Charismatic little flat-screen, metal dash,MacPherson strut, 44bhp BeetleUK-supplied finished in Clementine Orange with charcoal and black interiorPurchased by Peter Hawkes in 1971 and remained with him and his family ever sinceGaraged for the majority of this time explaining the brightness of the paintworkOriginal service book, owners manual and radio handbook, with service invoices back to 1974Wouldn't take much to bring it up to the next levelThis brightly coloured, Type 2 1300 Beetle dates from 1970 and wasUK-supplied in right-hand drive and it's finished in what was called Clementine. It was purchased new in 1971by Peter Hawkes after he was made redundant from his job at Whitbreads in Tottenham. He had the option of moving out of London and relocating but, being a true Londoner, he decided to take the redundancy money, find another job and buy a Beetle, which is exactly what he did. Then along came "Bessie the Beetle", the first and only new car that he ever owned.Bessie has remained in the family, sons and daughters and grandsons, ever since and incredibly appears never to have been scraped, molested or dented in all that time. We understand that for the majority of this period the car was garaged which would explain the brightness of the paintwork. According to his daughter Joyce, the car was religiously serviced, initially by the VW dealer and later by a local garage and certainly gives the appearance of being well maintained.In these days of complex electronics, there is something really comforting abouta shinymetal dashboard with a few black knobs dotted about, seats that look like they have been borrowed from a school bus and an engine out the back somewhere that has sounded the same every day for the last 50 years.The paintwork retains a decent depth of shine, the shut lines are factory standard, the functional interior is clean and tidy and the little Beetle looks totally lovable.It's supplied withits original service book, the owners manual, theradio handbook and a big pile of service invoices going back to 1974.Properly looked after, 'Bessie the Beetle' could be a member of your family for the next 50 years.