In case you didn’t know, the Aquila Gullwing is a kit car that was made in California by American Fibre Craft in the 1980s. Founded by Robert Mueller, American Fibre Craft based the design of the Aquila kit car on the exclusive and exotic BMW M1. Yet to keep costs down, the kit could be assembled on top of a standard VW Beetle chassis. And guess what? One of these super svelte, mega rare vehicles is going under the hammer at the Mecum Kissimmee auction in Florida, with the sale scheduled for early 2014…

Unfortunately, the kit’s original asking price has been lost in the archives but suffice to say it must have been relatively affordable, given that the donor vehicle was readily available (and inexpensive) at that time.

Only 150 of these Aquila Gullwing kits were made, and this particular vehicle, which still boasts the original ivory and cream paintwork with tan interior, is number 137 in production run.

Power comes from a 1200cc air-cooled lump so it is likely to look a lot faster than it really is, although that shouldn’t put off interested parties because we reckon it’s unlikely another one will come up for sale anytime soon. So for rarity value alone, it’s bound to turn plenty of heads.

Okay, so what’s it worth? Well, in all honesty it’d be hard to even make an educated guess about what the hammer price might be on this model due to its limited production. Finding sales history on similar models is nearly impossible. Mecum auctions has recently been making headlines for pulling in record-breaking bids and featuring extremely rare domestic and import classics, so there’s no reason to believe the Aquila won’t make similarly good money.

Last but not least, it seems that Bob Mueller (the fellow behind the Aquila) and/or his estate is auctioning off the moulds and blueprints for the original Aquila, as well as a partially complete kit vehicle on ebay. Perhaps a big sale price at the Mecum auction will encourage an investor to revitalise the Aquila kit car. Who knows?

If you think you can meet the reserve and win as the highest bidder, this Aquila will be auctioned off sometime between January 17th and January 26th in 2014 at the first Mecum event of the new year so book your airline ticket now!

Author Jason Lancaster is a life-long automotive enthusiast with a penchant for the odd and obscure. When he isn’t writing about random 1980’s-era kit cars, he’s working with VWPartsVortex.com, a website that helps people in the US and Canada find VW OEM replacement parts online.