Sometimes you question why people do certain things, but you’re glad they did them. Such is the case with this 1964 Volkswagen Beetle. While there are still a lot of the 21 million Beetles made still buzzing around, none are like this one. That’s because it has only 23 miles on it. That’s no typo: twenty- three miles. So, that’s why this 1964 Volkswagen Beetle is selling for $290,000. 

We get why it’s priced high. After all, restorers like to say, “They’re only original once.” What we don’t get is why the owner chose to buy it but not to drive it. His name was Rudy Zvarich and he already had a 1957 Beetle when he bought this 1964 as a “backup.” The obvious question is why didn’t ‘ol Rudy start driving his new car and keep the used Volkswagen he had been driving as the backup? 

How many brand-new 1964 Volkswagens can there be?

Not everyone has the pleasure of owning a new car. But when you do you don’t immediately store it for a rainy day. We can only guess it’s like that thing where your grandmother saves the fine linen and fancy dinnerware for “special” occasions and ends up never using it? 

When Rudy picked up the Beetle from the dealership he drove it to a friend’s in the dark and without insurance. It sat in this person’s garage for two years. He never licensed it. Once Rudy had a garage he drove it there and it sat until 2016 when it was unearthed. Rudy died in 2014 at 87 and left everything to his nephew. He is the one selling the Volkswagen now in Hemmings.

The windshield wipers, side-view mirrors, and hubcaps are still wrapped in their original boxes

Rudy probably never intended to use the Beetle based on a couple of things. First, the windshield wipers, side-view mirrors, and hubcaps are still wrapped in their original boxes. They were never installed. The dealership window sticker is still on the window, too. And to this day the Volkswagen has never been washed. It has only been dusted off to sell. 

What makes this the most interesting is that these were inexpensive cars and there were jillions of them. They weren’t special and were never looked at as something to covet and keep. They were just basic transportation. So its un-specialness and the unexpected condition it is in makes it even more than a curiosity.

It is now a window into the past that we could never expect to see

We would have to say that of the almost one million Beetles made in 1964 this has to be the most original and most perfect. To maintain it as the oddity that it is the new owner can never drive it. It is now a window into the past that we could never expect to see. 

When Rudy died his nephew inherited not only this 1964 Volkswagen but other cars Rudy had collected over the years. So, he was definitely into cars. And he drove them. But not this Volkswagen.

Why this Volkswagen and not a new Mustang or Corvette?

We would love to have been able to find out why this is what Rudy wanted to do with his VW. Why this car and not a new Mustang or Corvette? Why was it worth more to him covered in the corner of his garage than to be used and enjoyed?