PRETTY AS A PENNY

By DG Leadbetter •

John Bunker

We’ve all had this internal conversation before: You’re at a VW show looking at all the cool VWs and say to yourself, “Man, I’ll never have the cash to create one of these beauties.” You can do one of two things: You can either start collecting pop bottles (wow, did I just date myself?) to scrape together cash, or figure out an alternative way to achieve your goal. That’s exactly what Shawn Mitchell, a 17-year Army veteran, of Lakewood, Washington, did.

In April, 2010, on his way to work, Shawn spotted a ’57 Oval sitting at the side of the road with a “For Sale” sign on it. To be sure, it was worse for wear. The front end had been hit, the floor pans were all but gone, it had the wrong deck lid, and the rear clip had been cut off. Not to mention it was on a ’69 pan. The real kicker was the person that owned it wanted a ton of money. After some intense wheeling and dealing, Shawn picked it up for $2,000.

With the Oval in his possession, Shawn set out to turn this beat-up shell into a real looker. Not wanting to break the bank or take money from his pellet stove business and chimney sweeping service, Shawn knew he had to get creative. And creative he got!

Since Shawn didn’t have the luxury of owning a body shop with a boatload of tools and fabricating equipment, he built a rotisserie for what was left of the pan. After media blasting the tunnel, installing brand new pans, and giving it a fresh coat of Raptor bedliner, it was time for an upgrade on the front end. Wanting to get the stance of the ’57 a little more aggressive, Shawn added a 2-inch narrowed beam and 2-inch dropped spindles. To help with stopping, Shaw upgraded the stock drum brakes to a new set of EMPI disc brakes.

With the pan up to snuff, it was time to work on the body. Shawn hand-built a body rotisserie to get access to all the spots that needed some TLC. Save for about 10 hours of bodywork, the engine, brake lines, and final cut and polish, Shawn did all the work on his VW by himself! This included (but was not limited to) hand-forming sheet metal repair pieces, fabricating the bumpers, and body and paint. When you’re building a Volkswagen on a budget, doing as much work as you can yourself is a must.

It was now time to paint the body, fenders and doors. Shawn’s original color choice was a Dodge Charger copper color

(which was the original reason the Bug was named Penny), but after seeing the price tag on the paint, he chose another route. As luck would have it, he found a couple gallons of mistinted PPG Deltron 2000 paint at the local paint store. The two gallons weren’t exactly the same color, so to remedy the problem, both colors were mixed together to create a one-off color Shawn calls “My Orange.”

But who would paint Penny? Well, Shawn, of course! The only problem was Shawn had never painted a car in his life. After watching countless YouTube painting tutorials, Shawn grabbed some $9.95 Harbor Freight HVLP Purple paint guns and sprayed the super-smooth surface with countless layers of the unique color.

Shawn wanted a two-tone Bug, but he didn’t want to copy-cat the other VWs out there. While at Spirit Halloween, he found a really cool skull lace tablecloth. Being a fan of lowrider lace paintwork, he decided to pay homage to those wild paint jobs, while still holding true to his vision. After two days and lots of clear coat, the unique two-tone paint scheme was a reality! The lace motif was carried through to the headlights and split bumpers. How well was a home-spun paint job received? Well taking three awards for paintwork ain’t too shabby!

Penny’s interior is straightforward, but it has some really cool upgrades. The dash was cut up pretty badly, so Shawn made a patch panel to cover up the butchery and provide a home for the Dakota Digital gauges (including an oval speedo/GPS gauge). The heated seats are from a 2017 Subaru WRX. The rear seat was removed for a cleaner look and to provide a space for the stereo system. The Kenwood Bluetooth stereo, Kenwood 300watt amp, and Infinity speakers are neatly hidden below the panel. A new Sunbright headliner was added, showing off the curves of the roof. The salt-and-pepper loop carpet is from V-Dubs Upholstery of San Diego. Shifting chores are handled through a three-skull Beer Tap handle mounted on an EMPI shifter.

Powering the Oval is a solid 1776cc assembled by Stig Bugly at Mouse Meat, Inc. in Tacoma, Washington. This powerplant has 8.5:1 compression, dual-port heads topped with dual 34 ICT Webers, an external oil filter and deep sump pan, and dual quiet pack exhaust. The engine is detailed with the lace/skull motif and has solid heater tubes. A stock ’69 transaxle puts the estimated 70hp to the ground.

Shawn saved a pretty Penny by doing most of the work himself, and the final product is definitely worth a million bucks … as well as the multiple awards Shawn has won with her. This just goes to show that with a little ingenuity and creativity, you don’t have to spend a million bucks to have a one-of-a-kind unique show car!

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