Words:: Chadly Johnson
We’ve all seen “sleeper” cars… Basically unsuspecting by nature and bone stock in appearance, but with something that’s anything but stock hiding under the hood. If you are like me, you’ve probably even pondered what would make a great sleeper car. Tom Duttrey of Olympia, WA just scored himself one of the best sleeper cars I’ve ever seen, and what makes it even cooler is that it was built in the late 1960’s by National Champion drag racer Paul Stage. From nearly every angle, the Beetle appears completely stock, but hiding up front is a 396 big block!
Tom loves all types of cars, the more unusual the better. With a heavy amount of Volkswagen blood running through his veins, the opportunity to own something VW, historical and as odd as the sleeper bug you see before you made it a dream find. Looking back at the work performed by Paul Strange to create this deceptively stock looking VW, we find that he started out with a wrecked ’64 beetle. The Beetle was blown apart and its stock chassis discarded. Paul then built a custom frame from mild steel that retained a stock 94” wheel base. The factory suspension was still utilized up front, but with Delco air shocks absorbing the additional weight of the big block. Out back is a ’68 Chevy rear end with a set of custom made coil over shocks.
Besides being balanced and blueprinted, the engine was initially stock in nature with only a mild Crane experimental cam. At some point over the years, the big block picked up a B&M blower… Apparently someone felt the 396 wasn’t scary enough! A Turbo 400 handles the shifting duties, and gas is fed by a Renault fuel cell that now resides under the decklid where the stock VW engine would have rested.
Moving inside the cockpit, the most noticeable change is the lack of front seats. The Beetle is now driven from the rear seat with an extended stock steering column. Driver and passenger are kept nice and comfy in a plush leather seat and appointments that remain original from when Bell Auto Upholstery of Chicago, IL first wrapped them in the late ’60s. Vitals are monitored through a 1965 Corvette dashboard. Speaking of vitals, one would expect that keeping a big block cool in such restricted conditions would prove difficult. Paul originally struggled with cooling until he cut two openings in the hood that he cleverly hid with mesh. After the engine was allowed more air flow, it cooled just fine, even in hot stop-and-go traffic conditions.
At some point the Beetle was sold to California; this was where Tom found it, sitting in a storage unit, barely running and with no brakes. Once at its new home in the Pacific Northwest, Tom and his good friend Terry Sing got busy bringing the forgotten relic back to life. A narrowed beam was installed up front with disc brakes, giving a lot more “whoa” to handle all the blown 396’s “go.” Lots of old wiring was dealt with, and then the suspension was gone through. Finally, a fresh exhaust system was installed by Scotty’s Garage and Custom Exhaust Shop to allow for proper ground clearance, and to allow the big block to breath properly.
Originally the Beetle wore darker shades of paint, but today it shines like a beacon in brilliant yellow accented by orange pinstriping. The stripe work was rumored from past owners to have been carried out by Von Dutch, but a phone call between Tom and Paul disproved that theory. Though the Beetle has seen some changes since Paul first unleashed it upon the streets of Rockford, IL, it still survives as an early example of a sleeper built from a very unlikely platform. Today, you will find Tom behind the wheel, making people wonder, “Why is that guy sitting in the back seat of that Beetle,” just before he blows your doors off.
