I want a VW Beetle. There I said it...
 

Hell no, not the new ones...

After never really paying attention to them for pretty much all of my life, even though my moms first car was a 66 VW Beetle she named "Albert" back in 70 and my grandma drove one and my dad had one and actually the one he had was going to be mine until it was stolen, but that's cool cause I got a 300E instead :P :cool:

I watched the crash test video I was like "HA, that car is never seeing my garage" until...... I started watching another video... and then another and a bunch more and saw how kind of cool they are and so simple... The whole reason I got into old Mercedes and old cars for that matter is because of the simplicity and there isn't anything much simpler than a old VW beetle....

My dad really likes them and I think they're pretty cool and fun to drive, so I'm thinking once I get my 220 all taken care of I'm going after a 74 Super Beetle to have and finally have a car that I can learn on and become a DIY'er with... The only problem is one that my dad brought up, overheating. We live in a hot hot place but hopefully will be moving to a cooler area... I don't think it's easy on the "air cooled" engine in 118oF heat. That's the major drawback I see here.. I'm actually really excited for this and think it'll be pretty fun to own...

Anyone have any advice with them? Besides not to crash it lol

Also, I LOVE the engine sound in this video of this beetle, it's at 45 seconds if you don't want to watch the whole video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAbGaqSJZrE&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XUKOUbp_PA&feature=related I like this one

I think owning one would be fun for a while to putt around in. Hope you like adjusting valves a lot though.

Yes, it's a death trap. Even when new, the shifter feels like you're attached to the engine with overcooked pasta. The VW (and Porsche) idea of "climate control" is their homage to POW camps. Was there ever a car so easy to break into or steal? You'll love it.

LOL yeah that was a good one... really? they require frequent adjusting?

Yeah, got a great taste of how the beetle is when we tried selling a super beetle for a friend and I drove it around, I was really bias at the time and chuckled at how horrible it was but I did think it was fun to drive. Although I'm coming at it from an entirely new perspective and know I will love it, thankfully it'll be a "toy" and not a daily driver, although I'd like to take a few road trips in it.. I'll Just carry a rosary in the glove box and pray I don't get in an accident with that thing lol

Well the books say 3000 miles. Your mileage may vary.. I remember them being a pain to do on my friend's squareback. You really have to like working on them I think, to own one. That said at least they are very simple. Don't expect the engines to last as long as an OM617

I drove them a few times in the 60s and 70s but never owned one. Fun to drive, especially back then. I want the '68 with front disc brakes - not a real common model. I wanted for years to build a Meyer's Manx style dune buggy, not for off roading but because Car and Driver tested one in the mid 60s and they said with racing tires it outhandled and out braked every sports car they'd ever tested.

I forget exactly, I think 80 mph to 0 was something like 200 feet - over 1 G in braking force and that with stock 4 wheel drum brakes. You have to use the pre-Super Beetle models, up til 1970 or so - has to have the torsion bar suspension up front and the frame is shortened about 12 inches IIRC. A manx weighs 1200 lbs so with a halfway hopped up vee dub engine they were supposed to be pretty zippy.

You can buy all sorts of performance parts for them - big bore kits, scat cams, del orto carbs, slick shift kits... The list goes on and on. You can build yourself about 200HP pretty easily when you punch it out to 2 litres.

A jug kit with extra cooling fins and an oversized oil cooler will help with the heat.

Get a 1969. Make sure the heat works if you live somewhere that needs it. Change the oil and adjust the valves every 3000 miles. Set the valves a touch loose on #3. Lube the throttle and clutch and heater cables in the tubes. Watch for rust on suspension parts. Make sure the floor pan is solid and keep it that way. Keep the plastic cover over the positive battery terminal. Keep the fuel line away from the throttle linkage at the engine. After that, it's just normal maintenance. I don't care HOW rare they are, avoid the auto-stick shift transmission models. Some parts are nearly impossible to find for them.

don't be a wuss, a '74 SB is barely a beetle
 

Go whole hog! Get a real beetle, like a pre-62. 40 HP. Heater system with knobs instead of levers. Fill up the gas tank in the trunk. Flip the floor switch when you run out of gas because there is no gas gauge. FM only radio, which was a real problem on my father's '58, because the only local FM station was in Cortland, NY.

On the positve side of owning one in Ithaca, NY when I was a kid, it was the hip car for Cornell professors and students. With the rear engine, it was one of the few cars that could handle the hills in winter. 35 MPG. Ithaca had more VW's per capita than any place in the world, except maybe Wolfsburg. Later Ithaca had more Volvos in the '90's than most places in Sweden, but for different reasons.

They say they are so well balanced that you could remove one wheel and it would still sit normally, and that they float in water. Anyone ever confirm this?

buddy of mine had a 66.the thing i thought was and wasn't cool was the windshield washers got motivation from the spare tire.but if you used it alot the time you need the spare it was out of air.pretty much had to check it at ever fuel fill.

True as to the balance. When I was learning to drive, my father griped me out all day beacuse the tires squealed whenever I took a corner. "You're going too fast!" Finally, I had him drive it. The tires squealed. The front right tire had no air because of a huge gash, but it didn't look flat because of the balance.

Actually, back in '58 it would've been 'AM only' radio.

Happy Motoring, Mark

i'd look for a 1971-74 bug, non super beetle, which had the offset oil cooler, 1600cc, dual port heads, and more refined.

i campaigned a 69 bug in the early 70's running I/G in modified eliminator, got it down to 12.92 at 103 mph

couldn't keep the transaxle together so put it on the street, pi$$ed off alot of camaros, mustangs, and other muscle cars