Glittering Prize - 1957 Oval Ragtop


 


Jeff Spearn has built the first ever feature car we’ve covered from Arkansas, but this is no Chugabug!


 


Looking for his next VW-related challenge, Jeff Spearn wanted something special that would really challenge him. Jeff knew his friend had an 1957 Oval sitting in his barn that would be ideal but by no means was a barn find in the best sense. “I purchased the car from a friend who had it stored in an old barn and was using it to step up into the second level. As you can imagine, the roof and hood were quite damaged from such abuse. The car was in dismal shape, virtually every panel needed rust repair or replacement. Several times my friend thought of taking it to the crusher for salvage but after many attempts to buy his VW stepladder he agreed to sell it to me in 2002”. 


With the Beetle home, Jeff stripped it of all its loose bits and sent it off to be walnut shell blasted to reduce warping from heat. 


What came back was a car that needed both heater channels, both rear wheel arches and the front apron. The roof had not only been damaged beyond repair, but its weakened metal had begun to disintegrate. The decision was made after many attempts to repair the roof that a new section should be grafted in, and if you’re going to do that, why not graft in a ragtop section, eh? At this point I should add that Jeff had the help and guidance of long-time friend and mentor Curt Westland. Jeff wasted no time in fitting the NOS wings and grafting in new metal in the aforementioned areas before tackling the roof swap and getting the body ready for paint.


The original colour was Coral Red and as Jeff says, “With that colour being played out over the years I wanted something different, so I chose Diamond Green and then twisted the silver and metal flake content to get the colours to dance in the sunlight”. This took about 12 colour samples before Jeff was happy, but it was worth it. No sooner had Curt and Jeff laid on the ‘Twisted Diamond Green’, it was colour-sanded before Jeff buffed out the body, followed by the wings, doors, engine lid and bonnet, all of which – including the bumpers – were refitted using zinc-plated bolts while the glass is the original from 1957. The headlights are European 12-volt H4 units. 


The chassis needed some loving after blasting revealed both pan halves were shot. These were replaced but not before Jeff modified the rear of the chassis to accept a 5-speed transmission. Stock KYB shocks were used up front and white KYBs were fitted at the back. The chassis was then sprayed gloss black to give a smooth appearance and the suspension components were painted silver. 


To make the highway cruises less of a bleeding ear event and more of a pleasure cruise, Jeff asked Bill Captach of Arizona Transaxle Exchange, Phoenix to put together a 5-speed gearbox. Bill obliged, using a 1968 swing axle Beetle case as a donor, fitted a Berg 5 conversion and a Super Diff with ring and pinion 4.375:1, 1700 Kennedy clutch plate and heavy-duty side plates.


Happy with the body, chassis and stance, the attention then moved to the interior, and this really is a place that any of us would now want to spend time in. The theme all along was to build something that could have been the top of the line model back in the day, so it had to remain stock but with a custom twist. 


The original seat frames were powdercoated in a cream colour not too far off the colour of the upholstery, so it blends in rather than jumps out at you. The car was taken to Omaha Seat Cover Centre, where they followed Jeff’s instructions to the letter. The material chosen is tan tweed and, as Jeff says, “it gives a pinstripe appeal with modern materials. I also added padding in the form of the H pattern to give it more appeal. I call it eye candy.” 


The padding is courtesy of a 1/4-inch pad sewn into the back of the tweed in strips, which really gives the upholstery a more 3D effect and defines the seat layout much better than standard-spec upholstery. To add to the opulent feel of the car, Jeff added some bolster cushions. 


The makeover didn’t end with the seats; the headlining is also tweed, as are the door cards with the top quarter being leather with a chrome strip dividing each. The steering wheel is a stock unit that was restored by the famous Koch’s Steering Wheel Restoration Company in California. The radio blanking plate is still in place, giving a vintage feel to the dash, but the tacho fitted in place of the clock in the centre grill hints at something a little special out the back, as does the Berg 5 shifter, which was a birthday present from Jeff’s wife Chris and, to make it all the more special it is engraved with their company name. 


The engine is a 2110cc built by Jeff. It’s based around a De Mello 82mm crank with Bugpack Race Rods, Mahle 90.5 barrels and pistons, an Engle FK-42 cam and an A1 Sidewinder Exhaust. Vee Dub Parts supplied the straight-cut cam gears and Sig Erson supplied the 1:5:1 rockers. Tom Bowman in Phoenix, Arizona machined and clearanced the case and tackled the usual full-flow oiling mods. A Melling high-volume oil pump and external oil cooler were also fitted. The flywheel is a 200mm 10.5lb lightened unit. CB Performance heads were ported and polished by Wayne Johnson while the twin Weber 44 IDFs were tweaked by Art Thraen at Aircooled Engineering and are topped off with K&N air filters. All in all, this motor pushes out 200HP at 6,500rpm. I asked Jeff were there any items that he would class as must-haves. “It’s got to be my custom-made engine support bar or my burnout bar – I never leave home without it!” he laughed. Which might go some way to showing you that a show car isn’t always a trailer queen.




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