VW Bug?

[Carzee]

Originally Posted by Colo Springs E

I like the new ones, look meaner than the recent 10 or so years. Looking forward to seeing the TDI version which I've heard will be out this Summer.

The 2008 models were a big sellers, and fast. But thirsty and expensive to insure.

[Westerly Sunn]

When I was a teenager, my parents had a couple of bugs for myself, my bros and my sister to drive; a 72 baby blue and 74 orange super w/ black rag top. Used to drive that rag top all over the county full of kids and sittin' up on that lowered top on the back deck playing a D35... Good ole' days...

Drove that one back home once with a friend on the rear bumper to work the throttle after the cable broke.

Also drove that one from Orlando to NC once flat out pedal to the metal the entire wayback up I95. When I took my foot off the gas coming up to my house it died... but fired right back up after cooling off a bit...

...and snow? Well, ime, they just run right through it until it gets so deep that they float up on top of the snow deck and the wheels no longer reach the ground!

The last brand new bug I saw for sell in a dealership was a solid white convertible super. That was indeed a beautiful bug.

[Sidney Vicious]

Originally Posted by bossabilly

My daily driver, unrestored 1960.

Sweeeeeeet!

[Lowbassnotes]

Two VW's sitting in the driveway, a 69' single cab truck and a 71' bus. My dad has an absolutely beautiful 76' convertible bug that is in mint condition that he rarely drives. He's in his 70's and all about his Cooper Mini. Old beetles are like a slot car but those little Minis.............a whole different level.

[Sherpa]

Originally Posted by bossabilly

My daily driver, unrestored 1960.

Beautiful!

[KBing]

Found this old pic of my '63...fun car to drive. I would love to have a '67 to restore, they are hard to find.

[mrboson]

I miss my '61... I got it 2 days after my 16th birthday and drove that thing to death until after college. It eventually got too hard for me to keep it running and I sold it for $175 when I had to move to a new place where there no place to park it and work on it

That thing drove up and down California a bunch of times, with lots of adventures: catching on fire once, various roadside repairs without proper tools (how about replacing front wheel bearings with a hammer, a chisel, a screwdriver, and a small crescent wrench), and more.

Once I had a great idea to improve the flaky 6 volt electrical system and dropped in an 8 volt battery. Tweaked the regulator so it would put out enough voltage to charge it then drove with it. The generator burned out one night in San Diego, and I needed to get back to school (Santa Barbara) so drove it just on battery power. Drove it at school for a few days (after a quick charge from the local gas station) then that weekend drove it home (still no generator) 400 miles, partly at night. That thing actually made it on battery... towards the end I removed the fuses to the brake lights to save power. The CHP officer that pulled me over didn't think that was a great idea, but at least he didn't give me a ticket. It finally died literally just as I pulled up to the house.

[G-log]

I too love the Beetle,I have shown my 67 here a few times,but hey! I did build it to show off

[CharlieO]

I have owned 8 VW Beetles. The first was a 1961 sedan that I bought from my dad for $80 when I was 16, followed by a '60 convertible, and then a '66 sedan a few years later, also purchased as a hand-me-down from my father. After I graduated from college and started making money, I got off of the Beetle kick for many years.

In the mid-1980's I had an opportunity to pick up a pretty decent yellow '72 Super Beetle convertible from a girl who was tired of maintaining it. I put very little effort and almost no money into that car, and a few weeks later I was flagged down by another (gorgeous) young girl who said, "I love your car. Will you sell it?" A quick flip for almost $1000 more than I paid for it convinced me that I should buy another one and do it all over again. I immediately found a decent '68 convertible being sold by another girl who couldn't maintain it. I think I drove that for a couple of months, and yes, I sold it for a profit, to a young girl, of course. That was followed by two '75 convertibles, one of which I actually sold to a guy, believe it or not.

During the time that I was driving Beetle convertibles, guys often gave me grief for driving a "chick car." What they weren't smart enough to figure out was that they were definitely a great way to meet women, and ladies loved to be picked up for a date in one. On top of that, I think I made a profit on every one of those Beetles.

My 8th Bug was a 1998 New Beetle. I don't want to talk about it.

[Joe Baggadonitz]

My 1st car was a '71 super beetle in sonic blue. I bought it for $350.00. I was 19 and it was my key to freedom. Very reliable vehicle but the heater sucked and it was terrible to drive on the Hwy.

[speedmusic]

Originally Posted by bossabilly

My daily driver, unrestored 1960.

That one looks great, good luck with it.
One more month and the clock will go to daylight-savingtime, looking forward to take my car out for a ride. (my car is only insured during thes days)

[Nick JD]

A real German engine in a German car.

[G-log]

That Is one wicked beetle!

[Poppatwang]

I've owned a slew of 'em. Minnesota winters are not kind to them with all the salt on the roads.
Last one I parted with was a 69 Ghia. I still miss that car.

[boris bubbanov]

When I was at Tulane, some guy with a name similar to mine had a green '66 and he always ran up a bunch of on campus parking tickets. I would have to go to a LOT of trouble every semester to get the tickets on this Bug off of me so I could get my grades.

These things were notoriously dangerous; the brakes were awful. I had some old basser driving a really mint beige '67 following me casually on the Interstate and I just knew he was going to wreck (from how close he came to me at the previous intersection and intuition). He followed me from lane to lane as I tried to get away from him. Finally as traffic stacked up at I-10 and Vets I made a last second lane change (which left him a lot of space he otherwise didn't have) and he still crashed into the Buick that had been directly in front of me and ended up between the Buick and the guard rail. I'm sure everyone got out OK but what a waste of a really straight, original looking 35 year old car.

If Mercedes and Volvo and Saab were about safety, then the VW bug was NOT about safety.

[G60syncro]

So then, a bunch of you guys must be fellow VWvortexers.. Right??

[prawnik]

When I was a kitten my Dad drove an old 1970 VW Squareback for 15 years and 380,000 miles of jaw-dropping abuse.

Did you know that old VWs can in fact swim? Did you know that a beer tab can be used to gap points instead of a feeler gauge? Did you know that air-cooled VW engines can run without oil, and then when they seize up, ATF can make a handy motor oil substitute?

My first car was an orange 1972 VW Super. I gave it to my Dad 10 years ago, with 250,000 on it. He still drives it, although the heater is like having a mouse breathe on your left foot.

[Jim W]

I had two 66s great cars - my favorites. Both were stolen during the same quarter while I was in college. The second one I think I only put gas in it once (bought from my dad after the first one was stolen). The second one was actually stolen twice first time we got it back and it was stolen again.

[rghill]

I had a '67 with a sunroof. I had a set of vise grips in the glove box for the occasion when the clutch cable or throttle cable snapped.

Then I had a '74 Super Beetle. It actually had a semi functioning heater and defroster, something I needed when I lived in Flagstaff Arizona. I still have a picture of that one completely covered in snow. I drove that one through deep snow. Once I got up early after a heavy snow fall and drove up to the ski area. I found out later they closed the road to 4 wheel drive only, I had arrived before anyone got there to stop me.