Air cooled VW

[JATO_RaT]

Sorry about that response Patrick, actually I knew better and was pretty sure what you were after, but your topic just got the best of me. I was reliving my childhood for a moment and got carried away. My last VW was a Karmen Ghia with 46,000 original miles on it. A German lady came up to once while the Ghia was parked outside and said "excuse me, vut is dhat yoooure karman zeea ouot zhere is veriry nice yahh? Yeah, VW's were a big part of my childhood and one of the few things I know just a little about. Just think, 4 pistons and pins, 4 cylinders, all ringed made in Germany by Mahle for $49.95, things were so reasonable. Rat...

 

[patrickg]

Rat, No apology required man, I too get sort of nostalgic over VDubs especially the somewhat Greyhound-bus-with-loose-ballbearings-in-the motor sound. My first car and first new car (one and the same) was a Bug, Beryl green, '62 1/2 lasted me almost nine months, rolled it on the freeway doin' an indicated 85 when some yahoos in a comp orange El Camino tangled with me. Their left front bumperette touched my rt rear tire and I went sideways a little past 90 degrees. Turned wheel full left into skid and punched it (nothing), tapped brakes (nothing), spun wheel to right and tapped brakes(nothing), was turning wheel back to left when it rolled. I hit my head on the roof on first revolution and blacked out. Came back to consciousness headed in the right direction in fast lane just bouncing to a final stop. I popped my seat belt off and jumped out to pick up one of my hubcaps that was twirling in a circle like a coin that had been spun on a counter top. Witnesses disagreed regarding number of revolutions I rolled, some said as low as 6 others claimed as many as 8. I missed it all. Totalled the Bug, just lucky it didn't total me. I replaced the Bug with an MGA roadster. Stayed away from Bug ownership for S E V E R A L years but couldn't resist going back 'cause they are so cute and neat and groovy...

P.S. I think the "New" Beatle looks like it was built in "Tune Town" by and for cartoon characters. The only way you can tell the front from the back is the lights in back are red.

Patrick (Gettin' ready to go tractorin', brush hoggin' first then some box bladin'.)

 

[Bird]

I guess I was just different where VW was concerned. Several times over the years, I thought a bug would be a good idea, less expensive to buy, better fuel economy, etc. And all I had to do was go down to the dealer, drive one around the block, and then I knew I didn't want one for another couple of years./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[patrickg]

Bird, I don't think they turned off the lights in Wolfsburg due to your Bug Buying profile. I have only had two, sort of. The stock new one and then decades later the buggy I have in the shop. There was a time when they were a good sound investment and a reliable relatively low tech, you could do it yourself car. The engine design is definitely dated, not particularly low in emisions or comparitively high in mileage. They still make really neat and fun buggy and there are lots of VERY serious dessert racers running VW based equipment.

Me, I just want to have some fun and I may start tomorrow if the closing time remarks from the garage tonight hold up.

Patrick.

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Patrick, I don't think I hurt them./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And the same cousin who had the VW that he rolled (and promptly traded for a new Mustang afterwards) in later years built a VW powered dune buggy (I painted it for him) and we did have a lot of fun trying to tear that thing up./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I liked driving it more than the car.

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Bird, IMO the only good use for a VW Bug was to make a dune buggy out of it. With the shortened pan, and lowered center of gravity, they were a lot of fun. The engines? Well, I hated working on them. Too easy to get an O-ring tweeked when building them up, repairing them, or even looking at them! Neighbor of mine bought a new 1970 bug and had the head fall off of it (literally) about 3 or 4 weeks after he bought it. Swore up and down he would never get another one, as he was going off to trade it in for something else. Came home with a Karmen Ghia....go figure. He didn't know it was nothing but a glorified bug, but he didn't bother to look at the VW emblems on the hubcaps either!

 

[cp1969]

Float, indeed....

Does anybody remember the Mad Magazine or National Lampoon spoof ad that showed a floating Bug with the caption, "If Teddy Kennedy drove a VW, he'd be President today"?

I had two (why wasn't *I* President??). One, a '68, bought used in '73 for $600 was a great car. I was so impressed that I decided to add a new one to the fleet, a '75(?) which was the first fuel injected model. It was the worst car I ever owned. The day I bought it, I left the dealer with a nearly full tank and started the 57 mile drive home. Sixteen miles from home, I ran out of gas and coasted to a stop in a farmer's driveway directly underneath his fuel tank (didn't have to walk a step!). I figured I must've been getting about 4 mpg, and I'd just traded a 10 mpg Monte Carlo for it in order to save gas commuting to school. I got so good at replacing fuel injectors that I could easily beat the factory flat-rate. (Btw, neither car would get much more than 26 mpg, a figure which today's bigger, plusher models beat. Air cooling was attributed to this dismal showing, but I'm not sure I buy it. I have an air cooled 1200cc Harley which will get 20-25% better mileage than either of my water-cooled 750-929cc Hondas.)

Other than that particular car, VWs been berry, berry good to me and I would love to get a Jetta TDI.