I want to start this piece with an apology to the guys at Deboss Garage. I’m not sure which one bought this exact 1974 Volkswagen Beetle, but I’m sure that they’re not going to be thrilled with my personal opinion of this car. Which is lower than a snail’s sack…I might be able to see promise in older Porsches and Karmann Ghias, but when it comes to the Type 1, all I can say is “sorry”, because I cannot stand these tweetling little lumps. I can’t do it. I get that they are a sincere legend of the automotive world. I get that they are a living fossil of a car. I understand that many love and adore these cars, but I can’t be swayed by cuteness alone. A stock, basic street-going Beetle does exactly nothing for me. Nada.
The last time I blasted VW air-cooled anything, readers responded in force. I should drive one. I’d understand then. I’ve driven a Karmann Ghia, and I understand enough…the steering is nice in any car, shockingly good for the 1967 example I drove. And as long as you aren’t expecting race-car performance, it handled pretty well, too…especially when you take into account the rolling stock the car had. But the engine had all the motivation of a brand-new soldier the morning after his squadmates welcome him to the unit with a beer-bash, the transmission had all the friendliness of a Stalag prison guard, and after fifteen miles I was ready to walk to my destination. Yet the amount of attention these cars get is unbelievable, even to this day.
I really don’t see myself converting. Cram a Porsche engine in there, set it up for carving canyons, and we’ll talk.
I owned a 73 super beetle in the same “”Hemi” orange color. Great car for a 19 yr old. I had a crash course in driving a stick, it would off-road like a Jeep, used no gas to speak of, cheap to maintain, and the chicks loved it. Cons were, the heat sucked and would kill you if not careful, no balls, not very comfy. Id get another one just to goof around in if I could find a decent one cheap enough. Great car.
I owned a 63 rag top beetle back in the day, dual Webbers, big valve heads, some typical speed goodies, it could crank 13’s at the track and drive home. Not earth shattering by any stretch but 13’s and quicker in a beetle is terrifying. I still own a 1963 VW type 2 bus. My son and I recently drove it cross country 2275 miles. 7 states and one Canadian province. No problems. The thing to remember is a determined air cooled driver can cover a lot of territory and you can’t be in a hurry although it did take a good chunk of the morning to cross the Continental Divide. Besides you have to appreciate a vehicle that you can touch the wind screen with your fingers without removing them from the steering wheel. All the things commented on in this video are spot on and accurate however one must remember 1974 was also the era of the Vega, Pinto, and Gremlin.
Here in Europe beetles was a normal everyday driver in the 70-80s and Well into the 90s as a body man i have had my fair share of incounters with the aircoolers and i absolutely hate everything about them. The pedal are standing up from the floor wich feels really stupid and the body tapers in a little in the front making it feel smaller than it is. There is 0 heat, instead there is fogged up Windows all around and usually wet feet from the rustet out sills. It handels like it has 2 flat tires and has the accelleration of a turd. I cant find any thing positive to mention. Even the worst russian car of that era was Way better. And i can for the life of me not figure out why anyone would buy one when there was cars at the time that had so Much more comfort and style. Only time i liked a wv is when its in the crusher Being recycled.
Sorry Haters, but I daily a Bug with a 33 miles each way commute, mostly freeway. It\’s a 1960 body on a 66 Pan (so ball joint front end instead of link pin and a full synchro trans instead of the crash box). It has a 1641cc Dual Port with an Engle 100 cam and 4 into 1 header. It cruises find at 65-70 and knocks down 35 MPG doing it. Aside from the great MPG out of a car I don\’t have a lot of money in, I also get a tons of thumbs up, but most interesting I find myself relaxing more on my commute and not stressing out. When I drive my twin turbo truck I seem to always be in the fast lane trying to push as much as I can through traffic, but in the Bug I cruise along with the SEMI\’s and it only adds a few minutes to the commute. No rose colored glasses here (even though I started with the VW business in 1975) and it seems good for my mental health!
Well clearly this car has fans and haters at both ends of the scale. Those of us who learned to drive in them and spent time with them as kids in the family car either love them or hate them. The worst Russian car of that era was way better? If that were so, the Lada or some other shitbox would still be on sale here in North America. The Beetle’s longevity says it all
Take a ride in one that has been sorted, compare 80 vette stock and 80 vette ls’d with goodies… two different cars completely.. sombody put some miles with you wit a 2275cc and good underpinnings you may even smile …
Beetles are OK. I’ve owned 4 of them (the latest a 68). Yes the heater can kill you if you let it malfunction. OTOH it probably won’t. The brakes are manual brakes. The rear end may be a swing axle.
It’s not a Dodge Challenger, or a Dodge Dart. Actually it probably IS a slant 6 dodge dart, done German-style.
Looking at a nearly 50 year old car and smirking that it’s not a modern car is not very creative. A bug was a great car for its intended use… a low end, reliable (yes it is) piece of transportation.
Yours is a 50 year old beater with hacked up wiring and other evidence of shade-tree craftsmanship (power pulley).
I have a 70 bug convertible. 1700 cc single port motor. Love this car I owned it now 35 yrs . Alot of attention it gets .Her name is Helga happy driving
I have owned several Air Cooled VWs back when I was young, to get around the heat issue I put a squirrel cage fan under the rear seat and a switch to turn it and it got nice and warm.
The person that made this video is an idiot I\’ve had Beetles, type 1 type 2 type 3 the whole gamut,and learning to drive and I never had any problems as he discussed in this video I build my own engines. And all the years that I\’ve been into the VW business for many many years,I\’ve never seen one catch on fire as he was discussing about that plastic fuel filter,yes you do have to adjust the valves every oil change but that just goes along with the car there are pros and cons with every car. He needs to do more research about and be around vw\’s for more than just making a video.
Sad. Very sad that somebody try to escrutinize a car that\’s, at least, one of the most sold in the world. And it\’s still running. He was probably raised driving his dad\’s muscle car, or someone\’s, and has never gotten the pleasure of disbraving a \”world\” with a car which is worth sharing with. I\’m one of the fortunates who had an old beetle, called Fusca in my country, and hit the South America roads more than once for 8 years, doing only ordinary maintenance that a single book could teach a 18 year old first car owner how to. Maybe he should stick talking more about more technologic cars, which don\’t agregate road living experience, as his era must have drawned him into.