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Editor's note: This is part of a series at KSL.com featuring some of Utah's coolest cars. If you own a customized vehicle — from sports cars to semitrucks — email fjolley@ksl.com with a photo of the vehicle and a brief description for consideration.WEST JORDAN — Jodi Pratt Bigler’s big dream started when she was in sixth grade.
The West Jordan resident used to carpool to middle school, and one of the women who drove her had an early 1960s Volkswagen Beetle.
Bigler never forgot that Beetle. And in the fall of 2015, she got the chance to buy her own. After a full rebuild and customization, her 1964 VW Beetle is a unique piece of automotive ingenuity. Featuring back fenders from a ’73 Beetle and doors from a ’65 model, this Beetle is a fully-functioning Volkswagen museum exhibit.
The ’64 Beetle is so unique that it has a name and personality of its own. Upon seeing it for the first time, Bigler and her father decided that it looked like a life-size version of a Hot Wheels car. “Hot Wheels” became the Beetle’s nickname, and it is now adorned with a set of Hot Wheels stickers in the windows and a custom vanity plate to match.
Bigler’s Beetle has won numerous awards, the foremost of which was first place in the compact custom classification at the Autorama in March 2017.
The ’64 Beetle packs a lot of power in a small package. “Hot Wheels” pushes nearly 140 horsepower with its 2180cc engine. It sports a 44 IDF Weber dual-carburetor setup and a Freeway Flyer transmission. Included in this modification are the necessities to keep “Hot Wheels” from overheating; it is equipped with three oil coolers and two fans.
“Hot Wheels” is built for speed with its under-the-hood dominance and fiberglass parts. If the Beetle had a turbo in it, it would be ready to drag race, Bigler said.
“It doesn’t have the original radio in it, which is fine. Even if I had a radio, you wouldn’t be able to hear it at all over the engine,” she said.
“Hot Wheels” is more than just a souped-up Beetle to Bigler and her family, though. It’s a symbol of love and time spent together.
Bigler’s father, David Pratt, is an expert at painting automobiles. Pratt buys and flips cars, and one day in October 2015, he came across the rusted-out ’64 VW Beetle. Pratt scooped the Beetle up, but Bigler wouldn’t let him fix it up and sell it — she wanted the Beetle for herself.
Pratt decided that he would help his daughter and son-in-law, Preston Bigler, to rebuild it from the ground up.
However, Pratt fell ill not long after the project began, ending up in the hospital after undergoing surgery for kidney stones. Despite having to regain his strength, Pratt never let his health get in the way of the Beetle’s restoration.
“He told me that he made me a promise and he wanted to finish it,” Bigler said when asked about her father’s conviction. “The car means a lot to me because of that.”
Things started to pick up in January 2016. The trio gutted the entire car. Bigler had an image in her head of what she wanted her Beetle to look like. Her husband did the welding and bodywork, and her father prepped the Beetle’s body for its extensive paint job.
It took Pratt from January until May to complete the body prep for the paint. Countless hours were spent sanding and priming. All in all, Pratt put three coats of primer on the Beetle, sanding between each one. Two coats of paint and another two clear coats later, the Beetle’s flashy exterior was complete. The heavy metal flake in its paint job causes the Beetle to sparkle like a diamond in the sun.
The Beetle’s two-toned tan and cream interior pays homage to the classic ‘60s Volkswagen style. It features retro-style gauges that are highlighted by the classic-styled dashboard that Pratt molded himself.
“Hot Wheels” has two signature interior pieces—the iconic cursive Volkswagen script emblem across the dashboard in place of its glove box, and a customized Rat Fink that fits perfectly into the mid-60s feel of the Beetle’s interior. The Rat Fink was hand painted by St. George pinstriping artist Jeff Dastrup.
“The Rat Fink is by far my favorite part of the inside of ‘Hot Wheels,’” Bigler said.
Bigler's father and husband kept her sequestered from the car during the painting stages. They revealed the Beetle to her on the Fourth of July in Logan at the Cache Valley Cruise-In as Hot Rod Magazine and other car show fans looked on.
“I hadn’t seen my car for months,” she said. “When they took the car cover off, it was quite a big ordeal. I just thought to myself ‘There’s no way that’s my car. It’s a million times better than I imagined.’ That was a pretty neat moment.”
Wes Mangum is an Aggie and a citizen of Logan. He can change his own oil and always keeps his blinker fluid reservoir full. Wes can be reached on Twitter @hjmangum or by email at mangum953@gmail.com.
