A 1963 VW 23-window microbus with a fanatical-sounding, award-winning NOS restoration, sold Saturday at Barrett Jackson's Orange County auction for an eye-popping $217,800.
Which came after a 1965 VW 21-window Samba bus with a restoration that sounds entirely proper but decidedly less intense, sold for a solid-to-high $82,500.
Did I say high? These VW bus prices may sound high. In dollars. But when you convert them into VW Routans--5 and 2 Routans, respectively--they suddenly seem downright sensible. Even with no seatbelts.
EPIC UPDATE: Oh boy, guys with project cars in the backyard rejoice. DT reader awesome car guru DT links to the story of the seller, who got the burned out microbus for free seven years ago. And was watching the auction live on TV from home while hosting his daughter's birthday party.
AUTOS: VW Microbus Scores Big In OC [speedtv via dt sr minivan correspondent jj daddy-o]
Barrett-Jackson Lot: 355 - 1965 VOLKSWAGEN 21 WINDOW CUSTOM SAMBA BUS [barrett-jackson.com]
Barrett-Jackson Lot: 363.2 - 1963 VOLKSWAGEN 23 WINDOW BUS [barrett-jackson.com]
I prefer to think about it like this:
VW 23-window: 51HP, $217,800 = $4271 per HP
Bugatti Veryron: 987HP, $1,700,000 = $1722 per HP
making the Bugatti a much better value.
The numbers don't lie!
I was calculating it at $50k/window myself...