You wouldn't save a car that's been rotting for decades deep in a forest, frozen into ice and mud with no roads in sight as a way back to civilization. Well, these guys did, because the wreck in question is a 1951 Volkswagen Type 2 "Barndoor." It only took a chainsaw and a helicopter.
If somebody offers you an early VW bus in whatever condition at a reasonable price, take it. Shake hands, sign papers, just do it. These things are getting very rare and valuable.
A few years ago, I've seen a video on Youtube in which some German VW fanatics airlifted a 1954 bus from the forest where it's spent for the last thirty years. Chainsaw action, manual labour and a hired helicopter just to end up with an rusty, incomplete bus. Here's that video:
Three years on, history repeats itself. It seems like Swedish forests are full of these things, as after seeing a 1951 (No. 20-011421) "Barndoor" (meaning it has the specific features of the first model year) being saved from the icy woods, another team went there to do the impossible.
Reaching the abandoned wreck on foot cutting their way through the green, these guys pulled their project literally out of a frozen swamp. A helicopter was needed again, but this '51 is on its way now to be more than roadworthy again.
And I you think that's crazy, just check out how good these babies looked during my visit to Volkswagen's green and friendly version of the Death Star, the Autostadt:
They're worth it.
You Won't Believe How Far People Will Go To Save Early VW Buses