1963 VW Beetle Cabriolet

I'll be the first to hold my hand up and admit the Karmann Cabriolet Beetle was never a favourite of mine. And I've never really been able to explain why! The right ingredients are there to make a great car - and it is a great car, but there was just something about the look I'd never been keen on. I think the main reason was the roofline - it didn't look 'right'. I'd even go so far as to say it looked a bit top-heavy in my eyes.

I can hear many of you grinding your teeth right now, and maybe even a few blood vessels popping. But before that vein on the side of your head goes into overdrive, I have a little secret to share.

Over the past year or so my tastes have altered, and my palate seems to have adapted to appreciate a wider variety of VWs - the finer vintages, if you will, and not just your common Beetles. Some would say I've grown up a little, but anyone who knows me knows that just isn't so. Whatever the reason, in short the Karmann Cabriolet has started to 'float my boat'. And when you take a look at Steve Raaff's Cabriolet on these very pages you'll see why I've started to like them. How cool does it look! Anyone who says they don't like it is either blind, lying or jealous!

Why jealous? Well, go to any show and you aren't going to be overwhelmed with the volume of Cabriolets parked up in the Show 'n' shine. Only 331,847 Cabriolets came off the Karmann conveyor belt between 1949 and 1980. Compare that to the millions of 'tin top' Bugs churned out and you realise that the number of Cabs built is pretty small. So finding a good one isn't as simple as looking on Autotrader or in the back of this magazine. And as we all know, if something is scarce it tends to be sought after, and if it is sought after it tends to be pricey - so it would only be fair to have a wave of jealousy hit you if one as nice as Steve's rolled up next to your 'every day' Beetle at a show.

For the full story check out the December 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 31 October and then available through back issues.

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