Early '60s VW
Mar 27, 2017 17:44:25 #
My first car was a 58 VW. Bought it for $350. Because all of my friends had muscle cars I decided to jazz it up a little.
Put a racing stripe on it and my girlfriend the artist painted long flames on the front quarter panels and the doors. It was pretty cool (but I was young and stupid).
The kicker was my father got t-boned in his Olds 98...the car was 2 months old and was going be in the shop for 2 weeks....So he had to drive mine back and forth to work in downtown Chicago...that included going thru toll booths.
So here is a guy in a business suit and tie driving a 36 hp 6 volt system VW with racing stripes and flames painted on the doors to his office.
The toll booth attendants were merciless...and so were his co-workers.
Put a racing stripe on it and my girlfriend the artist painted long flames on the front quarter panels and the doors. It was pretty cool (but I was young and stupid).
The kicker was my father got t-boned in his Olds 98...the car was 2 months old and was going be in the shop for 2 weeks....So he had to drive mine back and forth to work in downtown Chicago...that included going thru toll booths.
So here is a guy in a business suit and tie driving a 36 hp 6 volt system VW with racing stripes and flames painted on the doors to his office.
The toll booth attendants were merciless...and so were his co-workers.
Mar 28, 2017 06:50:18 #
Pixelmaster wrote:
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?
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?
Pixelmaster - this put a smile on my face. My father owned one just like this one - same color and everything. He used to put the top down and my sister's and I would sit on the top of the backseat while my father took us for a ride. People told my father that he was crazy to let us ride around like that. Maybe he was but he was the best. My happiest childhood memories are always of my father! Thank you
Mar 28, 2017 06:52:30 #
The optional heater, up front in the trunk that mounted through a largish hole in the dash. It siphoned gas out of the regular gas tank through a special filler cap for the fuel heat source. You could fire it up when you started the car, and it blew real heat into the cabin. Warm as toast and windshield defrosted within a couple of minutes. It was an after market option available through the dealer, especially for the VW Bug. My 1967 was the first improved front suspension, 12 volt system, 52 HP engine that still had the old bumpers with the overriders or bumperettes whichever you called them.
The 67 was a major improved bug, and that heater made mine a toasty warm car in cold winters. No waiting for warm air from the engine as it warmed up and made it's way from the rear of the car. It could keep up with most other traffic on the interstate.
The fact that it drew a bit of gas from the regular fuel tank for the optional heater did not seem to affect MPG.
The 67 was a major improved bug, and that heater made mine a toasty warm car in cold winters. No waiting for warm air from the engine as it warmed up and made it's way from the rear of the car. It could keep up with most other traffic on the interstate.
The fact that it drew a bit of gas from the regular fuel tank for the optional heater did not seem to affect MPG.
Mar 28, 2017 07:20:43 #
Fkaufman1
Loc: Florida
Bought a 67 VW fastback, drove it off assembly line in Wolfsburg Germany and all over Germany then shipped to Milwaukee, later USAF drove cross country many times, no a/c in July in Needles Cal, oil boiled out of filler tube. Finally traded in with over 200k miles on it. Great car.
Mar 28, 2017 09:16:29 #
These were only recently stopped production as you could still buy them in south America into the 2000's I belive. They only quit importing they to the US as they would not meet the emissions for the US. They probably didn't pass the crash tests also.
Mar 28, 2017 09:42:21 #
When the VW muffler rusted out I can recall being able to pick up the engine and remove it by hand. Not so with all the other cars with Detroit iron in them.
There were some who decided to put Porsh engines in VW's. Not an easy project but then again those who have a need for speed wound not let that
deter them.
There were some who decided to put Porsh engines in VW's. Not an easy project but then again those who have a need for speed wound not let that
deter them.
Mar 28, 2017 09:51:46 #
There was a company in Texas that put V-8's in the rear of them during the late 60's early 70's
Mar 28, 2017 09:57:44 #
Fkaufman1
Loc: Florida
The German police had some of their green bugs equipped with Porsche engines, try to outrun them surprised
Mar 28, 2017 10:30:26 #
Learned to drive in a 1960 Green Bug. In my back yard, my mom said it was in neutral, just turn the key with your foot on the gas pedal. I did, it was in first gear, drove it into a tree...
Mar 28, 2017 10:30:50 #
Mar 28, 2017 10:31:00 #
The VW may not have a lot of horsepower and in some cases it was banned from the New Jersey Turnpike during high winds but it got you to where you wanted to go.
Today between the insurance companies mandating you have to have so many things in a car that the cost has reached the stratosphere. Forget about the cost of
replacement parts IF you can fix it.Case in point is the window sticker from the VW I bought in 1962. I know inflation has taken a toll on the dollar but even
then cars today offer ridiculous discounts so that you will buy what they make. Note the bottom line for the VW convertible was $2140.
Today between the insurance companies mandating you have to have so many things in a car that the cost has reached the stratosphere. Forget about the cost of
replacement parts IF you can fix it.Case in point is the window sticker from the VW I bought in 1962. I know inflation has taken a toll on the dollar but even
then cars today offer ridiculous discounts so that you will buy what they make. Note the bottom line for the VW convertible was $2140.
Mar 28, 2017 12:24:28 #
PixelStan77 wrote:
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.
Had a 59, drove like a maniac trying to get someplace with 36 horse power. If it had a heater I would still have it. Would go anywhere with it. Tried to pass a guy on the freeway once with a small headwind, I got even with the guy but couldn't make it, had to drop back. I got it up to 85 mph once coming down Stevens pass in Washington. Really just a fun car.
Mar 28, 2017 13:35:33 #
rbmcgarvey
Loc: Philly, PA
We had a '68 VW for the four(4) years that we were in the U.S. Navy. Bought it for $1,500.00. When we got discharged, we bought a '72 Super Beetle for $1,750.00. What do they sell for now--$Thousands. Just inflation, I guess.
Mar 28, 2017 13:50:39 #
coyotecall
Loc: New Mexico
Really, those old Beetles were wonderful for we broke students driving around cites, but for cross-country travel they were a frustrating nightmare. I had "up-graded" my '61 so it probably had 40 hp, and it was "hip" enough to carry this 40+ year old around in cool style, but the fact is, it was a car that drove me bat-shit crazy trying to get anywhere on the interstates of west Texas, though that's what I had to do in my under-grad and post-grad school years. When I got a modern car, an actual CAR with a.c., a reliable engine (I had to put 4 in that VW Bug) some horsepower, a really good heater.....well, I left that VW "romance" behind me. Now I drive a car that gets 50 mpg, goes 75 at a touch, is quiet, solid, and really well built, probably go 300K without losing a clutch or doing a valve job (a regular event in the Bug). So, like a high school crush, it was a nice memory, but I grew up and moved on, a lot faster than that Bug ever carried me. (It COULD climb bad mountain roads though, that's nothing I will attempt in my Prius.)
Mar 28, 2017 14:57:19 #
My sister-in-law had one of those deathtraps. Why was beyond me when there were real cars to be had.
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