I've known about these 2 Country Buggies for a few months now and intended to pick them up.
The pics tell the tale.....both have been badly treated.
KO 134 was run into a stump or fencepost or tree at some point and is lacking its bonnet, passenger seat, boot lid, both bumpers, gauges but more pointedly, practically the entire pan!
It's a Fred Flintstone job if ever there was one.
But all the suspension and drivetrain are there so there is definitely something to work with.
Unfortunately there is rust literally EVERYWHERE.
You name it there is rust there.
If and when I repair there will be more new metal than old metal.
Here she is as I first saw her:


And if that weren't enough of a sad tale KO 386 has had a very unhappy life.
Not long after it was bought new the original owners, in their wisdom () pulled the entire body off the pan and used the pan to make a frame buggy for roo and fox shooting.
That in itself wouldn't be so bad as it sat protected under a tarp in a shed for years.
However they suddenly decided it was worth nothing and without asking anyone who was into VWs (and there are a fair few around Goulburn where it was) they took it to the tip.
Then as if that weren't enough some cretin in a bulldozer ran right over the back of it!!
Despite this the bonnet is still there as is the windscreen and the frame and wiper motor at least are ok although the glass is busted and one wiper arm is cactus.
So I bought both with the intention of cutting as much off it as I could to repair KO 134.
Here it is lying in the paddock when I first saw it:


Now I have to say right now that I got cold feet after a little while and wasn't entirely sure but my wife really got on my back about these little cars.
Her reasoning was thus; I've been meaning to learn how to weld for a long while, these are all flat steel and in that sense 100 times easier than most cars and CBs are getting rarer and rarer.
Plus our little boys LOVE VWs so even if I did nothing about them they'd get years of fun out of them and if I wanted to I could probably get my money back through parting them out.
I had to admit she was right, and besides, a rat CB would be the ultimate.
And so it was I found myself at Kennards today at about noon hitching a car trailer to the back of our '68 Land Rover factory trayback ute.
That was a bit of a leap of faith in itself.
The Landy has been a complete joy to drive since we got it about 3 months back but I've never tried towing a car trailer with it so we were going to find out how happy it was with that much weight on the back.
Since we needed a few hands we also took our daily driver, a '67 Panel which was restored by Steve Muller and we've driven since it was finished in time for the Nats this year.
Here's a pic of the back of the Landy and the trailer from the Split.


When we arrived the current owner had pulled both out of their "shallow graves", KO 134 on inflated tyres and KO 386 using a stellar little Grey Fergie tractor which the owner assured me he would NOT part with, and were ready for moving.
So we rolled KO 134 down the gradual incline and onto the trailer.
Here are some pics:





Then it was off home to drop KO 134 in the backyard and come back for KO 386.


The trip with the country buggy on was not fast but then the Landy tends to be "0-100 in 1/2 an hour if at all" and it has decent low down power being the 2.6l 6-cylinder engine.
Getting the CB down the drive and into the yard was MUCH easier than when we squeezed our sons' cubby house, a 70 Deluxe, into the yard.
For a start KO 134 has a steering box!
So with little effort it slipped right in.

Note: my mate Carlyle is not riding in it.....he is pushing - there is no floor!



And here we all are in the CB, although we were sitting pretty gingerly.
Structural rigidity is not at a maximum at the moment......
Then it was back to the farm for KO 386.
Here it is still hitched to the Fergie and then onto the trailer:



KO 386 really is in a bad way as it flexs where the back connects onto the side skirts but with 4 people it got into the backyard easy enough.
I'm a bit proud of these 3 pics as my 4 1/2 yr son Bryn took them.




And a closer look at KO 386:


And here's the entire team on both buggies.
As usual someone had to be a clever trousers and climb up through the bonnet......


And all 3 of our immobile VWs in the yard together:


You know there's a sense of irony in this whole situation.
Not so long ago my missus said she would never again buy a car which did not work.....now we have 3, 2 of which were at her instigation.
I intend to use that little fact to my advantage.

Now that is a great story. I must have known it was on the Forum ,why else would I be up at 4.34am if not to read the story and view the pics.
Well done, now for the hard work. ( harder than moving them by your ageing Landy)
You could use the body without the running gear as a ladder for the kids to get up and hang the washing out ( Mum would be pleased)
I am not sure if I have seen anything quite as bad as that body
I look forward to updates.
countrybuggybill

Wow, she let you buy two bombs... does your wife have a sister

That is a terrific tale on saving the CBs. Now, get off to TAFE and learn how to weld!

I wonder how many more CBs are 'out there' waiting to be saved

thats great that u grabbed them unlike most would let them rot ,now they have a good chance to be revived and back on the road ,a pat on your back from me

Great to see another two come to the ranks.
A welder and some basic sheetmetal work and I think you will get one of them sorted.

there is an immaculate CB up here in a shed............i will try and get the number for the registry

Thanks for the comments about the story.
I like to keep it interesting and put plenty of pics in.
There's nothing worse than reading 3 lines of the most tantalizing stuff in the world and getting no proper detail.
You know, Bill, you may not believe it but most things would be harder than moving them with the Landy.
My wife reliably informs me that the only speed limit I DIDN'T break with the trailer and buggy on the back was the 100kmh one!
I like the ladder to the washing line idea but it's a tad reminiscent of the time I busted Bryn trying to climb onto the roof of the bus......
And you're right - you probably haven't see a body that bad.
For the record my wife doesn't have a sister but don't think I didn't preach the gospel according to Volkswagen long and hard before we got to this point.
Should I say that now she isn't interested in owning anything but old cars?
Nah, that would just be rubbing it in.
As for grabbing them I just can't stand to see something unusual rust away, especially when I or someone else might be able to resurrect it at some point.
And CBs are really unusual, more than any other VW.
They are uniquely Australian and with all the cultural imperialism that the USA has inflicted on pretty much every part of our national identity it's important to keep a hold of those things that made Australia different.
I think CBs represent a really special example of that.
As for the welding/sheet metal work I now have a serious impetus to get me to do a TAFE panel beating course.
And after talking to my monster beach-buggy owning brother, better known as Pete Wood here, I think I might even try and resurrect both.
The back end of KO 386 is really shocking but strangely enough it isn't that crushed.
It could be far worse and with some patient panel and rust work I truly believe it could be fixed and mated to a Beetle pan.
It'll never be beautiful but it could certainly be saved and that makes for a good rat CB purely for the street.
That means more work on KO 134 but then it is flat panel work and it could be massaged back to almost OG condition.
Certainly it will be a much longer build but then this is no overnight job whichever way I take it.
That does kinda complicate stuff though.
Now I need virtually an entire mid 60s Beetle plus a pan, 2 bootlids, another bonnet, another windscreen frame, and what even other bits are needed.
Fortunately I have some '67 Bus rims and some other bits.
My brother also has a couple of 6 volt Beetle transmissions and other parts so it's all possible.
Just a matter of getting down to it I guess......

yes, that right, get down to it...which means get off your butt!

I've got some starters and things too btw

Here are some pics of KO 386....












On closer inspection while most of the back is more bent and crooked than a Wollongong Municipal Councillor it is all still there.
The engine bay in the pic above almost seems straight although everything around it is horribly misshapen.
More to the point it seems to have ripped only along the seams apart from a couple of places.
What that basically means is that the metal needs to be bent back out and hammered into shape.
The biggest concern is how much it has twisted out of shape length ways and I won't be able to tell how much until I get a Beetle pan to sit it on so I think that may be the first purchase.
That way we can sit it on top and work out where it needs to be pulled back into shape.
Thankfully much of the front end is quite straight although the drivers side is bent up quite horribly.









Funnily enough the fuel tank spare tyre cavity is quite straight as you can see from the pic.
I'll certainly get a lot of pointers as to how to fix it by looking at the back end of KO 134.

kombi1976
Great story.....very interesting and entertaining.
Your pics really document the adventure very well and put the frosting on the cake, so to speak.

I will admit it looks like you have bit off a pretty big hunk as far as restorations go, but I have to tip my hat to you for wanting to attempt to save these CB's.
As neither was on Bill's register, now we have a couple of "new finds" and that just adds more to the knowledge base about these uniquely Aussie vehicles.

This forum has been a Godsend of CB info, and it grows almost daily. There's no way that would have happened without the net and Nathan's foresight to establish this forum.

Keep us updated on your progress with both these CB's.

Regards,
Steve

So have you straightened it all out yet? can't take that long can it

yeah compliments on the story and pics, that's what i come to AVD for

Quote:

Originally posted by pete wood So have you straightened it all out yet? can't take that long can it

so you're saying you haven't straightened them yet? well c'mon, get to work!

BTW, beetle wreckers in the ACT are having a big sale at the mo. You should go and pick up two or three front ends and a bunch of other bits and pieces while they are cheap.

Welcome to the CB forum, looks like you have some work ahead of you but it will be worth it in the end.
Make sure you keep us upto date with your progress in the members CB section.

Nathan

Dutchy,
Welcome to the land of the Ugly Bugly. There is some work to get one of those on the road and I look forward to seeing the end result.
FYI ,I have copies of original sales documentation from the Goulburn NSW dealership for both of these vehicles.( talk about lucky). Let me know if you want a copy.
countrybuggybill

So, the only outstanding question is, what happened to the "frame buggy for roo and fox shooting"? That's where the true treasure lies, chassis, gear box, front end, engine etc. It's still "out there", somewhere.