New Surfboard and VW Beetle

Yesterday was my 16th birthday and Ive been looking to buy a classic beetle. I finally found the right one and on the morning of my birthday we drove 3 hours to pick it up. Before buying the car we found out that the previous owner was including the surf board with the car. Im a VW person not a surfer so i know nothing about them. Im going to attach some pictures and im hoping you guys can help me with finding out more about the board. The previous owner said it was probably worth 300. He said he bought it at a garage sale because he knew it would go well with the car. I dont plan to sell the board but i was wondering if i should bother with restoring it. I plan to get the car looking better so i figured i should clean the surfboard up too. What can i do to make it look better? All i know about the board is its a Gordon And Smith and is 7ft8in. 




G&S made the Hot Curl Model in the late 60s and 70s.  The 60s boards had a unique curved split stringer that flared out at nose and tail often with colored foam inserts within those flares. The 60s model was, in my opinion, a sweet example of refined longboard with thin rails and modern style fin.  

The 70s era ushered in the transitional short board of which yours is an example.  In better condition you might expect the value to be around 300.00 but it does have quite a bit of water staining on the bottom and the deck is showing signs of collapse.  It’s a decent ‘Egg’/‘Hull’ sort of shape and might even make a decent beater/rider if fixed up.  I wouldn’t pay somebody very much to fix it up.  

PS - Gordon and Smith (son of one of original owners) is doing reissues of all the old designs, including that one.  https://gordonandsmith.com/collections/surfboard-models-eggs-midrange/products/hot-curl-70s

 

Is it difficult to fix or would someone clueless like me be able to work on it. I have no interest in riding it but i would love for it to look cool. 

Things pretty roached /toast.mold in 3rd pic? Leash plug not original …I’d leave it on the roof rack of the bug (babe magnet)

Or hang it on a wall with deck side showing 

cool bug none the less and happy B day!

I know a HVAC tech who used to drive a VW van with a surfboard on top. He doesn’t surf, just liked the cool vibe, haha.

A local taxi company in San Luis Obispo, California collected a bunch of beater boards.  After various sorts of ‘bodywork’ (ding repairs and filling in dents with Bondo) they would be painted with automotive paint and attached to roofs of their cabs.  Most of them were fairly smooth and shiny and seemed to be a cool accessory that identified the company.

It’s not exactly rocket science but a decent amount of work involved to get a beater board smooth and primered for paint.

There is also the old opaque pigment option.  Also a lot of work and at least some fiberglassing experience would be good if you stand a chance of getting it to look decent.

Jay Michelson (Resinhead) has posted some examples of his restorations and what was involved.  A complete restoration would run about 500 dollars(?) so a board would have to be a valuable collectable to make it worthwhile.  

Interesting, but tooo far gone.

As Johnmellor said, the Hot Curl was made by G&S from around 1966 to 1970. The early ones were very different from this version. In fact, there was little similarity at all.

This board was likely made in 1969. The finbox appears to have been replaced, as the 1969 version had a Waveset box.

It is too far gone to be worth much. The bottom is ugly AF. Deck side isn’t too trashed and the logo is a nice example of the late sixties style artwork seen on boards.

At most, I would sand it well with 180 and put some kind of clear coat on it. Display it deck side out.

This is my 1968 Hot Curl. You can see it is very different from yours.

What part of N.J. are you from.  If you are local to the Toms River area I can asses then condition and suggest a procedure.  

I’m actually not from New Jersey, I’m from Maryland. The car was purchased in Cape May which is where the surfboard was also from. Apparently he bought it from a woman who’s son bought it new. When he moved out the mom kept the surfboard in the garage. The previous owners said they have a town yard sale and he went around looking for a surfboard where he found it. 

I did a little digging myself and found that the logo on the board matches the “magic” logo. It seems that the magic is its own type of board and on most of them they have the words magic printed in the same font as hot curl. Would they use different logos on different boards and is it possible that I have a magic instead of a hot curl. Also is there any other pictures I can get that would help? https://www.swaylocks.com/forums/gordon-smith-magic-board-id-help

This post has a similar board which they say is from 69-70 but it has magic written on it.

You have a Hotcurl.

G&S logo is The Brand logo … Hotcurl is the model

 

 

So is it common for them to use this specific logo on a hot curl or why can’t I find other examples like mine? 

I also bought an old bug when I was 16, saved up working minimum wage job lol. 

 

If your not gonna ride it I wouldn’t bother restoring it. Maybe you’ll meet someone who will want to ride it one day. 

 

Just make sure you put the fin forward when you strap it down. 

 

PS have fun with the bug and check out thesamba.com when trouble arises

It’s a logo that probably went on a handful of models at the time. 

 

Here is one 

The company logo, or brand name, has nothing to do with which model or shape the board happens to be. This logo was used on both the Hot Curl and the Magic, along with a whole lot of other boards from stock shapes to custom orders. The Magic and Hot Curl were two completely different shapes. You have a Hot Curl.

Here is an ad from 1969 that shows both shapes side-by-side. Hot Curl on the left, Magic on the right. They are obviously quite different.

Yeah it’s a brand logo not a model logo.  According to the model logo;  you have a Hot Curl.  Shapes change over time in the life of a model.  One classic example would be the Surfboards Hawaii “Model A” which evolved over time to become the “AAA”.  Though the model logo did change the board was still referred to as a “Model A”.  The shape changed quite a bit.