Pixelmaster Loc: New England

Long ago and far away we had this VW. Drove from New Jersey to Maine
and the cost of gas was eleven dollars round trip. 40 HP with a strain to get
up long hills with creative ways to pack what you need in the"trunk" under the hood.
Remember where you filled up the gas tank? How about the heater?
If you did not own one you knew someone who did. What's your story?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Nice shots. We had a Red '58 and a blue '57.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Great cars. I had six of them including the Karman Ghia model. My first one was a 59 with spare gas tank lever. What heater. I carried a ice scraper on cold days to scrape the film of ice from breathing in the car. I would drive from New York City to New Jersey for work 104 miles a day. Gas was 21.9 cents and they washed your windows and checked your oil.

markie1425 Loc: Bryn Mawr, PA

I had a '59 (illegally imported from Europe with the original turning signal semaphores)-completely cracked it up in '66-and a '69 which we kept until '80.

Of course, the '59's gas filler tube we inside the front trunk, the spare 1.8 gallon tank lever was in the middle of the front firewall, and the heater was controlled by a plastic knob on the hump. No gas gauge at all-€”just the sound of your main tank running out of gas.
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canondave1 Loc: Houston, TX

I had a '67 beige VW back during my last year at The U of Texas. Gas was 26 cents per gallon and I could drive all over Austin for a week. The gas tank was still in the front trunk. I loved that car!

pdsdville Loc: Midlothian, Tx

I had three, all purchased when I was in the army in Germany. I had a '58, '64, and a '69 automatic. Sent the automatic back to the states. Just touch the gear shift and it went out of gear. Tap it in succession and it looked like it was mating, rear end up and down. Wrecked the 58, bought two fenders, hood, lights, and bumper for about $50 and bolted it back together. I repainted the entire car with cans of spray paint. As the song says, Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.

coyotecall Loc: New Mexico

I had a '61, at least I THINK it was a '61. Had it turned into a dune buggy (lived in sandy El Paso at the time) and then drove it back and forth from Houston to E.P. when I was in grad. school. With no money I had no choice but to keep it for years and years. No heat of any consequence, had to put in about two or three engines, no speed, kept wishing for a tow on those long, long trips. Had hatches cut in the top, a bike rack on the back, headers, wide tires in the back.....maybe I can add a shot, the only one I have, of the time I camped outside Petrified Forest in AZ. I have no romantic memories. When I could finally afford it, I got a p.u. with a heater, air cond. and a radio....and got better gas mileage too. Never had to replace a motor in that old Datsun. That square thing on the top was my brief case, not another a.c.

Woodworm65 Loc: Lombard, IL

My friend owned one as young men we froze our butts off in the Chicago winters the heater was an option back in those days otherwise you had to depend on the heat from the manifold what a joke but we had fun.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Drove a 66 from miami to eugene oregon some 7 times. what great fun. never over 70 mph and averaged about 28 mpg.....

markie1425 Loc: Bryn Mawr, PA

My friend Albert used to borrow his older sister's '58 VW. He was 16, so she made him promise to drive it no further than two miles. As soon as he would turn the corner, he'd stop and disconnect the odometer cable, then drive us to New York (we lived in Philly).

One day, we drove to Manhattan where he purchased a used Vespa motor scooter. By artfully removing everything from the interior, he was able to somehow stuff that entire Vespa into the VW. He then opened the sunroof and stuffed the seats inside, with the long rear seat sticking out through the roof. There was no room left for me on the return trip, but I managed to bend myself around the Vespa.

On the way home, after dark, the main gas tank ran dry, so he flipped the emergency tank lever and we were able to drive about 40 more miles (the odometer cable was still disconnected) into Pennsylvania until we found an open gas station. We must have been running on fumes.
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Steve Dommer Loc: Sacramento, California

Still own four (plus another KG I'm restoring). I drive them all.

relie Loc: Western Massachusetts

We had a Blue 62 and literally drove the floor boards out of it. I had to put a piece of plywood under the battery so that it wouldn't fall out in the road. That little car was so cheap to repair it was comical. Starting to see more of them now at the cruise nights. Would love to buy another one just for the fun of it. Lol

Good times!
Dave

Pixelmaster Loc: New England

It was getting near the end of the year when my wife was expecting our first baby. The trick was to receive the benefit of receiving a tax deduction for
the entire year if delivery occurred before the end of December. Well deliver she did to a bouncing seven and a half healthy boy. So a few days later on
New Year's Day we were given permission to leave the hospital without a wheel chair. Down the elevator from the maternity ward we arrived at the
ground floor and as went through a couple of doors we were walking down a darkened hall since nobody was around for the holiday. My wife turned to
me and I immediately knew something was very wrong. She was hemorrhaging. I took her shoes, opened a unlocked laboratory door and placed them
in a sink. As I came out I looked a distance down the corridor and what I thought was a nurse was a sister who was part of the Catholic hospital. As I
called out "Nurse" I need some help she did not respond. This disaster was now becomming surreal. Turning around I saw she was dressed in the usual habit of a Nun
and then I asked for help. The problem was once the baby had been released it could not be returned to the nursery. My wife was sent to be treated and I was given the baby.
After a few long minutes the Sister Superior shows up and tells me she will go with me to our home which was a two family house that we shared with our Catholic Italian
landlord and his wife. Outside was the VW and here I am driving away from the hospital with my new son and a Nun. As I pull up in the driveway
my landlord and his wife see me with a Nun and a baby. Looking very dubious he asked me in his heavy Italian accent "Where isa you wife and what
are youa doing with a Nun?" It took ten days until my wife was able to come home which took some complicated arrangements to make that happen.
But that was one ride in a yellow VW convertible that I can never forget.

coyotecall Loc: New Mexico

Good God! That's a story out of a Gahen Wilson cartoon.......or a Three Stooges movie.....though it couldn't have been funny at the time.

Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

In 1965 .. I got married .., sold my Vette .., (my wife couldn't drive it) .., bought a new 1966 bug from Hollywood Ford ...., drove it directly to my parents house in Redondo Beach to show them and was hit by a full size Ford at an intersection B E F O R E I GOT TO SHOW THEM ...it was towed away ...2 weeks later .. I got it back from the body shop ...eventually moved to Utah about 6 months later... at that point .. not content to drive it stock.. I had a Y tube fabricated .. mounted it on the carburetor which I jetted out .. then I cut open holes on the rear fenders .., mounted chrome air scoops and duct tubbing to the y bracket on the carb ...it instantly was the fastest stocker on the street ... a few months later .. I blew the engine ..! . Fixed that drove it in Utah a while and in 1967 moved back to LA ..Calif ..with 50,000 on it and traded it for a 1966 Dodge Charger at DelAmo Dodge Torrence Calif.. in 68.. I traded it in for a new 1968 Dodge Charger and drove it to the Grand Opening of BULLIT ... the rest is history ...
My VW was a fun car ... yes that's my VW story in the short form .. and certainly more than what you wanted to hear ..😎