Built vs Bought - The Showdown

Your desires are always the best ideas. You have an idea of how your perfect Bug looks, and all the girls to go with it. Reporters and enthusiasts desperate to take photo's or simply provoke thought to imitate one's ideas of making the perfect Bug.

How does it all happen of course? You could obviously source yourself a bare shell and get going. However, have you got the skills to make it happen, and even if you do, are they up to scratch? What's the budget look like for the project. £2k, £5k or £20k? Your budget is crucial to a successful project as you need to know where you can source the cheaper products and shell out for those 'wow' factors, the gripping features so to speak. Or do you purchase the cheaper kit that people know and love for the same effect? Time is a massive factor, you may only have 3 months before your deadline, everyday a long slog to complete the project with everyday you take minimal sleep and all nighters to get the car ready to your satisfaction. On the flipside, you could be in the category where some people have years to spend on their beloved Bug, with the time and certainly the peace of mind at your side.

The battle always wages on between a built vs. bought car.

Even still, you could source the complete article on eBay or at a show perhaps? If your budget is more than enough, I would certainly take this route and then you have a MOT ready car that's good to go. The time-frame is next to none. The underlying theme with Bug restoration is motivation makes the restoration. You need the vision and commit to the vision to make it happen. Realistically, if you had a £4k budget, you could spend £3.5k on a '66 or a '67 and then spend the remainder on changes to your materials and little nuances that set your Beetle out with the rest of the pack.

At least you can have your own ideas with a car you plan to build. McCartney was actually bought but had his own spin on it with interior changes and T-Bars.

We fall in to the deadline, small budget category. Our ethos at Caught the VW Bug is to find a Beetle that's cheap and restore him or her to a level that we're more than happy with and that's ready for people to put their own spin on. We're in a great position where we live and breathe Bugs. Although, this road is never, ever easy. Restarting in 2013, we originally decided on a road-ready car, or so we thought! Pay too much for something you think is perfect and the chances are that you may get a bit disappointed. Thus, we cut our teeth, learnt to weld and spray and alas, you're back in the game and building your own projects and making that dream come to life through wind, rain or shine just waiting for show season. It's not really about the winning, it's about giving the people that trailer their beloved projects a bloody good go and getting a good break. 

We will never be winners, but we will never be just there for the taking part. 

Whatever route you choose for your restoration, risk is always the way.