Most Numerous Surviving Antique Car

[Bob Bidonde]

What is the most numerous antique car to survive to this day? Is it the Model T Fords or the Model A Fords? I once read a rumor that for every one surviving antique car there are 10 surviving antique Fords.

[TomInCologne]

do you count the VW Käfer (Beetle) as an antique car? If yes, surely there are more Käfer (21.5 million built) than Ts or As...

[Phil Brown]

Yea I was going to say the VW bug. Damn there an antique car now, I must be getting old

[WHN]

Just guessing, but I would think there are more Model A’s left than Model T’s.

The VW Bug? I would not put them in the same category. How many years where they make? It was one of my most favored ��.

Enjoy.

[nkaminar]

A brand new VW Bug was $1,250. I remember the ads. The photograph for the ad was stretched a little to make the car looks more racy. Maybe late 1950's.

My dad never bought the Bug but I had several including the one with small window in back.

My 1961 bus was under powered. My cruise control was a brick on the accelerator pedal.

My folks bought the camper and toured Europe with it. They shipped it to the US when they returned and later sold it.

[Kurt in NJ]

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In my area I see more model a and t than first generation VW bugs.
And what are you using to have the qualifications as “antique car” because my normal everyday car is 35 years old ?

[ModelA29]

I think the true number should be as a % of total production.
Estimates are 1/4 million As still exist of nearly 5 million = 5%
Duesenberg about 1,200 total just under 400 exist = about 30%
Of the 7 Bugatti Royales built 6 exist today (one was totaled in the 1930s) = 85%
All 6 of the Cobra Daytona Coupes still exist today (despite Shelby telling Alan Mann to dump them in the English Channel rather than pay the shipping back to the US). All 33 of the Roush silhouette Mustang race cars built from 84-97 still exist an amazing number for such a disposable car.
There is also a distinction between antique and classic. A lot of antique cars were fed into the steel furnaces during WWII. Classics seems to include anything post WWII up to the 1970s. Yes they built 21.5 million bugs over 65 years and the last one rolled off the line in 2003 in Mexico. How many of those will be here in 2103?

[ronn]

my vote is for the bug- but yes, they do tend to rot out. unibodies arent good for longevity.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by ronn

my vote is for the bug- but yes, they do tend to rot out. unibodies arent good for longevity.

I also concur with the VW. Wasn't there something like 20M of those built vs under 5M in Model-As?? Of the 15M Model-Ts manufactured, how many today are fiberglass replicas registered as a Model-T?? While there is a lot of Model-As that are just 'resting' inside of garages that have not seen daylight in ages, ...I am still amazed how many Ts, -especially early ones that keep surfacing that were largely unknown about.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by ronn

my vote is for the bug- but yes, they do tend to rot out. unibodies arent good for longevity.

The last Bug is just 22 years old. The early ones are valuable but post 50s not so much in the whole scheme of auto collecting. Even after the Bug died the plant in Brazil continued turning out complete running/driveable pans for their kit car industry. When Beck moved his Porsche Spyder production there he was buying the pans for the components. He'd ship the completed cars back to the US. He'd pull the engines and take the front spindles off so they came as kits not complete cars.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by ModelA29

The last Bug is just 22 years old. The early ones are valuable but post 50s not so much in the whole scheme of auto collecting.

You'd be surprised. Their value has increases quite a bit recently. They on average, are worth more than A's across the various condition ratings. I'm talking about 60's era bugs too, the value increases as you get into the older years.

Just like everything, nothing is cheap these days.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by Hitman

You'd be surprised. Their value has increases quite a bit recently. They on average, are worth more than A's across the various condition ratings. I'm talking about 60's era bugs too, the value increases as you get into the older years.

Just like everything, nothing is cheap these days.

They really changed in 68. The 67 I'd consider the last of the original design. 68 got the ball joint front end and CV joint rear axles - don't get me started on the "Super" beetle with it's McPherson struts and curved windshield......
I've had about 8 of them over the years. Small window - glass Manxish buggy, Karmin Ghia, 914 (sold as VW in Europe). When I was in college the trans died in my daily driver 54 Corvette. Needing to get to school I swapped it for a 2 year old 66 Bug.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by ModelA29

When I was in college the trans died in my daily driver 54 Corvette. Needing to get to school I swapped it for a 2 year old 66 Bug.

What a deal!

[dave in australia]

Originally Posted by ModelA29

I think the true number should be as a % of total production.
Estimates are 1/4 million As still exist of nearly 5 million = 5%
Duesenberg about 1,200 total just under 400 exist = about 30%
Of the 7 Bugatti Royales built 6 exist today (one was totaled in the 1930s) = 85%
All 6 of the Cobra Daytona Coupes still exist today (despite Shelby telling Alan Mann to dump them in the English Channel rather than pay the shipping back to the US). All 33 of the Roush silhouette Mustang race cars built from 84-97 still exist an amazing number for such a disposable car.
There is also a distinction between antique and classic. A lot of antique cars were fed into the steel furnaces during WWII. Classics seems to include anything post WWII up to the 1970s. Yes they built 21.5 million bugs over 65 years and the last one rolled off the line in 2003 in Mexico. How many of those will be here in 2103?

In Australia, there were 300 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III's built, and today there are 3615 still around, so a survival rate of 1205%. Not a bad effort.

[TomInCologne]

Originally Posted by dave in australia

In Australia, there were 300 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III's built, and today there are 3615 still around, so a survival rate of 1205%. Not a bad effort.

at the moment there are some courtcases ongoing against a professional restorer in the south of stuttgart, who knew a magic trick to turn one Mercedes GullWing into two... but only with the same VIN...


He allegedly did that trick a number of times and GullWing owners worldwide have found out that their little car has a clone...

[Wick]

The VW Bug has to be it, funny thing is you never see them on the road and very few at car shows.
You can buy just about anything for a bug now, they are very simple cars. Ive owned about 50 over the years and have a original rust free 68 with 82,000 that my uncle bought new. The 69 double cab, i searched for one for 35 years, nobody knows what it is.

[Bob Bidonde]

Lets real-in the vintage to pre WW2 cars. This reduces the People's Wagon to only 3 years of production in Germany. So, what is the most numerous pre-1941 antique car to survive to this day?

[TomInCologne]

Model A or T, for sure. Although, when you count the Chevy National, International,... in the years '28-'31 as one Model, then there were more Chevys than Model As...

[Will N]

Internet searches on this show that on the high side of the estimates, there may be 200K VW Bugs and Model T's left, and 250K Model As.

[Ray in La Mesa]

Wick, I love your '69 double cab! I have a '70 7 passenger van made into a camper w/ 287,000 miles on it, yes, I'm the original owner.