‘Desert Mouse’ 1974 Volkswagen Beetle Baja Bug

Baja racing is one of the most brutal, challenging and demanding types of motorsport out there. This should come as no surprise because you and your car of choice are tackling hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of unforgiving desert terrain. The 1974 Volkswagen Beetle Baja Bug, aka the “Desert Mouse”, that you see here is one of those rare vehicles that was purpose built to tackle the rigors of the races more than four decades ago. This baja bug was built in 1974 in Queens by Siggy Pflum and Fred Althaus under the supervision of rally driver Bruno Kreibich to run the thousand mile Baja 1000 race from Ensenada to La Paz. That meant constructing a full chrome moly tube frame, full fiberglass body, plexi windows, external oil cooler, rally Abarth exhaust, Fuchs forged alloy wheels, rally transmission, Porsche RS60 suspension, Porsche 911 disc brakes, dual spare tires, full rollover cage and the list goes on, and on, and on. Kind of like this vehicle’s race credentials. 3rd place in the Baja 1000, 1st place in the 24-Horas de Puerto Rico and other ‘Top 10’ finishes in twelve SCCA Pro Rally events.