Rarer Than Hens' Teeth:

It's not often that we car guys encounter a car we've never heard of.
Yet here's one!

It is unknown how many, or few, of these cars have been built, even less how many have been brought into the United States and survived, but it's fair to assume that you won't see another one in your neighborhood, ever.

L'Automobile's script is a piece of art!

Distributor for the Ventura was Continental Import/Export in Santa Ana, California.

According to the previous owner, this very car was the car shown on the brochures!

The Ventura is a special automobile, in that it's a rare exotic, unknown and unidentifiale by anyone but experts, yet super affordable to run and to service, thanks to excellent availability of mechanical parts.

So let's have a closer look at this rare bird, shall we?

Due to its Volkswagen underpinnings, this Ventura, VIN*3612022720* is titled as a 1971 Volkswagen.

From 2019 until October of 2021 it lived in LaHabra Heights, Calif, and afterward in Atascadero, Calif. where we bought it in December of 2021 from a car collector.
The car comes with a clean California title.

Odometer now reads 04,276. Total mileage is presumably 104,276 Kilometers or 63,200 miles.

Rather spacious trunk is dressed in genuine Porsche 911 Perlon carpeting.

Fuel tank location is identical to that of a Porsche 911/912, and many air-cooled Volkswagens.

We got the car as a non-runner. Almost $6K has been spent on mechanical refurbishment of engine and transmission alone!

1. 10/20/21 -- Transaxle rebuilt at Rancho Performance Transaxle in Fullerto--> $1,238.05
2. 05/03/22 -- Partial replacement of exhaust system at Kenz Muffler --> $ 212.50
3. 06/24/22 -- Major tune-up at Larry's Foreign Car in Ventura --> $205.00
4. 07/21/22 -- New Weber carburetors --> $618.97
5. 07/27/22 -- Engine work at A and G's Autowerks in Ventura --> $2,225.52
6. 09/29/22 -- Sorting of all electrical gremlins at Auto Electric of Ventura --> $350.00
7. 09/09/24--> Rejetting of carburetors and adjusting shift linkage at A and G's --> $1,141.54

All in, this ads up to $5,967.58.

Ventura is fitted with the original Western Turbine-style aluminum wheels, as shown in the brochure.

All of the wheels are in good condition with no curb rash to report. Tires are 165/80R15s.

Ventura's wedge-shaped body reminds us of the typical 1970s exotic sports cars such as the Lamborghini Jarama and the Lotus Elite. The flat hood scoop and built-in rear splitter add a masculine touch.

Since the body is made of Fiberglass, just like a Corvette, there are no dings, dents, or rust spots anywhere.

We could have bet the farm that the paint is factory original, but found a paint can in the trunk, dated May 23, 2017, so that's most likely when the car was repainted.

Fit and finish of the body parts is excellent. Both doors and both hoods close smoothly.

Original headliner and sunvisors.

Custom-made Porsche 911 Perlon carpeting throughout, installed as perfectly as humanly possible.

Crack-free dash, console, and steering wheel.

All of the gauges work. Retrosound radio with MP3 port is new.

Period correct sport seats.

Rear area is also dressed in Perlon.

In additon to the frunk, there's plenty of additional storage in the back, probably too tight for your Husky and too short for a dead body, but plenty spacious for multiple suitcases.

Volkswagen Typ 3 engine resides below the trunk floor.

The 1.6-liter VeeDub motor is fed by 2 (brand new) Weber carburetors.

The engine runs like a champ, sorted by the best in the business, with no ill behavior to report. Transaxle is fresh, and thus still very tight.

Exhaust system with headers is a piece of art, thanks to the folks at Kenz Muffler in Oxnard.

Undercarriage is Q-Tip clean.