If you're going to review a car, put it in the context of when the car was made. This is just lazy. To compare the marketing materials to your experience with what was probably a twenty to thirty year old car is asinine. For example, the heat works fine in a Volkswagen if you maintain it. Most people don't.
Do some homework next time.
Submitted by davidsharpe on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 06:42.
You're right, David -- I'm sure everything worked as advertised when a Bug drove off the lot, and I hope no one will mistake my lopsided look at an old brochure as a review of the car. All of the Bugs I ever drove, rode in, or helped a friend repair were old and beat to death. In my narrow view of automotive history, it seems all VW Bugs came that way!
For anyone truly interested in this marvelous car design by Ferdinand Porsche (with input from Adolph Hitler), and the amazing story of how it narrowly survived World War II (thanks to a British reconstructionist who barely saved the original Volkswagen factory), I would suggest starting with the Wikipedia article. Clearly you don't sell 21 million people something if it doesn't work as advertised (present Administration excluded).
And my apologies to those who actually maintained their VW Bug heaters so they could, as the brochure suggested, "be regulated to give the exact amount of heat desired." This became difficult only when the car was being held together with baling wire, duct tape and the crazy-daisy stickers my friends all seemed to favor!
Submitted by GeneGable on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 07:14.
In 1970 my two sisters and I hit the open road in a ’65 Beetle with a roof rack on top and freedom in our hearts. We were 19, 20, and 22 years old. We left our jobs behind and headed west from Northeast Pennsylvania through Missouri, to the Black Hills and the Oregon coast. We cruised down the Pacific Coast Highway, made a detour at Disneyland, dipped down into the lowest point of Death Valley, swung around Carlsbad Caverns, and spent three days crossing Texas (it is a big state!). By the time we hit Louisiana, we were kind of homesick, so after the Great Smoky Mountains and Washington, DC, we headed home.
That little Beetle was amazing! In six weeks on the road and about 6,000 miles, we had never put oil in her, so it's no wonder my sister had to buy a new one shortly after we got home. And you’re right, the heaters never worked well, nor the defrosters, and of course there was no AC, but the vent windows were wonderful. I was sad when they stopped putting those on cars. For such a small vehicle, it could hold a remarkable number of people, especially little kids, when a couple of them would jump in the well to make room.
Lots of good memories! Thanks for the reminder!
Submitted by Janet Buntz on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 07:35.
My Dad's was a newer model (don't remember the year) with the high-backed -- "safer" -- seats. This was the first car I got to drive around parking lots at age 7 or 8. I'd sit on Dad's lap, steer and control the gear shift. My Dad would handle the pedals. That was my idea of the ultimate cruise control.
My memories of my Brother's car are a little more spotty. I remember him pulling on many layers of clothes, in the winter, before heading out for a drive. I also remember his trips home from college involved tearing down the engine and rebuilding it in order to get back up to Stanford at the end of a long weekend.
When I see a Beetle on the road today I think of the two who passed through my life. They still make me smile and marvel that whoever is driving them today is literally taking their lives into their hands and loving it!
Thanks Gene for another few moments of remembering "good times"
Submitted by Cindy Samco on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 09:19.
My mother had a 1967 VW bug. One time while on vacation at a small lake resort in near beautiful Brazil Indiana, she put her pregnant self, me & my 2 siblings, my aunt and my two cousins in it and drove the 25 minutes to Brazil to do laundry (no laundry facilities at the resort). It was a hot summer day and the air flowing through the bug was like a blast furnace. But even so, the memory is a wonderful one. We bought popsicles and sat on the curb once while we waited for the adults to finish the laundry. Then we piled back in the bug and headed back to the lake and our cabin.
Monta
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Monta Gael May http://montagael.blogspot.com http://www.854w5th.com
Submitted by monta gael on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 09:34.
My mother had one with a canvas moon roof that you cranked to open and close. I don't think the engine had more that 40+ horse power. I loved that car.
Submitted by Daniel Weaver on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 09:57.
Coming back form the beach in 'The Kraut" as the Dub was affectionately called, way down on its springs, the cabin started to fill with smoke. After we pulled over, and the three not-exactly-lightweight rear-seat passengers extricated themselves, we discovered the cause: the underside of the rear seat had collapsed across the terminals of the battery, and the short-circuit had set fire to the upholstery of the seat...
Someone smacked me hard enough to deflect me into an imovable object at 35 mph. All I got was a broken tooth. Lots of steel in crumple zones before such were described.
I also had a 64 Bug whose camshaft cracked. But during the six months from when I first noticed the symptoms and the eventual demise of the engine, the gas mileage went from 23 mpg to 27 mpg.
Noisy, slow, and ugly but I wouldn't mind having one now.
When the ignition crapped out, we pushed it down the driveway to get it going. When the bakes died, we merely downshifted and pulled up the handbrake to stop. My current VW Passat couldn't hold a candle to that old tin can.
When I was about 19 or 20 my mom bought me this red Super Beetle. The thing was great--always started up, chugged through the snow like a champ. But one evening as I was driving her and two friends into Boston, the brakes failed on Route 2 in Belmont at the top of a looooooong hill. Somehow I kept my cool and was able to engine-brake my way into Cambridge where I loaded up on brake fluid.
A few days later, I took the car to a shop that had been recommended by a family friend. They held onto the car for three weeks because the VW guy was on vacation (which they didn't mention when I dropped the car off). After he returned he installed new brake lines but when he tried to reinstall the pedals he found the floor pan too rusted out to work with. So the shop called me and told me to come with a tow truck to get the car off their lot or they'd start charging me a storage fee.
Being an independent young adult I didn't ask my mother for advice. I just went there, paid the $150 for the useless brake job (!), and had the car towed home where it stayed, sinking lower and lower into the ground, until it was finally towed away to the Happy Hunting Ground.
I stand up for myself much better now than I used to.
... to many to write. A wonderful vehicle guaranteed that your travels would be "memorable".
Heaters hardly worked, going up hill was an effort I always drove with a tool box to make roadside repairs. An essential book was 'VW repair for the complete idiot', helped keep mine running for many years ( I had 2 VW Buses). Between me and my friends I can easily count 10 VWs. On one Bus we had to tie the windshield wipers together with string through the fly windows to keep them going back and forth. I lived in a VW camper with a friend through the winter while going to college. Me and another friend rolled one over slid on the roof about 50 feet hit a telephone pole which popped out all the windows intact. When we hit the pole it righted the bug back on it's wheels - I picked up all the windows and off we drove... the stories go one. Get memories.
Forty years ago when I was a teenager, several slightly older friends of mine had VWs, and they were always called upon for transportation to whatever party, concert, gig or general shenanigans we were up to that particular weekend. One evening after a boisterous party downtown, there were 13 of us that needed to get home and only one car. So we did the obvious thing and crammed us all inside the car--and actually made it to our various homes without accident or being arrested.
Here's how we did it: One in the driver's seat, 2 in the front passenger seat, one sitting on their laps, 3 on the bottom row in the back seat, 3 more sitting on their laps, 2 laying on the 2nd row's laps, and finally me laying on headrests of the front seats, up against the 2 previous people.
If visions of the black hole of Calcutta come to mind, you're not far off. VWs could take a lot and were the faithful chariots of my youth.
I drove a VW van for a whole summer at my first job, and got to take it home with me at the end of each day--and had the use of it in the evening and on weekends. The "microbus" as it was called, was even more fun than the beetle. It offered tons of room for copious friends, music equipment and hauling of just about anything. In my early years on my own I don't remember a single house-moving that wasn't accomplished without at least one VW van being involved. It was a blast to drive, very nimble in traffic, and could go anywhere. Your article brought back the memory of that summer when I was 18 and experiencing my first taste of mobility and freedom.
My 1970 Super Beetle was handed down from my older brother who received it from my uncle who bought it new. She was 16 when I got her. I called her Bessie because that's what my friends and I chanted when going up hills... "Come on Bessie!"
This bug was a "semi-automatic" so the clutch was in the gear shift. I considered carrying neck braces for my passengers because it jerked so badly when I put it in reverse. The heater melted my right shoe to the floor and the defrost created a 4-inch diameter circle of clear window within the solid ice on the driver's side window. For a while the horn honked every time I turned left and then one day it just stopped. I kept extra accelerator cables in the glove box at all times for frequent replacement and eventually had to refill the oil 2-3 times on my 1.5-hour trips home from and back to college before the rear seal completely broke.
She is now sitting in back of my Mom's house undriveable and rusting away. I still love that car more than any I've ever had...
We are so proud that VW just chose my town, Chattanooga, to resume production and as their North American headquarters. The produced a wonderful full page ad in the paper with the infamous Chattanooga Choo-Choo train juxtaposed with a lowly Beetle who wonders if they will ever write a song about it! We welcome VW and their quirky product to our city.
Sue Lowery
Windsock Media Publishing
Yes I had a Baja Bug, One of my first cars. No brakes but would stop on a dime with a set of Goodyear Eagle GT's, The tires cost more than the car. Always had to park on a hill to roll start it, car was 6-volt system, pain in the pants, but was a blast. Like driving an oversized go-cart. My brother had one also, rolled in a snow storm. Rolled it back over and kept going, with nothing more than a ding in the roof. Every teen should have to drive one and learn a little about mechanical things, instead of just jumping in the mom & dad provided cars most kids get now.
Yes I had a Baja Bug, One of my first cars. No brakes but would stop on a dime with a set of Goodyear Eagle GT's "and the emergency brake," The tires cost more than the car. Always had to park on a hill to roll start it, car was 6-volt system, pain in the pants, but was a blast. Like driving an oversized go-cart. My brother had one also, rolled in a snow storm. Rolled it back over and kept going, with nothing more than a ding in the roof. Every teen should have to drive one and learn a little about mechanical things, instead of just jumping in the mom & dad provided cars most kids get now.
My first was a Beetle. I remember there was a difference. The Beetles were later models that were not as well liked. They also had the front lip curl under where as the Bug had more of an air dam look to the front. My favorite Bug was a 1965 Blue BAJA style. A local Porsche Shop sold it to me for $700.00. The car was in great mechanical condition. Later on I did some research about the metal sun roof that cranked back under the roof. I remember there were not many of these made and of course would be a collectors item now. That car got me over the Rockie Mountains during a blizzard that had Semis, 4 wheel drive trucks and tow trucks stranded. I putt-putted all the way up and over. At one point the engine died when the gas froze in the carb. I decided to use my Bic lighter to thaw out the freeze as opposed to freezing to death. Since I was moving I had all of my clothes in the car so i put on as many as i could. Finally, I heated up the carb enough too start and got the heck out of there. I recall that the heater seemed to work almost to well, sometimes cooking your feet. When I finally reached a small town truck stop the truckers were amazed to see the little Bug coming down the road. They kept asking me how I got through. My only explanation was the engine sitting on the back wheels gave me more traction. I made it all the way to Texas from Seattle in two days. I had the car for a couple more years before trading it for a Pick Up (Texas requirement) :)
Back in the 80's I learned how to drive a stick in a VW Bug on a mountain in Western North Carolina and I had a blast!
No, I did not wreck...I figured it was time to learn how to drive a stick and that was a challenging vehicle learn in (or so I was told). I was glad to have that experience.
Thanks for sharing the history of both a very reliable and fun car to drive as well as the vintage marketing/design of an era long gone.
Submitted by luvtocreate on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 12:57.
Dear Gene,
My metallic lime green beetle was so old in the mid-seventies it was a 6 volt (it had an 8 volt battery to compensate). No idea of the year. Went from Houston to San Angelo, Texas, a trip of 360 miles, in the late fall wearing shorts. Three days later I'm on my way home wrapped in blankets, wearing jeans I bought during an emergency shopping trip, and stopping every few miles to scrape ice off the windshield and spray it with defogger. Gotta love Texas weather.
Yours in wax pasteups,
Gail Dorsett
Houston
PS: Any suggestions as to what I can do with 10 pounds of wax?
I don't think a real Beetle ever looked as zippy as the drawings above, but it sure looks zippy. And just as the Dark Knight is out, the Beetle looks like it was styled just for him.
I had a '73 Beetle that was passed down to me after my 3 older brothers drove it during high school (my sister could never get the hang of a stick shift). By then, it had its share of dents and scrapes. But, I loved having a fun little car to drive. I graduated high school and continued driving it to college. My parents had all the body work done and repainted white. It looked perfect! My senior year in college, I went home for spring break. The family was gone and friends weren't around so I decided to go to a movie. When I went to the parking lot after the movie, my bug was gone! It never was found. I still miss it.
My dad had a mid '50s VW that had little arms that popped up out of the B pillars that had flashing turn signals on then. As for waxers, inhaled plenty of Bestine in my time and xacto blade cuts too numerous to count. Found out what happens to a perfect paste up on a hot day when it is being transported to the offset copy service, lol. Gene, love your articles as well as other contributors here on CreativePros. Take care.
My drive-off was $1716 on my 67, and I still have it — 300K miles later. Still runs fine, body is clean, and the heating and AC work as well as always. Pulling the distributor wire and locking the engine compartment have saved it from numerous theft attempts all over North America. But I think my days of engine work (and there have been a lot of them) are over...
I never owned one of them (I inherited a squarback by marriage) but like most of us of a certain age, I have my share of VW stories. I'm having a hard time thinking of one that I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out on, so maybe I'll have to get back to you later. I'll bet that you get more response with this posting than anything else you've put up. Keep up the good work!
I learned to drive a manual transmission in my older brother's '62 VW. It had a very forgiving clutch. The heater didn't work (much) and holes were developing in the floor board but it was a great little car. When he rebuilt the engine we just lifted it out of the rear compartment.
My dad and I shared a 1960 VW bug in 1969-71 -- he drove it to work and I got it nights and weekends. It was a great car that seemed to know it's way to the beach on it's own. The engine sounded like a sewing machine and it leaked oil but was great on gas mileage. When I was married I got to keep it. To this day my husband says it was blue but it was green. His girlfriend right before me had the same car (same color too). I think he first went out with me for my car. We eventually sold it for a new Chevy Vega. What a mistake.
I owned a Super Beetle for THIRTEEN YEARS. I was too broke to get a new car back then. The bug's heater boxes finally rusted out, and for two Michigan winters I drove to work without any heat. The driver's seat became loose; I could see the road through holes in the floorboard. It developed so many rust spots a co-worker named it "Liver Spots." She had a pretty yellow beetle named "Buttercup." We VW owners loved our bugs in spite of their foibles. But I would NEVER buy another one
My first "real car" was a 1958 VW Beetle. It had a 36 hp engine and it cost me $500 in 1968. It was a metallic champagne color and the body was in perfect condition. I used the "Volkswagen Repair for the Compleat Idiot" book to do my own maintenance. I loved that book. My Beetle did have one recurring mechanical problem however. The Throttle Dogleg was always breaking. After that left me stranded a couple of times, I bought a bunch of them and kept them in the glove box just in case. I drove it for about 5 or 6 years and then replaced it with a 1967 VW microbus.
Submitted by davidsmcmath on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 07:45.
The original Beetle had a split two-rail bumper system and split rear windshield. The earlier models also had an extra glass dome on the headlights. This appears to be a mid to late 70's model. I had a 1969 and 1973 Bug, both of which had different variations. Other than that, thanks for the memories!!! :)
When I was in kicking around in Europe in '73, I bought a used '69 Bug in MUnich for $250. The previous owner had souped it up with dual carbs. that gave it more power. I loved it! Drove over 12k miles (not klicks) in 4 months, including 4 trips back and forth over the alps, down into Morocco and all over Greece. The tires just didn't seem to wear and I did one oil change; thta's it. I sold it for $150 when I returned home to the US! Amazing car!
still have one, replaced engine with an updated 2 liter version that had enough get up and go that it scared me into upgrading the brakes to disc.
fun to drive and folks love to talk about it when i stop somewhere.
you are right about the windshield being close to your face and all the metal. i think you might be wrong about the metal though, the german steel they were made of is thick and probably stronger than today's cars.
The Beetle had a design that seemed almost impervious to time. Truly classic. I've always thought that the car more people have owned at one point or another in their lifetime was a Beetle. It's my perception that it is followed in close second by a Ford Mustang.
I was born in a VW-less family in 1963. But, my mother-in-law drove one and her young daughter (my wife) managed to dent it somewhat. Sherry proceeded to try to fix her mishap with a frying pan!
In a thirty-year-old Beetle, my dad, sister, and I drove through a 100-year rainstorm and flood. Wipers broken, my head was out the window directing my dad where to turn. Water gushed in the rusted out floor boards until there was a foot of water in the car (battery was under the rear seat, mind you). But she kept moving, past 100's of stranded vehicles that couldn't handle the deep stuff. Great car.
Hi Gene! Both my Father and my brother-in-law were very practical men, both with Scot ancestry. My father would have purchased a roller skate if he thought it would get him to work and back, so it was no surprise (after the shock wore off) that he arrived home with a blue 1959 Corvair (‘59 and a half, I believe it was referred to as). There were absolutely no extras on this little baby, not even a radio (my Dad loved whistling whilest driving). So conservative was my Father that I could never get over that he had bought a vehicle that was new and innovative; untested. But he loved it. And it became my first car several years later, and I loved it, eccentric as it was. My friends laughed for sure. Although my best friend had a drop-dead gorgeous 1955 Chevy with a custom navy paint and white rag top I remained loyal to the Corvair. And several years later I acquired a 1963 Corvair Spider; burgundy with white rag top. Perhaps the prettiest car I’ve ever owned. The brushed metal instrument cluster was a work of design art. Loved the little turbo charger until I went west from Michigan and began having to climb mountains: the air was apparently too thin to provide the boost that the little (80 horsepower?) engine desperately needed. I have never had a car that I enjoyed more than the Spider. My brother in law’s bug? I was too young (according to him) for me to drive it, and by the time I had my license he had sold the VW and bought an MG-A. He never even considered letting me drive that one.
I didn’t intend to go on so long, but clearly it’s on you for having stirred the memories. Thanks, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Warm regards—
Chuck Crawford
Regards, Chuck
[photocrawf] for SolidFuel
Submitted by photocrawf on Tue, 08/17/2010 - 16:38.
Years ago I saw a step-by-step spoof of the original famous VW ad (tiny car on mostly blank page) that walked through what would have happened if the client had been allowed to art direct i.e, a giant starburst reading "FREE COFFEE!". I've been looking for it ever since with no luck. Anyone? Anyone?
Submitted by Streetknife on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 05:12.
"It’s a wonder any of us survived [riding in a Beetle]," writes the owner of a Corvair, the "one-car accident" whose reported deficiencies made Ralph Nader a household name! Kind of ironic, no? (Loved the scans, Gene. Beautiful illustrations.)
I had a few of these bugs -- 1 being a convertible. thanks for the memory. the convertible definately had the cool factor but when you put the top down you couldnt see a darn thing behind you!
Back in the early sixties my dad owned a 1949 red VW Beetle for his drive to work at the L & N railroad. We were told it was on of only three sold in the U.S. that year and the only one east of the Rockies. He was a large man, nicknamed Hoss by his coworkers, after the character of the same name on Bonanza, and the car seemed like a tightly fitting envelope for such a large man. It was bright red and had a capital letter D on the right rear fender... really unusual car for the times! My dad was a Tech Sargent in the Army during WWII and lived for a time with a family in Nuremburg, Germany at the end of the war and afterwards. His unit helped rebuild railroad bridges that had been destroyed during the war. I always wondered if he was attracted to the VW Beetle when everyone else we knew drove Buicks and Cadillacs because of his time in Germany during the war.
After my dad traded in his VW Beetle he acquired a VW Bus with a convertible roof... pale celery green with darker green trim. My older brother learned to drive in this car and since we were all in band together it became the "band bus" which was perfect for hauling around bass drums, the occasional tuba player (convertible roof came in really handy here!) along with the woodwinds... clarinets and flutes... Came to a bad end though... my two brothers and a friend went spelunking and on their way home my brother fell asleep at the wheel and drove the bus off the side of the road into a wooded ravine. My brother was thrown through the drivers' side window, hitting a tree and dislocating his shoulder... their friend was sleeping in the middle seat and hit the wall between the two front seats breaking it, and my other brother went through the windshield and had a cut in his scalp that required numerous stitches... they cut his sweatshirt off him at the emergency room... my mother sewed it back together with a zig zag stitch and he wore it and dined out on the story for years... sadly the VW bus had to be towed off on a trailer as the frame was so bent no two wheels would touch ground at the same time. A sad end for a noble vehicle!!!
My older brother, the one who wrecked the VW bus, learned to drive in a blue Kharmann Ghia. He was 4 years older than me and my hero! When it came time for me to learn to drive, I was reluctant. Why bother? I had two older brothers who drove me everywhere I needed to go... but my parents were adamant (knowing that my brothers would not always be there and that my little sister would need her own chauffeur shortly!). Asked what car I wanted, I decided I wanted a Kharmann Ghia like my brother's. A candy apple red one appeared shortly and I was on the spot. A local speedway which was closed was my training ground... I was a bit perturbed at having to learn to shift gears on a manual transmission... it seemed like a LOT of work to me when there were automatics but what did I know. My father had insisted we all learn to drive a manual first, just in case we might need the experience later in life... I guess driving manual Jeeps in the Army was where he was coming from. Anyway I learned, slowly, to shift gears with my mother in the passenger seat and my little sister hanging over my shoulder. My dad went on an annual fishing trip to Canada every year with friends from his job on the L & N Railroad. When it was time for me to finally take my driver's test he came home a day early to give me a good luck charm... a key ring with a tiny stuffed otter. Having driven straight through from Canada, my dad sacked out and sent my older brother with me for the test at the county seat 15 miles away. I was sitting parked second in line in my red Kharmann Ghia, by the courthouse waiting my turn for the driving test when the lady in front of me started her test. Thinking she was in drive, she stepped on the gas and nothing happened, pressing harder she proceeded to jump the curb (the car actually being in reverse!), snapped off a parking meter and rammed my car from the front knocking it into the car behind me thereby crushing both the front and back ends of my beautiful little sports car! The lower profile of my sports car put the larger cars in front of and behind me above my bumper line. The trooper climbed out of her car, wrote the accident up, filing for whiplash in case he needed a day off later on in the month, and asked me if I was still up for my test. In shock, I said yes and proceeded to take my damaged car through its paces without the aid of turn signals which meant I not only had to shift gears but also remember to use arm hand signals out the window to signal my turns!!! Horrendous!!! I made it around the block and even parallel parked my crippled vehicle... the officer pointed out that I was popping the clutch a lot and then said I had made several mistakes but that he was passing me with a grade of 75 out of 100 for having the nerve to take my test after being in a wreck... something I would have to do in the real world probably many times... years later "grace under fire" is still my mantra!!! My brother and I drove home and woke my dad up with the good news and the bad news. My Kharmann Ghia was repaired and I drove it for another two years until my mom caught me defrosting the windshield with my hands and insisted they get me a newer car with a working heater! My next car was a pedestrian 4 door sedan by a new kid on the block... Toyota!!! A Corolla Deluxe. Thus ended my love affair with Volkswagons although I would love to have my little Kharmann Ghia back today... it was pretty austere inside.
Needless to say, the entire evolution of Volkswagen as an automobile brand has emerged to be a true global force in the name of cars. Would anyone else expect less of Volkswagen Parts especially with the acquisition, re-development, and refurnishing of other giant names such as Audi, SEAT, Skoda, and Lamborghini?
Of course anyone who ever rode in an original Beetle knows that their "built-in heater" was a joke! It was hot air blown over the engine, and not close to hot enough on a cold day. You could purchase a gas heater, but that decimated your mileage!
Stick to wrinting about design
If you're going to review a car, put it in the context of when the car was made. This is just lazy. To compare the marketing materials to your experience with what was probably a twenty to thirty year old car is asinine. For example, the heat works fine in a Volkswagen if you maintain it. Most people don't.
Do some homework next time.
my 68 VW bug
Yes I remember galleys, waxers, maylines and rubylith.
And my first car - a red 68 convertible bug. Bought in 1974 for $1000.
2 weeks later got my license.
Drove it for a month and blew the engine - thought the little red light on the dashboard meant the engine was ON.
Rebuilt the engine. Drove it through a Canadian winter with my left hand on the steering wheel and a scraper in my right hand so I could see.
Used a mechanic's light (? - a bulb with that wire thing around it) as a block heater.
Sold it the next summer - bought one of those "new" Honda Civics.
I want that car back.
Heating things up!
You're right, David -- I'm sure everything worked as advertised when a Bug drove off the lot, and I hope no one will mistake my lopsided look at an old brochure as a review of the car. All of the Bugs I ever drove, rode in, or helped a friend repair were old and beat to death. In my narrow view of automotive history, it seems all VW Bugs came that way!
For anyone truly interested in this marvelous car design by Ferdinand Porsche (with input from Adolph Hitler), and the amazing story of how it narrowly survived World War II (thanks to a British reconstructionist who barely saved the original Volkswagen factory), I would suggest starting with the Wikipedia article. Clearly you don't sell 21 million people something if it doesn't work as advertised (present Administration excluded).
And my apologies to those who actually maintained their VW Bug heaters so they could, as the brochure suggested, "be regulated to give the exact amount of heat desired." This became difficult only when the car was being held together with baling wire, duct tape and the crazy-daisy stickers my friends all seemed to favor!
Hitting the open road
In 1970 my two sisters and I hit the open road in a ’65 Beetle with a roof rack on top and freedom in our hearts. We were 19, 20, and 22 years old. We left our jobs behind and headed west from Northeast Pennsylvania through Missouri, to the Black Hills and the Oregon coast. We cruised down the Pacific Coast Highway, made a detour at Disneyland, dipped down into the lowest point of Death Valley, swung around Carlsbad Caverns, and spent three days crossing Texas (it is a big state!). By the time we hit Louisiana, we were kind of homesick, so after the Great Smoky Mountains and Washington, DC, we headed home.
That little Beetle was amazing! In six weeks on the road and about 6,000 miles, we had never put oil in her, so it's no wonder my sister had to buy a new one shortly after we got home. And you’re right, the heaters never worked well, nor the defrosters, and of course there was no AC, but the vent windows were wonderful. I was sad when they stopped putting those on cars. For such a small vehicle, it could hold a remarkable number of people, especially little kids, when a couple of them would jump in the well to make room.
Lots of good memories! Thanks for the reminder!
Two Bugs in my Family
My Dad and Brother both had Beetles.
My Dad's was a newer model (don't remember the year) with the high-backed -- "safer" -- seats. This was the first car I got to drive around parking lots at age 7 or 8. I'd sit on Dad's lap, steer and control the gear shift. My Dad would handle the pedals. That was my idea of the ultimate cruise control.
My memories of my Brother's car are a little more spotty. I remember him pulling on many layers of clothes, in the winter, before heading out for a drive. I also remember his trips home from college involved tearing down the engine and rebuilding it in order to get back up to Stanford at the end of a long weekend.
When I see a Beetle on the road today I think of the two who passed through my life. They still make me smile and marvel that whoever is driving them today is literally taking their lives into their hands and loving it!
Thanks Gene for another few moments of remembering "good times"
We had VWs
My mother had a 1967 VW bug. One time while on vacation at a small lake resort in near beautiful Brazil Indiana, she put her pregnant self, me & my 2 siblings, my aunt and my two cousins in it and drove the 25 minutes to Brazil to do laundry (no laundry facilities at the resort). It was a hot summer day and the air flowing through the bug was like a blast furnace. But even so, the memory is a wonderful one. We bought popsicles and sat on the curb once while we waited for the adults to finish the laundry. Then we piled back in the bug and headed back to the lake and our cabin.
Monta
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Monta Gael May
http://montagael.blogspot.com
http://www.854w5th.com
VW beetle
My mother had one with a canvas moon roof that you cranked to open and close. I don't think the engine had more that 40+ horse power. I loved that car.
the Kraut
Coming back form the beach in 'The Kraut" as the Dub was affectionately called, way down on its springs, the cabin started to fill with smoke. After we pulled over, and the three not-exactly-lightweight rear-seat passengers extricated themselves, we discovered the cause: the underside of the rear seat had collapsed across the terminals of the battery, and the short-circuit had set fire to the upholstery of the seat...
VWs were Tough!
Someone smacked me hard enough to deflect me into an imovable object at 35 mph. All I got was a broken tooth. Lots of steel in crumple zones before such were described.
I also had a 64 Bug whose camshaft cracked. But during the six months from when I first noticed the symptoms and the eventual demise of the engine, the gas mileage went from 23 mpg to 27 mpg.
Noisy, slow, and ugly but I wouldn't mind having one now.
Steve Ruis
'61 Beetle
When the ignition crapped out, we pushed it down the driveway to get it going. When the bakes died, we merely downshifted and pulled up the handbrake to stop. My current VW Passat couldn't hold a candle to that old tin can.
VW experience
When I was about 19 or 20 my mom bought me this red Super Beetle. The thing was great--always started up, chugged through the snow like a champ. But one evening as I was driving her and two friends into Boston, the brakes failed on Route 2 in Belmont at the top of a looooooong hill. Somehow I kept my cool and was able to engine-brake my way into Cambridge where I loaded up on brake fluid.
A few days later, I took the car to a shop that had been recommended by a family friend. They held onto the car for three weeks because the VW guy was on vacation (which they didn't mention when I dropped the car off). After he returned he installed new brake lines but when he tried to reinstall the pedals he found the floor pan too rusted out to work with. So the shop called me and told me to come with a tow truck to get the car off their lot or they'd start charging me a storage fee.
Being an independent young adult I didn't ask my mother for advice. I just went there, paid the $150 for the useless brake job (!), and had the car towed home where it stayed, sinking lower and lower into the ground, until it was finally towed away to the Happy Hunting Ground.
I stand up for myself much better now than I used to.
Laura Foley
http://www.lauramfoley.com
http://culinarymom.blogspot.com
I have many Vdub stories...
... to many to write. A wonderful vehicle guaranteed that your travels would be "memorable".
Heaters hardly worked, going up hill was an effort I always drove with a tool box to make roadside repairs. An essential book was 'VW repair for the complete idiot', helped keep mine running for many years ( I had 2 VW Buses). Between me and my friends I can easily count 10 VWs. On one Bus we had to tie the windshield wipers together with string through the fly windows to keep them going back and forth. I lived in a VW camper with a friend through the winter while going to college. Me and another friend rolled one over slid on the roof about 50 feet hit a telephone pole which popped out all the windows intact. When we hit the pole it righted the bug back on it's wheels - I picked up all the windows and off we drove... the stories go one. Get memories.
Number 13 in a VW
Forty years ago when I was a teenager, several slightly older friends of mine had VWs, and they were always called upon for transportation to whatever party, concert, gig or general shenanigans we were up to that particular weekend. One evening after a boisterous party downtown, there were 13 of us that needed to get home and only one car. So we did the obvious thing and crammed us all inside the car--and actually made it to our various homes without accident or being arrested.
Here's how we did it: One in the driver's seat, 2 in the front passenger seat, one sitting on their laps, 3 on the bottom row in the back seat, 3 more sitting on their laps, 2 laying on the 2nd row's laps, and finally me laying on headrests of the front seats, up against the 2 previous people.
If visions of the black hole of Calcutta come to mind, you're not far off. VWs could take a lot and were the faithful chariots of my youth.
I drove a VW van for a whole summer at my first job, and got to take it home with me at the end of each day--and had the use of it in the evening and on weekends. The "microbus" as it was called, was even more fun than the beetle. It offered tons of room for copious friends, music equipment and hauling of just about anything. In my early years on my own I don't remember a single house-moving that wasn't accomplished without at least one VW van being involved. It was a blast to drive, very nimble in traffic, and could go anywhere. Your article brought back the memory of that summer when I was 18 and experiencing my first taste of mobility and freedom.
Bessie
My 1970 Super Beetle was handed down from my older brother who received it from my uncle who bought it new. She was 16 when I got her. I called her Bessie because that's what my friends and I chanted when going up hills... "Come on Bessie!"
This bug was a "semi-automatic" so the clutch was in the gear shift. I considered carrying neck braces for my passengers because it jerked so badly when I put it in reverse. The heater melted my right shoe to the floor and the defrost created a 4-inch diameter circle of clear window within the solid ice on the driver's side window. For a while the horn honked every time I turned left and then one day it just stopped. I kept extra accelerator cables in the glove box at all times for frequent replacement and eventually had to refill the oil 2-3 times on my 1.5-hour trips home from and back to college before the rear seal completely broke.
She is now sitting in back of my Mom's house undriveable and rusting away. I still love that car more than any I've ever had...
Back to America and they chose Chattanooga!
We are so proud that VW just chose my town, Chattanooga, to resume production and as their North American headquarters. The produced a wonderful full page ad in the paper with the infamous Chattanooga Choo-Choo train juxtaposed with a lowly Beetle who wonders if they will ever write a song about it! We welcome VW and their quirky product to our city.
Sue Lowery
Windsock Media Publishing
Baja Bug
Yes I had a Baja Bug, One of my first cars. No brakes but would stop on a dime with a set of Goodyear Eagle GT's, The tires cost more than the car. Always had to park on a hill to roll start it, car was 6-volt system, pain in the pants, but was a blast. Like driving an oversized go-cart. My brother had one also, rolled in a snow storm. Rolled it back over and kept going, with nothing more than a ding in the roof. Every teen should have to drive one and learn a little about mechanical things, instead of just jumping in the mom & dad provided cars most kids get now.
Baja Bug
Yes I had a Baja Bug, One of my first cars. No brakes but would stop on a dime with a set of Goodyear Eagle GT's "and the emergency brake," The tires cost more than the car. Always had to park on a hill to roll start it, car was 6-volt system, pain in the pants, but was a blast. Like driving an oversized go-cart. My brother had one also, rolled in a snow storm. Rolled it back over and kept going, with nothing more than a ding in the roof. Every teen should have to drive one and learn a little about mechanical things, instead of just jumping in the mom & dad provided cars most kids get now.
I owned two Bugs!!!
My first was a Beetle. I remember there was a difference. The Beetles were later models that were not as well liked. They also had the front lip curl under where as the Bug had more of an air dam look to the front. My favorite Bug was a 1965 Blue BAJA style. A local Porsche Shop sold it to me for $700.00. The car was in great mechanical condition. Later on I did some research about the metal sun roof that cranked back under the roof. I remember there were not many of these made and of course would be a collectors item now. That car got me over the Rockie Mountains during a blizzard that had Semis, 4 wheel drive trucks and tow trucks stranded. I putt-putted all the way up and over. At one point the engine died when the gas froze in the carb. I decided to use my Bic lighter to thaw out the freeze as opposed to freezing to death. Since I was moving I had all of my clothes in the car so i put on as many as i could. Finally, I heated up the carb enough too start and got the heck out of there. I recall that the heater seemed to work almost to well, sometimes cooking your feet. When I finally reached a small town truck stop the truckers were amazed to see the little Bug coming down the road. They kept asking me how I got through. My only explanation was the engine sitting on the back wheels gave me more traction. I made it all the way to Texas from Seattle in two days. I had the car for a couple more years before trading it for a Pick Up (Texas requirement) :)
Learned to drive a stick in a Bug
Back in the 80's I learned how to drive a stick in a VW Bug on a mountain in Western North Carolina and I had a blast!
No, I did not wreck...I figured it was time to learn how to drive a stick and that was a challenging vehicle learn in (or so I was told). I was glad to have that experience.
Thanks for sharing the history of both a very reliable and fun car to drive as well as the vintage marketing/design of an era long gone.
MY GREEN BUG
Dear Gene,
My metallic lime green beetle was so old in the mid-seventies it was a 6 volt (it had an 8 volt battery to compensate). No idea of the year. Went from Houston to San Angelo, Texas, a trip of 360 miles, in the late fall wearing shorts. Three days later I'm on my way home wrapped in blankets, wearing jeans I bought during an emergency shopping trip, and stopping every few miles to scrape ice off the windshield and spray it with defogger. Gotta love Texas weather.
Yours in wax pasteups,
Gail Dorsett
Houston
PS: Any suggestions as to what I can do with 10 pounds of wax?
The Bat Beetle
I don't think a real Beetle ever looked as zippy as the drawings above, but it sure looks zippy. And just as the Dark Knight is out, the Beetle looks like it was styled just for him.
My Bug was Stolen!
I had a '73 Beetle that was passed down to me after my 3 older brothers drove it during high school (my sister could never get the hang of a stick shift). By then, it had its share of dents and scrapes. But, I loved having a fun little car to drive. I graduated high school and continued driving it to college. My parents had all the body work done and repainted white. It looked perfect! My senior year in college, I went home for spring break. The family was gone and friends weren't around so I decided to go to a movie. When I went to the parking lot after the movie, my bug was gone! It never was found. I still miss it.
Oh, and the name of the movie was "Missing."
Beetles, waxers, etc.
My dad had a mid '50s VW that had little arms that popped up out of the B pillars that had flashing turn signals on then. As for waxers, inhaled plenty of Bestine in my time and xacto blade cuts too numerous to count. Found out what happens to a perfect paste up on a hot day when it is being transported to the offset copy service, lol. Gene, love your articles as well as other contributors here on CreativePros. Take care.
The Beast
My drive-off was $1716 on my 67, and I still have it — 300K miles later. Still runs fine, body is clean, and the heating and AC work as well as always. Pulling the distributor wire and locking the engine compartment have saved it from numerous theft attempts all over North America. But I think my days of engine work (and there have been a lot of them) are over...
Voldswagens
I never owned one of them (I inherited a squarback by marriage) but like most of us of a certain age, I have my share of VW stories. I'm having a hard time thinking of one that I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out on, so maybe I'll have to get back to you later. I'll bet that you get more response with this posting than anything else you've put up. Keep up the good work!
The Beetle
I learned to drive a manual transmission in my older brother's '62 VW. It had a very forgiving clutch. The heater didn't work (much) and holes were developing in the floor board but it was a great little car. When he rebuilt the engine we just lifted it out of the rear compartment.
Loved my VW
My dad and I shared a 1960 VW bug in 1969-71 -- he drove it to work and I got it nights and weekends. It was a great car that seemed to know it's way to the beach on it's own. The engine sounded like a sewing machine and it leaked oil but was great on gas mileage. When I was married I got to keep it. To this day my husband says it was blue but it was green. His girlfriend right before me had the same car (same color too). I think he first went out with me for my car. We eventually sold it for a new Chevy Vega. What a mistake.
VW Super Beetle
I owned a Super Beetle for THIRTEEN YEARS. I was too broke to get a new car back then. The bug's heater boxes finally rusted out, and for two Michigan winters I drove to work without any heat. The driver's seat became loose; I could see the road through holes in the floorboard. It developed so many rust spots a co-worker named it "Liver Spots." She had a pretty yellow beetle named "Buttercup." We VW owners loved our bugs in spite of their foibles. But I would NEVER buy another one
VW ownership
My first "real car" was a 1958 VW Beetle. It had a 36 hp engine and it cost me $500 in 1968. It was a metallic champagne color and the body was in perfect condition. I used the "Volkswagen Repair for the Compleat Idiot" book to do my own maintenance. I loved that book. My Beetle did have one recurring mechanical problem however. The Throttle Dogleg was always breaking. After that left me stranded a couple of times, I bought a bunch of them and kept them in the glove box just in case. I drove it for about 5 or 6 years and then replaced it with a 1967 VW microbus.
Bug Art
The original Beetle had a split two-rail bumper system and split rear windshield. The earlier models also had an extra glass dome on the headlights. This appears to be a mid to late 70's model. I had a 1969 and 1973 Bug, both of which had different variations. Other than that, thanks for the memories!!! :)
VW Bug in Europe
When I was in kicking around in Europe in '73, I bought a used '69 Bug in MUnich for $250. The previous owner had souped it up with dual carbs. that gave it more power. I loved it! Drove over 12k miles (not klicks) in 4 months, including 4 trips back and forth over the alps, down into Morocco and all over Greece. The tires just didn't seem to wear and I did one oil change; thta's it. I sold it for $150 when I returned home to the US! Amazing car!
1961 bug
still have one, replaced engine with an updated 2 liter version that had enough get up and go that it scared me into upgrading the brakes to disc.
fun to drive and folks love to talk about it when i stop somewhere.
you are right about the windshield being close to your face and all the metal. i think you might be wrong about the metal though, the german steel they were made of is thick and probably stronger than today's cars.
Everyone has owned one
The Beetle had a design that seemed almost impervious to time. Truly classic. I've always thought that the car more people have owned at one point or another in their lifetime was a Beetle. It's my perception that it is followed in close second by a Ford Mustang.
Yellow Beetle
I was born in a VW-less family in 1963. But, my mother-in-law drove one and her young daughter (my wife) managed to dent it somewhat. Sherry proceeded to try to fix her mishap with a frying pan!
Green '69
In a thirty-year-old Beetle, my dad, sister, and I drove through a 100-year rainstorm and flood. Wipers broken, my head was out the window directing my dad where to turn. Water gushed in the rusted out floor boards until there was a foot of water in the car (battery was under the rear seat, mind you). But she kept moving, past 100's of stranded vehicles that couldn't handle the deep stuff. Great car.
Bug/Corvair
Hi Gene! Both my Father and my brother-in-law were very practical men, both with Scot ancestry. My father would have purchased a roller skate if he thought it would get him to work and back, so it was no surprise (after the shock wore off) that he arrived home with a blue 1959 Corvair (‘59 and a half, I believe it was referred to as). There were absolutely no extras on this little baby, not even a radio (my Dad loved whistling whilest driving). So conservative was my Father that I could never get over that he had bought a vehicle that was new and innovative; untested. But he loved it. And it became my first car several years later, and I loved it, eccentric as it was. My friends laughed for sure. Although my best friend had a drop-dead gorgeous 1955 Chevy with a custom navy paint and white rag top I remained loyal to the Corvair. And several years later I acquired a 1963 Corvair Spider; burgundy with white rag top. Perhaps the prettiest car I’ve ever owned. The brushed metal instrument cluster was a work of design art. Loved the little turbo charger until I went west from Michigan and began having to climb mountains: the air was apparently too thin to provide the boost that the little (80 horsepower?) engine desperately needed. I have never had a car that I enjoyed more than the Spider. My brother in law’s bug? I was too young (according to him) for me to drive it, and by the time I had my license he had sold the VW and bought an MG-A. He never even considered letting me drive that one.
I didn’t intend to go on so long, but clearly it’s on you for having stirred the memories. Thanks, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Warm regards—
Chuck Crawford
Regards, Chuck
[photocrawf] for SolidFuel
A little sharp?
A little sharp aren’t we David? WTF!
Regards, Chuck
[photocrawf] for SolidFuel
Original Ad Campaign Spoof
Years ago I saw a step-by-step spoof of the original famous VW ad (tiny car on mostly blank page) that walked through what would have happened if the client had been allowed to art direct i.e, a giant starburst reading "FREE COFFEE!". I've been looking for it ever since with no luck. Anyone? Anyone?
Beetle unsafe? How about Corvair?
"It’s a wonder any of us survived [riding in a Beetle]," writes the owner of a Corvair, the "one-car accident" whose reported deficiencies made Ralph Nader a household name! Kind of ironic, no? (Loved the scans, Gene. Beautiful illustrations.)
VW
I had a few of these bugs -- 1 being a convertible. thanks for the memory. the convertible definately had the cool factor but when you put the top down you couldnt see a darn thing behind you!
Back in the early sixties my
Back in the early sixties my dad owned a 1949 red VW Beetle for his drive to work at the L & N railroad. We were told it was on of only three sold in the U.S. that year and the only one east of the Rockies. He was a large man, nicknamed Hoss by his coworkers, after the character of the same name on Bonanza, and the car seemed like a tightly fitting envelope for such a large man. It was bright red and had a capital letter D on the right rear fender... really unusual car for the times! My dad was a Tech Sargent in the Army during WWII and lived for a time with a family in Nuremburg, Germany at the end of the war and afterwards. His unit helped rebuild railroad bridges that had been destroyed during the war. I always wondered if he was attracted to the VW Beetle when everyone else we knew drove Buicks and Cadillacs because of his time in Germany during the war.
VW Bus
After my dad traded in his VW Beetle he acquired a VW Bus with a convertible roof... pale celery green with darker green trim. My older brother learned to drive in this car and since we were all in band together it became the "band bus" which was perfect for hauling around bass drums, the occasional tuba player (convertible roof came in really handy here!) along with the woodwinds... clarinets and flutes... Came to a bad end though... my two brothers and a friend went spelunking and on their way home my brother fell asleep at the wheel and drove the bus off the side of the road into a wooded ravine. My brother was thrown through the drivers' side window, hitting a tree and dislocating his shoulder... their friend was sleeping in the middle seat and hit the wall between the two front seats breaking it, and my other brother went through the windshield and had a cut in his scalp that required numerous stitches... they cut his sweatshirt off him at the emergency room... my mother sewed it back together with a zig zag stitch and he wore it and dined out on the story for years... sadly the VW bus had to be towed off on a trailer as the frame was so bent no two wheels would touch ground at the same time. A sad end for a noble vehicle!!!
VW Kharmann Ghia
My older brother, the one who wrecked the VW bus, learned to drive in a blue Kharmann Ghia. He was 4 years older than me and my hero! When it came time for me to learn to drive, I was reluctant. Why bother? I had two older brothers who drove me everywhere I needed to go... but my parents were adamant (knowing that my brothers would not always be there and that my little sister would need her own chauffeur shortly!). Asked what car I wanted, I decided I wanted a Kharmann Ghia like my brother's. A candy apple red one appeared shortly and I was on the spot. A local speedway which was closed was my training ground... I was a bit perturbed at having to learn to shift gears on a manual transmission... it seemed like a LOT of work to me when there were automatics but what did I know. My father had insisted we all learn to drive a manual first, just in case we might need the experience later in life... I guess driving manual Jeeps in the Army was where he was coming from. Anyway I learned, slowly, to shift gears with my mother in the passenger seat and my little sister hanging over my shoulder. My dad went on an annual fishing trip to Canada every year with friends from his job on the L & N Railroad. When it was time for me to finally take my driver's test he came home a day early to give me a good luck charm... a key ring with a tiny stuffed otter. Having driven straight through from Canada, my dad sacked out and sent my older brother with me for the test at the county seat 15 miles away. I was sitting parked second in line in my red Kharmann Ghia, by the courthouse waiting my turn for the driving test when the lady in front of me started her test. Thinking she was in drive, she stepped on the gas and nothing happened, pressing harder she proceeded to jump the curb (the car actually being in reverse!), snapped off a parking meter and rammed my car from the front knocking it into the car behind me thereby crushing both the front and back ends of my beautiful little sports car! The lower profile of my sports car put the larger cars in front of and behind me above my bumper line. The trooper climbed out of her car, wrote the accident up, filing for whiplash in case he needed a day off later on in the month, and asked me if I was still up for my test. In shock, I said yes and proceeded to take my damaged car through its paces without the aid of turn signals which meant I not only had to shift gears but also remember to use arm hand signals out the window to signal my turns!!! Horrendous!!! I made it around the block and even parallel parked my crippled vehicle... the officer pointed out that I was popping the clutch a lot and then said I had made several mistakes but that he was passing me with a grade of 75 out of 100 for having the nerve to take my test after being in a wreck... something I would have to do in the real world probably many times... years later "grace under fire" is still my mantra!!! My brother and I drove home and woke my dad up with the good news and the bad news. My Kharmann Ghia was repaired and I drove it for another two years until my mom caught me defrosting the windshield with my hands and insisted they get me a newer car with a working heater! My next car was a pedestrian 4 door sedan by a new kid on the block... Toyota!!! A Corolla Deluxe. Thus ended my love affair with Volkswagons although I would love to have my little Kharmann Ghia back today... it was pretty austere inside.
Needless to say, the entire
Needless to say, the entire evolution of Volkswagen as an automobile brand has emerged to be a true global force in the name of cars. Would anyone else expect less of Volkswagen Parts especially with the acquisition, re-development, and refurnishing of other giant names such as Audi, SEAT, Skoda, and Lamborghini?
VW Heater
Of course anyone who ever rode in an original Beetle knows that their "built-in heater" was a joke! It was hot air blown over the engine, and not close to hot enough on a cold day. You could purchase a gas heater, but that decimated your mileage!