also got new ATE brakes all around and 5x new 16″ tires from Hedenau. Since then, it has driven many kilometers without any problems. It really is such a beautiful bus where all parts have grown old together. In terms of bodywork, almost nothing has been welded. Furthermore, all the rare parts are still original such as the rear lights, Plexiglass skylights and corner windows, the expensive ashtray, the expensive Blaupunkt radio, the 16″ rims, petrol tank in original paint, the trims all around are original, in short, a real time capsule. This is really a survivor of time.

This barndoor samba is unique, especially in terms of originality. Equipped with Dutch registration, old photos and also the VW certificate are included.