Here’s baT Auction Success Story: Beetle With a Backstory

BaT member stephen844 recently wrote to us with some interesting history on the 1956 Volkswagen Beetle that he won from Beuk73 in a July 2025 BaT auction:

The car came with receipts and documentation as far back as its “Birth Certificate” and papers from all eight of its previous owners! There was a cool story to tell about it after researching, beginning with its original owners, Elizabeth Loring Keyes Burckmyer and Lawrence A. Burckmyer, Jr., who were both professors at Cornell University. Elizabeth was a talented artist who taught drawing courses there, and was a trained biologist who had many of her etchings published in books and scientific journals. In 1956, she went on sabbatical leave to tour Europe and ordered this 1956 Beetle from Wolfsburg to take delivery in the Netherlands.

Image: lv2xlr8.no

The car, which had been ordered to USA specification (codes M018, M020, M050, M089, M094, M107, and M042), came back with her on her return in the fall of 1956. She logged some 5,000 miles during her travels, where she sketched scenes along the way in France, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Lebanon, and Jordan. In the end, European delivery made perfect sense since the cost of the trip was $1,127.00 compared to the cost of shipping it back to New York for $1,495.00.

I spent some time organizing the receipts to correspond with the log books and determined that the car was actually just shy of 66,000 original miles. The chassis, body, motor, and transmission are all numbers-matching as well. Lawrence Burckmyer was an electrical engineer as well, which was why he kept log books and regular maintenance records from when they commuted in it.

The car was then purchased from them in 1983 by the Dulins of Easton, Maryland, showing 55,544 miles. The third owners were the Moores of Trappe, Maryland, who bought it at 56,300 miles. The fourth owner was Mr. Brandes of Delaware, who bought the car on July 10, 1990, with 61,323 miles. The Beetle was restored under his ownership in 1994. The fifth owners were the Kiernans of Aiken, South Carolina, who titled the car with 63,136 miles. They sold it to Mr. Harper of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2008 with 63,336 miles on the clock. And the seventh owner? It was Mr. Maisano of New York, who owned the car starting in January 2015 and sold it to the seller on August 1, 2016. The mileage statement indicated 63,000 miles, which seemed like an estimate.

The motor was rebuilt at about 65,500 miles, and the car was sold on BaT, showing 65,944 miles. It’s since been shipped to me in Vermont, and it is really amazing to know that I am the ninth owner with such rare surviving documentation. Not only was the history interesting, but it is also a rare, early Ben Pon Beetle; it was originally shipped to a Pon Volkswagen dealership in the Netherlands in 1956.

Image: Volkswagen Heritage via Hagerty

On August 8, 1947, Ben Pon became the first Volkswagen importer in the world. Volkswagen had just reopened its plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, following WWII, and by 1946, they had built 10,000 Beetles. Upon signing the contract with Volkswagen, Pon placed an order of 200 Beetles, which he distributed among his newly formed agency network of 40 dealerships in the Netherlands. Deliveries were slow, though. Six cars were imported in October, followed by 15 in November and 35 cars in December 1947. By 1949, Pon had set up 84 dealerships in the Netherlands and attempted to start dealerships in America. It was then that he shipped two of the new Beetles to New York.

Image: Pon

Max Hoffman had already established himself as an importer of cars in New York and Chicago, and became the Volkswagen American marketer, taking delivery of the first Volkswagen in the US in 1950. Hoffman’s concentration, though, focused on high-end sports cars like Jaguar, Mercedes, Porsche, Fiat, Lancia, BMW, and more. His lack of Volkswagen sales caused the factory to terminate his contract in 1953. Volkswagen of America was then established in 1955. Pon’s Automobielhandel N.V. was importing 10,000 Volkswagens to its dealerships in the Netherlands that same year. A few of these VW Beetles were built to US specification for Americans who took European delivery. These customers picked up their new Volkswagens from Pon, drove them through Europe, and shipped them back to the United States. There are a couple of Max Hoffman Volkswagen registries that report 66 cars were imported from 1950 to 1953. Perhaps someone should start a Ben Pon VW Beetle registry for cars built for the American market and traveled through Pon’s Automobielhandel N.V. from 1949 to 1967.

If you have a Success Story about a car you’ve bought or sold on BaT, please send a few lines and pictures (or a video) to community.content@bringatrailer.com, and we’ll send you a $50 credit to the BaT Gear Store when your story posts to the site.

We love to hear from satisfied BaT buyers and sellers, and a Success Story feature is a great addition to any car’s history when you’re ready to sell.