5 of the Most expensive VW Beetles of all time (2024)

When the humble Volkswagen Beetle first arrived in Canada, it came with a crowd-pleasing price tag: less than $1,600, brand-new. Now, a new record has been set at auction, with a Beetle done up like the movie car Herbie hammering for some USD$212,500. Talk about your return on investment.

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Of course, the appeal of the silver screen always inflates classic-car prices well beyond what might otherwise be reasonably expected. Steve McQueen’s Bullitt Mustang, shorn of its association from probably the most famous car chase of all time, would be just another old pony car. As it is, the car is the most valuable Mustang of all time.

A Beetle is no galloping V8 Mustang, but a scuttling ‘Bug is arguably even more of a cultural icon. They were everywhere in the 1960s and into the 1970s, and if you spend any time driving a classic one around, dozens of people will come up to you and start relating their own Beetle stories.

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Because of this ubiquity, the Beetle became more than just a car. It was an unlikely movie star, but also an objet d’art, and certain models have become shockingly valuable with collectors. Initially, the VW Beetle was interesting because it was ordinary, just part of the background. Here’s a look at five special Beetles that have far surpassed those economy car roots.

1961 VW Type 1 Coupe “Herbie” — USD$212,500

As mentioned, here’s the new king of the Beetles, a movie prop from the 1980 film Herbie Goes Bananas. Formerly displayed at the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas, it owes most of its value to being an actual movie prop, moreso than a car.

Sharp-eyed VW experts have noted that the car in question is a bit of a ham-fisted restoration, full of all kinds of non-period-correct details. However, the more extreme modifications – including a rear-mounted gearshift – point to this car being one of those used by a hidden backseat driver, when Herbie was “driving himself” around.

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Herbie cars dominate the list of the most expensive Beetles, with the priciest cars being those from the original 1960s franchise. Cars from the 2005 reboot, Herbie: Fully Loaded, were costly to build and still attract plenty of attention from pop-culture collectors. In 2018, one sold at the Mecum auctions in Monterey for over $100,000.

1960 VW Type 1 Coupe ex-Seinfeld — USD$121,000

Also benefiting from an association with celebrity status is this nicely preserved 1960 coupe, which had just 15,000 miles on its odometer when sold at the 2016 Amelia Island auctions. The sale price was a bit of a shock to the market, but the fact that the car had previously been owned by comedian Jerry Seinfeld carried it to an eye-widening $121,000. Paying over six figures for a low-mileage Volkswagen? Who are these people?

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1950 VW Type 1 Coupe “Split Window” — ~USD$175,000

The most valuable collector-grade Beetles, apart from those that have brushed up against celebrity, are the earliest cars. VW arrived in Canada in 1952, but a very small amount of cars were sold into the U.S. earlier. Just two were sold in 1949 by a Dutch importer, but those are more of a footnote.

No, the blue-chip Beetle for well-heeled classic car collectors is one of the 160 cars brought in by New-York-based importer Max Hoffman in 1950 (he also brought in 320 in 1951, and those fetch big dollars, too). Hoffman wasn’t exactly a celebrity in the wider sense, but he was a star in terms of the flourishing European imported-car market. He gets at least partial credit for the lasting popularity of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, the Porsche Speedster, and the sublime BMW 507 convertible (as owned by Elvis).

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Before achieving success with these big-dollar icons, Hoffman saw the potential in Germany’s funny little “people’s car,” and he sold a few hundred of them. At present, valuations on a concours-quality example are nearing the $175,000 mark, but that’s always assuming you can find one for sale. Compared to later Beetles, these early cars are delicate in their simplicity, with a characteristic two-part rear window.

1953 VW Beetle “Sphere” — USD$127,782

If a Hoffman Beetle is a triumph of industrial design, then here’s what happens when an actual artist puts their spin on it. Indonesian artist Ichwan Noor is famous for his large-scale sculptures, and the ones that brought him international notoriety are his Beetle Spheres.

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The Beetle’s design is already a series of circles, but imagine if it was an actual ball. Noor’s creations are made of cast aluminum and polyester, warped views of a ’53 Beetle that are somehow pleasing. They look like Volkswagens trapped by a rift in the space-time continuum.

The record price for one of Noor’s creations was set at auction in 2018, in Hong Kong. There, a yellow Beetle Sphere fetched $127,782 at a Sotheby’s auction.

2001 VW New Beetle RSi — USD$80,000

Leaving the classic air-cooled Volkswagens behind for a moment, here’s an example of the most-expensive Beetle ever sold brand-new. Only available overseas, and now importable into Canada under grey-market law, it’s the New Beetle RSi, a widebody carbon-fibre VR6-powered tribute to Volkswagen pride.

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The New Beetle was basically just a Beetle-ish body plonked on a Volkswagen Golf, but it was a cheerfully whimsical car, and people liked them. The RSi, on the other hand, was intended to be a show-stopping tribute to the car that founded Volkwagen’s reputation, at a time when the company was rivalling Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker.

Powered by a then-new 3.2L VR6 good for 220 hp, the New Beetle RSi sounds great and has a surprising amount of lateral grip. Only 250 were sold, each at a price of above $80,000; adjusted for inflation, that’ll now get you a Porsche 911, and not just a base model, either. VW reportedly lost money on every RSi it sold, but they’re now much more affordable if you can track one down.