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Have you ever owned a VW Beetle?

Did you ever own a VW Beetle?

  • Yep, sure did.

    Votes: 199 73.7%
  • Nope

    Votes: 44 16.3%
  • I've got a New Beetle does that count?

    Votes: 7 2.6%
  • I had some other kind of aircooled boxer motor like a Porsche or a Bus

    Votes: 20 7.4%

  • Total voters
    270
It seems to be the "revive old thread" day:gerg

Had a '72 Super , always started....except wehen you were running late:banghead ...starter issues on this one drove me nuts.
My first was a '59 Micro bus panel ( no windows except two sliders in doors and the tiny rear) No heater would ever heat that box up! It did however have a '70 ish 1600cc motor slid in its engine compartment with a Holly 2 barrel that had no space for an air filter....The headers on it allowed my neighbors and friends to hear me coming for blocks away they claimed...also had a set of Keystone mags w/ wide tires....:groovy I believe was the term!
I also survived a rollover in a '63 convertible where I was ejected thru the cloth sunroof ( open at time) and came back to roll it back over for the other three to get out of it...the Jack Daniels adrenaline inspired superstrength was talked about for some time....dumb-dumb 17 year olds!
 
First one was a '66 followed by a '68 when the first one was stolen and beaten to a pulp by the thieves. I used to put my ski boots in front of the '68s "heaters" to at least warm them up on the way to the SoCal ski resorts. The '68 got stuck in the snow once and just sat spinning the tires. I left it in gear, got out and pushed it out, jogged around, jumped in and drove home. No prob in a beetle. One more note...spent part of my 21st birthday legally drinking and removing a transaxle from a friends '69. Great memories.
 
Interesting

I had a 66 bug. The engine was punched out to over 1800cc. The heads were worked, a Judson supercharger and a Holly Bug spray. It went 110 MPH and got 12 MPG.

I had a 67 square back that had about 12 hp and got about 110 MPG
 
I had a 74 Super Beetle, loved that car, could drift it through an exit ramp using just the throttle.

Then had a 74 Bus, converted that to full electric.

Now I have a 2000 Beetle TDI and a 1986 Vanagon Syncro.

So, ya. I like VW.
 
Oh yeah, I failed to mention back on page one (three years ago) that the very first car I ever rode in was a 66 VW. My parents had this cute little off-white bug when I was born, and I have faint memories of me at age 3 and my brother at age 1 riding together in the little compartment behind the back seat. That was a fun place to ride!
 
Owned a 71 beetle, bright yellow. Used to have to "fly" it down I 40 in the Texas wind (lived in Amarillo at the time). It would do 83 MPH wide open all day....what a neat car. Should have seen me on the boat ramp at Lake Meredith....pulling my 10 foot sailing dingy on a tiny trailer behind the Bug. Drew a lot of laughs from the F250s pulling the huge bass boats!
 
Bugs

I owned two a 71 and 69. The 71 I bought in 1974. I don't remember what happened to it. I think it was sold upon my divorce. The 69 I bought in LA in 1979. ran it till the engine blew and then rebuilt it with oil cooler filter etc. The new engine was great and I continued to comute in it till I left LA in 1981. I sold it for about what I had in it. When I was 12 or 13 I had a friend whose parents had one. We used to hill climb in it then take it to another friends gas station and repair the damage. I don't think his parent ever caught on to what we were doing. They were great cars for me at the time. I also had a friend in LA who had a serious VW dune buggy.
 
I have faint memories of me at age 3 and my brother at age 1 riding together in the little compartment behind the back seat. That was a fun place to ride!

I have fond memories of riding in that "cubby hole" with my brother or the neighbor kid. Our babysitter had a white Bug and she would take us out to the local state park for a little outdoor recreation. Thanks for bringing that up! :wave
 
Oh yea.. very sweet car. It was my second vehicle. Sold my early 60's austin healy sprite to afford it. Needed a car to transport me on my first out west trip to Ft. Bliss in El Paso from Nashville for my basic branch training (army - air defense) in 71. My VW was a 68 or 69 (I think) baby blue super Beetle with fat tires and a black racing stripe down the back. Drove all over the soutwest in that thing. Mountain passes by myself with WAY too much snow...just kept puttin or puttering along. I liked the simplicity of that car.
 
When I was still in high school, I saw a book in the book store...something like VW Bugs for Dummies...great book...the book got me interested in spinning wrenches long before I ever even owned a car...I knew every page...I still have a pristine copy on the shelf and a greasy copy in the shop...that book led me to own a 73 Super Beetle (sucky), a 62 Beetle, a 67 Beetle, a 72 Bus, and a Meyers Manx on a 57 tub. I drove Bugs all through my time in the Army. Still a fan of the mechanical simplicity, durable design, and the sound of an air cooled motor:thumb
 
I bought a bug from a friend in the late '70's. It was a bunch of different colors, assembled from pieces. I paid $20 for it. Cut off the fenders, turned the wheels around and painted it black with spray cans. Drove it for about 6 months and sold it for $50.

Drove cross country in a VW Van with three women in 1976. I haven't thought about that in a while.
 
I had one for just a few months. It had been converted to a dune buggy and was a kick to drive. I was very surprised at how well it handled. Adjusting the valves made a big improvement in smoke and performance.
 
My first real car. A new '64 bug with the 40hp engine. Elephant Racing Grey. I think this was the first year they had the fuel gauge. Even put in a Porsche clutch and aftermarket exhaust. Quite the hot rod.

Then a 71 and a 73. Those were the days when emissions control started to take effect and the bugs just didn't run as smoothly.

Haven't had a VW until last year, an '07 Jetta and '07 Eos.
 
First car was a 67 VW bug and right out of the showroom it was about $1,500. It was dark blue and ran it to over 120,000 miles,

Learned to adjust the valves and replace the muffler which no matter what had to be replaced every two years.

The battery died on summer out at Syracuse University but I always parked it at the top of a hill and let the clutch out in second and it immediately sprung to life. As I recall the battery was under the back seat.
 
1957 model in West Germany in 1960

This was a hand-me-down. I think it produced about 25 HP. As a young Airman I bought this baby-blue model from a civilian contractor heading back to the States. I found just about every road within 100 miles of the base. I was very well received by the German folk I encountered in my travels and had almost decided to muster out in Germany - and stay in country; but became distracted by more pragmatic issues.

I totaled it while driving with a couple of buddies late in the evening, coming through town, downhill, on cobble stones, during the first freeze of that winter; crashed it into a bridge railing after two or three 360's. Sterling Moss couldn't have done any better!

The car is a treasured memory that allowed me to know and love West Germany in a way I could not have without it.
 
I was raised on VWs

I've owned a 71 Super Beetle, a 71 Westfalia Camper (bought from a wrecking yard and I rebuilt it), a 74 Dasher Wagon (NOT air-cooled), a 66 Bus with hot-rodded 71 bug engine, a 56 Deluxe oval-window bug, an 80 Dasher Diesel wagon, an 81 Audi Fox wagon, a 74 Karmann Ghia coupe', an 86 Jetta and an 80 Rabbit Cabriolet.
While growing up my parents owned a 60 Beetle, a 64 Camper (bought used while living in Germany - dad in the Army), a 66 Beetle and two 70 Beetles. I learned to drive in a Beetle, had one of my first REAL physical encounters with a girl in one, the next one in my Westy (oops, sorry - TMI).

The boxer engine in the Beetle is one of the reasons that I fell in love with BMW motorcycles as a kid (age 8 while living in Europe in 1965).
 
Mine was a 72 yellow super w/oil cooler and A/C bought new. I lived in Yuma, AZ at the time, and would load up with a cooler of beer, a buddy or two from the base, and head out into the desert for a party. Never stuck it in the sand so bad we couldn't push/lift it out. Great memories, I think:hungover
 
1970 Beetle. White with red interior. Acquired when it was about one year old. The car that let me discover that German cars were just designed and made differently than American cars . . . for the better. Drove it all through college, and then bought a VW Scirocco at graduation. Probably led me to BMW motorcycles a few years later.

Thanks VW!
 
1969 powder puff blue Karman Ghia Convertible - had a 12 volt hairdryer to defrost the windows.
Also a non discript type 3 wagon
Old VeeDubs is da best VeeDubs.
I will mix this memory with the "I fell out of a VW" post.
I almost fell out of a Karman Ghia once. My mom was dating a guy named Denny who had a Ghia. He let my mom drive it one week-end while her car was getting fixed. On our way to take it back to him, I was a 6th grader, I was in the passenger seat. She took a left turn on Speedway or Braodway (Tucson, AZ) and the door flew open. Who wore seat belts then? I was leaning against the door and swung out over the road. The window was down so I could hang on easily. Whew! Scared the bejabbers out of me and my mom almost had a heart attack. Denny got the door latch fixed!
 
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