![]() 08/17/2020 at 17:45 • Filed to: volkswagen, samba, Volkswagen samba, TYPE 2, 23 window, Microbus Kombi, barn find | ![]() | ![]() |
About an hour north of Atlanta is a place known as Old Car City USA. What was many decades ago a junkyard is now a tourist attraction with several acres of forest growing through and around classic cars and trucks dating from the earliest years of motoring up to the gas crisis of the early 70s. Trails zigzag between them and folk art is scattered amongst the vast property. It’s a unique place filled with cars both obscure and sought after, but as a tourist attraction, the sense of discovery one gets when finding something on his own is mostly lost… that is unless you look beyond the scrappy muscle cars and Bel-Airs that are conveniently placed and look deeper into the vegetation and rows of inaccessible relics piled on top of one another. Here is where you’ll find that sense of discovery.
There are many Volkswagens littered along the trails and peeking through the wrecks of other, more domestic vehicles but there is one very special Type-2 in Old Car City that is tucked deep amidst rotting pickup trucks and Econoline vans as if it weren’t one of the most sought after VWs of all time. The Volkswagen type 2 Samba 23 window microbus or Deluxe here in North America is certainly the rarest of the Type 2s. according to sunsetclassics.com only 5% of type 2s were sambas, and one samba was produced for every 5 of the rare Type-2 pickups. Restored examples of the 23 window bus can fetch well over two hundred thousand dollars at auction, but its desirability goes beyond rarity. The eight contoured skylight windows, curved rear corner windows, and a large open hole that takes up two thirds of the roof give the Samba what I imagine is a very open passenger experience. In fact, the legend goes that the Samba was specifically designed to provide great views while touring the Swiss Alps.
Mother nature and time have molested this Samba, but even in this condition it’s an impressive sight and likely still worth a few thousand dollars. the cloth sunroof has deteriorated, so the once impressive interior is now at the mercy of nature and living up to its greenhouse-like appearance. The doors have rusted off of their hinges, and one would assume that the floor is rotten but the vehicle is mostly all there and still recognizable as a 23 window Samba. Is it a shame that its rotting away in the forest? Maybe, but it was also great to be able to discover one of these icons in untouched condition.
I’d like to thank Oppo member Who Is The Leader for suggesting I visit Old Car City.
dsmillerp10@gmail.com
@retro_mod
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:21 |
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I don’t think I ever saw that there. There were a few in the property but I didn’t see a 21 window. Not quite as rare as the hardtop Caravelle but surprisingly close.
Great photos by the way. It can be hard to really get the whole thing in frame but you did a good job. Had fun?
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:30 |
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This is the even more rare 23 window Samba. It has the 2 extra rear corner windows.
Thanks, some of these photos are ok. I took a couple hundred while I was on the property. Its a great place. I had a lot of fun.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:46 |
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I didn’t know there were two multiwindow variations. That’s a rare one for sure. It may be sad to see some seriously cool cars lying in ruin but otherwise you would never see them at all so it balances out.
It is kind of hard to take a bad photo there. There is so much interesting stuff around every corner.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:48 |
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Correct on all accounts
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:50 |
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I’d estimate a Samba like that is well into the 5-figure price range.
This husk of a Samba sold for over 20k a few years ago. Prices can only have gone up since then.
https://oppositelock.kinja.com/make-it-stop-1827871644
![]() 08/17/2020 at 09:54 |
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Did you check out any of the other places I suggested besides Kennesaw Mountain?
![]() 08/17/2020 at 14:47 |
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I’m surprised nobody has tried to haul it away and do a restore on it. Given the values of these things, even if you spend $100K restoring it, you’ll still be in the black.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 15:17 |
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I just read up on it..
https://www.oldcarcityusa.com/
So it’s a former junkyard now junkyard art park and still very much a functional business... not an abandoned junk yard like I thought.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 16:13 |
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The guy running the entrance was completely oblivious to it's existence. Just one of a dozen or so microbuses on the property to them. I didn't tell him it was a 200,000$ VW... He wouldn't have believed me anyway lol.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 18:07 |
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I tried to hit the Georgia aquarium, but you need to have a reservation to get in these days. I also went to see the M ariott Marquis, but forgot my mask in the car several blocks away. My own fault.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 18:20 |
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Off hand? I’d say the woods are in the Volkswagen...
![]() 08/17/2020 at 18:39 |
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In that condition, I'd expect it to be listed at $50,000 on TheSamba.com or $75,000 on OldBug.com
![]() 08/17/2020 at 18:44 |
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The value is in the VIN.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 18:50 |
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Hmmm. Considering redacting the location. Lol
![]() 08/17/2020 at 19:03 |
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Definitely, plus some of the trim parts that are hard to get - like those curved luggage rails.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 19:55 |
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I remember reading about this place last year I definitely want to go there sometime
![]() 08/17/2020 at 20:40 |
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Too bad. It really needs to be experienced.
Though I saw multiple unmasked people there.
![]() 08/17/2020 at 21:43 |
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Pretty incredible isn’t it? Imagine spending that much money and still having an old VW Bus. Surely you’d feel regret.
![]() 08/18/2020 at 10:21 |
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I bet you could get some real money just for the glass in that thing.
![]() 08/19/2020 at 10:09 |
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