what are the differences between like a 67' baja beetle and a 67' beetle (beside the obvious apperence items). Is there actually a factory built baja? Or has the beetle become a baja due to mass fabrication? Can I buy a standard beetle to turn it into a baja race bug or should buy a "baja" bug? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Im not too sure about that one man but i think you can buy the suspention kit for the bug. ( no promises tho)

 

Baja refers to the Baja Pennisula and its many many sand dunes. Baja Bugs climb them, sometimes with frightening speed! There never was a "factory" baja. You have to build one for yourself, I've built around 6 or 7. (not all mine) There are body kits with fibreglass fenders and front clips, wide eye or narrow eye( headlights close together or far apart). There are roll cage kits , suspension mods, wheel tire mods disc brake conversions, the amount of things you can buy are simply and only limited to your budget! Check out Dune Buggies and Hot VW's magazine. I built my first when I was 15, so its not that difficult.

 

My 2 cents - to add a little to what itcooksvw has to say - there a ton of things you can change from mild to wild from a baja - if you have never done it and don't know anything about offroad cars - plan on spending a lot of money learning if you want to jump in by buying.

My advise - hang out with some of the guys/gals that you know that do it - you can learn a ton from just watching. There are also the magazines that are committed to educating you along with a few publications put out by those magazines that are dedicated to building/learning about the offroad bug. Easy to come by. One of the more attractive things about going with a VW offroader it you can do it for a very reasonable amount of money.

You could put the money up front and buy something a little more built or go cheap and build it on your own - either way you are still cheaper than a full sized truck/SUV to go play in the dirt. Another option that I have discovered in the last couple years are Jeeps- similar catagory - inexpensive, relatively.

AnEXCELLENT resource for buying, selling and learning is www.********.com/vw. All types and great events to attend to learn as well - maybeeven pick up something in your neck of the woods for a great deal and have somemoney to build with.

Ifnothing else - get out there and enjoy it.

Be carefulwhen you are buying something that someone has"already built" - watch forgood welds, good parts, etc - you don't need to start withsomeone elsesjunk -