§ V.01What a 1950–1979 Volkswagen Beetle is worth
A 1950–1979 Volkswagen Beetle sold for a median of $16,500 across 1,431 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 1,431 sales fell between $11,500 and $23,520 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $2,200 to $128,700.
Data as of 3 November 2026 · 1,431 sales · January 2016 to 31 October 2026 · auction results only
§ V.02What moves a car within the band
Within that band, coupe cars are the most frequently traded body style in this set (544 of 1,431 sales), and manual cars account for 1,092 of them. Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of the range is wide.
The spread by variant, printed in full above, is usually wider than the spread by year: a convertible at $16,328 and a coupe at $15,500 are not the same market, and a single median that mixes them describes neither.
§ V.03Recent sales
| Car | Sold for | Date | Mileage | Sold by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible | $11,000 | 31 October 2026 | 78,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 2,110cc-Powered 1967 Volkswagen Beetle | $17,250 | 29 October 2026 | 1,400 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1963 Volkswagen Beetle “Faltdach” (Lot 24) | $16,301 | 28 October 2026 | 63,600 mi | Hagerty |
| 1953 Volkswagen Beetle Split-Window “Zwitter” (Lot 11) | $24,750 | 28 October 2026 | 6,700 mi | Hagerty |
| 1.6-L-Powered 1957 Volkswagen Beetle | $7,100 | 26 October 2026 | 902 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1966 Volkswagen Beetle | $15,000 | 22 October 2026 | 8,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| Euro 1962 Volkswagen Beetle | $25,750 | 22 October 2026 | 5,000 km | Bring a Trailer |
| 1977 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible | $12,250 | 21 October 2026 | 56,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1958 Volkswagen Beetle | $9,500 | 19 October 2026 | 91,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1968 Volkswagen Beetle | $11,865 | 15 October 2026 | 91,000 mi | Acc |
| Modified 1968 Volkswagen Beetle | $4,750 | 9 October 2026 | 98,400 mi | Hagerty |
| 1967 Volkswagen Beetle | $13,500 | 8 October 2026 | — | Cars & Bids |
| 1971 Volkswagen Beetle | $5,250 | 5 October 2026 | 82,600 mi | Hagerty |
| 2056cc-Powered 1956 Volkswagen Beetle | $20,000 | 3 October 2026 | 9,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1968 Volkswagen Beetle | $4,650 | 30 September 2026 | 33,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
§ V.04Price by model year
| Model year | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | $41,250 | 6 |
| 1952 | $38,400 | 4 |
| 1953 | $32,000 | 10 |
| 1954 | $23,625 | 14 |
| 1955 | $32,000 | 20 |
| 1956 | $25,005 | 45 |
| 1957 | $25,500 | 47 |
| 1958 | $19,375 | 28 |
| 1959 | $21,000 | 23 |
| 1960 | $20,900 | 39 |
| 1961 | $19,500 | 33 |
| 1962 | $19,875 | 46 |
| 1963 | $18,606 | 50 |
| 1964 | $17,500 | 68 |
| 1965 | $17,289 | 65 |
| 1966 | $16,300 | 89 |
| 1967 | $17,001 | 124 |
| 1968 | $11,000 | 71 |
| 1969 | $15,000 | 69 |
| 1970 | $13,875 | 60 |
| 1971 | $11,600 | 71 |
| 1972 | $12,000 | 59 |
| 1973 | $11,800 | 61 |
| 1974 | $12,800 | 55 |
| 1975 | $12,400 | 13 |
| 1976 | $11,875 | 18 |
| 1977 | $17,875 | 28 |
| 1978 | $14,750 | 61 |
| 1979 | $20,000 | 154 |
§ V.05Price by body style and transmission
| Variant | Type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coupe | Body style | $15,500 | 544 |
| Convertible | Body style | $16,328 | 525 |
| Manual | Transmission | $16,250 | 1,092 |
§ V.06Questions
What is a 1950–1979 Volkswagen Beetle worth?
A 1950–1979 Volkswagen Beetle sold for a median of $16,500 across 1,431 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 1,431 sales fell between $11,500 and $23,520 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $2,200 to $128,700.
What affects the price of a 1950–1979 Volkswagen Beetle?
Model year: by year, medians run from $11,000 for 1968 (71 sales) to $41,250 for 1951 (6 sales).
Body style: a convertible holds a median of $16,328 on 525 sales, against $15,500 on 544 for a coupe.
Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of sales spans $11,500 to $23,520.
Is the Volkswagen Beetle 1950-1979 going up or down in value?
Down. The 234 sales in the 12 months to 3 November 2026 had a median of $13,250, against $15,000 on 239 sales in the 12 months before, a fall of 11.7%. That compares whichever cars came to auction in each year, not the same cars sold twice, so read it as the direction of the market rather than a rate of appreciation.
How many Volkswagen Beetle sales is that based on?
1,431 completed auction sales, from January 2016 to 31 October 2026. The table above lists the 15 most recent, each linked to its auction record. The figures were last rebuilt on 3 November 2026.
What is the difference between the typical range and the full range?
The typical range is $11,500 to $23,520: half of all 1,431 sales fell inside it. The full range is $2,200 to $128,700, the cheapest and dearest sale that survived cleaning. The full range is set by outliers, so it is a boundary rather than a guide to what most cars bring.
Which body style holds its value best?
On this set, coupe is the most frequently sold at 544 sales with a median of $15,500. The highest median among body styles is convertible at $16,328, though it rests on fewer sales. Each variant's median and count are in the table above.
Do manual or automatic cars sell for more?
In this set, manual cars account for 1,092 of 1,431 sales. Too few cars of the other transmission type sold to publish a comparison, so this page does not make one.
Does mileage change the value?
Mileage is recorded for part of this set, not all of it, so it is not used to adjust the median. It is shown in the sales table wherever the auction record carries it, and you can see the effect directly by comparing rows.
How current is this figure?
Data as of . The figures are rebuilt from completed sales on a schedule, and the date above is the date of the last rebuild, not the date this page was loaded.
§ V.07Method and sources
What these figures are. Every number on this page is computed from completed auction sales of Volkswagen Beetle cars built between 1950 and 1979. The median is the 50th percentile of the sale prices; the typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile; the full range is the lowest and highest sale that survived cleaning. Percentiles are linearly interpolated on the sorted prices.
What is excluded. Asking prices, reserve-not-met results, withdrawn lots and unsold cars are not prices and are not counted. Parts, memorabilia, literature, scale models and other non-vehicle lots are excluded. Sales not made in US dollars are excluded, so these figures describe the dollar market. Duplicate records are removed. Sales below a plausibility floor (5% of the median) and above a ceiling (10× the median) are set aside, because a $22 "911" is a data error rather than a cheap car.
What was set aside. The highest recorded sale in this set is $335,000 (1969 Volkswagen Beetle Limousine by Troutman-Barnes, 16 August 2025), and 2 sales above $165,000 are held out of the median and the ranges: at that price the lot is a different asset, and including it would pull the headline figure away from what a typical car brings.
What it is not. This is not an appraisal or an inspection, and it does not predict what any particular car will bring. Two cars built the same year can differ by more than the whole typical range on condition, originality, documentation and provenance.
The set. 1,431 sales from January 2016 to 31 October 2026, drawn from 14 auction sources, principally Bring a Trailer (1,013), Barrett-Jackson (221), RM Sotheby's (41), Hemmings (38), Hagerty (34), Bonhams (15), Autohunter (14), Gooding (14), Mecum (14), Cars & Bids (10), Broad Arrow (7), PCARMARKET (7). Data as of .
See the disclaimer for the limits of a valuation of this kind.
§ V.08Compare with
- Volkswagen Karmann Ghia 1955-1974 — $20,000 median · 399 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Volkswagen Bus bay-window 1968-1979 — $25,500 median · 395 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Volkswagen Thing 1973-1974 — $19,850 median · 280 sales · as of 3 November 2026
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