CC Outtake: VW “Pickup”

In these times, when giant pickupasaurs roam the land, it’s easy to forget that the once upon a time, folks’ had rather more modest expectations of the genre. They even built their own, out of an old VW Beetle. Although VWs made great donors for almost every other type of vehicle, a pickup was not one of them, as the Type 1’s tall engine fan intrudes considerably. But who cared at the time?

Butchering up VWs was once a national sport. The sheer numbers of older VWs readily available made it irresistible to make them look different than the millions of other ones out there. Whatever it takes. And in this case, it doesn’t take much.

 

The bed is obviously pretty primitive.

 

Lumber; and the cab partition looks to be plywood too. The loss of bed space to the engine is in display here. But there’s still room to haul a few things, so not all is lost.

The engine looks to be pretty stock. It sure makes it easy to work on.  Valve adjustments are a breeze here.

 

The interior has been stripped down some too, with racing-type buckets, and a mini-steering wheel.

 

The front end sports a Baja kit. The question is: was this a Baja Bug later converted into a pickup, or did someone have just half a Baja Kit laying around?