My first car was a 1963 VW 1300 with 75,000 on the clock. I bought it from my father and he had had it from new and it was the first VW 1300 in Leeds. It was dunkel blau (dark blue), reg DUG739C. A great little car, although the starter motor began playing up eventually. Fine first thing in the morning but then later in the day or night wouldn't start. Push starting, especially if it had been raining and the car was wet, was like trying to push a giant, blue, slippery rugby ball! I had a small paving slab in the front end to improve stability in cross winds.
Rust wasn't really a problem. The passenger side running board had to be replaced because of rusting side memebers, but a good sand down and anti-rust treatment followed by filling the holes with plastic padding solve that, plus a new running board. The only other rust was at the very bottom of the driver's door pillar in the front inside. My father had put some clear sell-stick celluloid over the area to protect it against scratches as he got in an out (he was 6' 3"), and I noticed that there was rust showing under it. I pulled the celluloid off and the rust came with it, leaving a large hole. The small independent garage where I had the car service specialised in VWs and they welded a plate over the hole and drilled a half inch hole in it, through which I sprayed Waxoyl and closed the hole with a grommet.
