Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum, and am posting this because I am undecided about what to do with my 1964 Beetle.

My husband bought it for me in 1987 (my first car, in '73, was a '65 Beetle and he thought it would be cool for me to have another). The mechanical and electrical system had been restored, so we did cosmetic work (painting Ruby Red, recovering the seats, cleaning the interior, replacing the tires, etc.). I used my Beetle for several years to go to classes, on errands, etc. but when I started to work from home I gradually used it less and less.

I am embarrassed to admit that this poor thing hasn't been driven now in about 5 years. It is in our garage, under cover, and we move it back and forth a few times a year to prevent the tires from rotting to the ground (it's resting on wooden pads). But no matter how much we talk about it, we just cannot get the time to get it running again.

I know that, at the very least, the gas and oil should be drained and replaced. I have a manual somewhere for its maintenance. And the tires will probably need to be replaced. New battery, too. I love Beetles, I was always able to do the basic maintenance (like oil changes) by myself, but when I look at what we need to do, I wonder if we should just sell it.

Now, here's where I get weird. I'm afraid that somebody will use it to sell for parts, and what I really want is for someone to buy it and get it purring again and take it to shows. It really is in good shape, and I used to love to drive it because of the smiles I would get from other drivers.

Any insight on what I should do? We used to have a guy who had a shop about 10 minutes away who worked exclusively on vintage VW's, and he worked on ours once several years ago, but he has since died and his shop closed. If he were still around, I would ask him what to do but since he is not, I'm asking anyone out there who may have an opinion.

Thanks so much for listening to this! And for advice... I just cannot decide...