I just bought this buggy. I have found out it is a Wrangler. Three were built in Bellingham washington and the rest in Toronto. This has only had one owner besides me. The fellow bought it new and it was parked after he passed away(20 or so years ago) I am in British Columbia and the previous owner lived in Langley, BC before moving up here ,and Langley is a stones throw from Bellingham, where Design Time Inc built the three buggies. It has a Ray jay Turbo, with a Bosch distributer. Does anyone know if there is a way to verify where my buggy was made? My picture won't upload here, so here is a link to my post on this forum.
Thanks

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=642319&highlight=

Well it likely was made closest to where it was found.

It really doesn't matter.

Jeffery P...why would you waste your time with a response like that. This site is for people who want to know more about their buggy. It obviously matters to me, which is the reason for the post. You need to focus on what matters to you and leave everyone else alone if that's your attitude.

It's hard to determine where most buggys were "made". Most were kit built by guys in their backyards and garages. Odds are it was built in your area but it's a guess.

Unless you can track down the guy that built its going to be hard.
Cool bug!

AMAC

Thanks, I managed to find contact information for one of the original builders. I'm going to shoot him an email and see what he has to say and go from there.

Chris, clearly you appear confused. Since you are a new buggy owner I will try to be more explanatory.

Thousands of different types of buggies were built. And they were often built, trashed, rebuilt, trashed again, and then maybe rebuilt again. So many copies of copies of copies were produced. You might have a Wrangler...or you might have a copy that some company made on the side, in some dark warehouse, and sold it as a Wrangler. Most manufacturers didn't id their bodies because it didn't matter. They were building on the cheap and that was what was important. Your buggy may have been built by someone famous, or more likely by 3 or 4 people who hacked it together and drove it like they stole it.

In the end it doesn't really matter. Its a fiberglass shell on a VW body. If its 1 of 3 or 1 of 3000 it doesn't matter. They are all made the same. Toss some glass into a mold and throw it on a VW chassis. Sure...some may be done real nice, but the vast majority were hacked together and ended up in a field someplace because they were cheap and people lose interest fast.

I love buggies. I have built 4 of them. From $2500 hold your breath and hope they last to an over $10,000 Manx. I have built them with basic wiring all the way up to current factory style wiring harness. I have used VW steering columns all the way up to chrome tilt columns.

In the end...its a chunk of fiberglass on an ancient drivetrain. What makes them special is what YOU can do with them. So while its nice to know what kind you have (for when you sell it or when people ask) the history of where it was made or who owned it doesn't really matter does it? You can't buy body parts, and even if you could they wouldn't care where it was made. More important information is to know the details of the chassis and motor so you can get the parts you need.

So there is my explanation of why it doesn't matter where it was built. What matters is what you, as the new owner, can do with it.

Good luck!

Chris,

In your first post you said:

"This has only had one owner besides me. The fellow bought it new and it was parked after he passed away(20 or so years ago)"

Now in you last post you said:

"Thanks, I managed to find contact information for one of the original builders. I'm going to shoot him an email and see what he has to say and go from there. "

So are you saying the original owner had it built for him by someone?

I found contact info for one of the three original builders of the wrangler(design time Inc). And
I believe the original owner bought it new, built with the turbo etc., but who knows. I've been try to contact his widow to find out what she knows about it. It was in her son in-laws garage all these years and his recelection of where his father in law got it is foggy at best.

It would be interesting to see if it was a factory built car considering the info supplied on the Samba. The original owners were a college student a boat builder and a corvette enthusiast from what it said. I would wonder who would have brought the turbo knowledge with them. Turboing a VW motor is not an easy task.

I saw that you downloaded some additional pics on the Samba. I bet they would be interested in seeing a broader picture of the turbo set up (off the exhaust, into the carb(s).

I put a couple pictures of the engine/turbo up if your curious. I've thought about trying to trace the VIN on the beetle portion as well. I figure being that its a 1967 pan and they built the first 3 buggies in 67-68 maybe I might get a name.Probably not, but its worth a try.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7893034#7893034