Nice patina!

[hotwheels]

I love the rather awesome look of this VW Bulli pickup. Not sure how the owner achieved this great patina without causing major rust holes. I recently got a tetanus shot, but looking at the bed gave me the shivers: pure rust.

hotwheels

 

[TallPaul]

Newer vehicles would have long since rusted through.

 

[JHZR2]

Not an original California car.

 

[hotwheels]

How did the Bulli get to look this way? Did the vehicle spend decades in the desert, getting sandblasted? The bed actually looks like it got regularly watered or used as a pool or fishtank. There isn't any paint left on the bed. Not one flake.

hotwheels

 

[Pop_Rivit]

That's pretty normal for a vehicle that's been baking in a hot, dry climate for decades.

 

[SilverC6]

Sweet.

But there is nothing for the Bondo to stick to.

 

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
That's pretty normal for a vehicle that's been baking in a hot, dry climate for decades.


I see vehicles like that usually in the desert. I doubt this car will survive one rainy season here.

hotwheels

 

[eljefino]

Sometimes they'll throw clear coat over patina like that. Not in your case, unless they have a way to make it matte.

Kinda getting the last gasp from the "rat rod" fad.

 

[IndyIan]

I think some older sheet metal had some metallurgy that allowed the iron oxide to actually protect the rest of the metal? I know they do this with some modern structural steel for stuff like train bridges.
I still see old tractors with the sheet metal still holding on even in my climate(humid and warmish, 3/4 of the year).

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Sometimes they'll throw clear coat over patina like that.


Sometimes the "patina" is all just paint! There are some interesting Youtube videos showing how its done. But I think this one is real.

 

[TallPaul]

Hose it in plastidip.

 

[01rangerxl]

I wonder how the air cooled engine does with those General Grabber AT2 tires.

 

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I wonder how the air cooled engine does with those General Grabber AT2 tires.


Every horse is wheezing!

hotwheels

 

[RTexasF]

GAD! What a POS!!!!!!! We don't see this piece of junk in the same way apparently.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

Hmm? I've seen much worse. I've driven worse. For years. That would be pretty easy to sand and paint. Well, not really, but it's far from doomed.

 

[DemoFly]

It's called a hoodride. It's supposed to look that way.

Most of that patina is probably paint.