1971 Volkswagen Beetle

1971 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible — Karmann Cabriolet in Turquoise

The 1971 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible is not your average open-air classic. Every Beetle cabriolet sold through Volkswagen dealers was hand-built by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Osnabrück, Germany — the same coachbuilder responsible for the Porsche 356 Cabriolet and the Karmann Ghia. Karmann received Beetle body shells from the Wolfsburg plant, then cut the roof, reinforced the body structure to compensate for the lost rigidity, hand-fitted the folding top mechanism, and finished each car individually. The process was labor-intensive enough that Karmann never came close to matching the production volumes of the hardtop Beetle. The result was a car that cost considerably more than the standard sedan when new and has consistently held stronger collector values ever since.

By 1971, the Beetle had already outlived virtually every prediction made about it. Volkswagen had sold more than 15 million of them worldwide by that point, and the cabriolet variant remained in production all the way through 1979 — long after the Golf had replaced the standard Beetle in most markets. The U.S. market in particular kept demand for the open Beetle alive, which is why Karmann kept building them for American buyers even as the hardtop was being phased out. That history gives the 1971 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible a specific place in the collector market: it is old enough to be fully appreciated as a classic, yet mechanically simple enough to be driven and maintained without specialized infrastructure.

This particular 1971 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible presents in turquoise over a tan interior, and wears its Karmann badge on the body. The undercarriage photographs confirm what every serious Beetle buyer wants to see — a solid, clean pan with no rot, no patches, and no signs of the floor corrosion that has destroyed so many of these cars over the decades.

Key details
Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
VIN / chassis: 1512861949

Offered by Skyway Classics, 10420 Portal Crossing, Bradenton, FL 34212. Taxes, title and fees not included.

Photos courtesy of Skyway Classics.