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FRUIT HEIGHTS — Kris Kussee restored a barn-find Volkswagen Bug to like-new condition, but only on the inside because he loves to rock his iconic rusted paint.
“It’s almost like being in a parade,” Kussee said about driving his 1959 Volkswagen Beetle around Utah. He said he gets thumbs-up and hang-loose signs wherever he goes, even though he only drives 60 miles per hour on the freeway.
The Beetle getting all the attention does not look like a show car. He said it sat in Tooele for years, outlasting the barn that initially gave it limited shelter. When the barn finally collapsed, the car was towed off to Ogden. Kussee bought it from a man in Ogden and got to work.
He restored the interior with a new headliner, carpet, mats and seats. He put a 1835cc dual-carb engine in the back, doubling it to 70 horsepower. That’s not much power, but old Beetles weigh just a little less than a ton, typically.
However, during his renovations, Kussee did not restore the paint, leaving it with a patina finish. The rust shows the previous life as a barn tenant and is preserved by boiled linseed oil. People who understand the look, give him compliments; people who don’t get it, ask when he’s going redo the Mignonette paint.
“I don’t know what it is” about Volkswagens, he said. He loves the simplicity of the design, and working on them is a stress release from his job as a financial adviser. His first car was a Volkswagen, and his line of VW ownership tapered off with buses when his family was young.
When his kids moved out, and after a few rounds of fighting cancer, Kussee got back to doing what he loves. He has restored and sold several Volkswagens in recent years, including two 1955 Beetles that brought in $36,000 for the pair. Other past renovations include a 1968 Squareback he pulled out of the desert in Moab, a 1961 23-window bus, a 1966 Westfalia camper and a 1966 Bug.
He has an Acura to drive when he’s in a hurry or Utah roads are wet and salty, but Kussee claims he still drives 8,000 miles a year in the Bug, which is considerable since it is only driven in fair weather. That’s a lot of time spent not being in a hurry. And getting thumbs-ups.
Brian Champagne has reported on cars for more than nine years. He holds a master's degree in communications from the University of the Pacific and teaches at Utah State University.
