When you bought your bug, how far did you drive it home?

[Andy797]

I go to a car show twice a year, and this year I went with no intention of buying anything but saw a 1962 VW Bug Ragtop, I had to have it. Had a 74' some years back and decided i'd never have another one inless I got a ragtop. I live in the North East United States and nice ones are hard to come by. Anyways I ended up buying the 62' and driving it back 356 miles, about 7 hours, mostly through the night and a horrible rain storm and mountains. I was nervous all the way with it being a 46 year old car, but it did great and not the slightest problem!

[LordGarth]

Well thats funny. The first one was when I was in college and it was in the parking lot next door to where I was living. The most receint was about 60 miles. Still have both cars.

[Glenn]

The dealership was 2 miles from my house.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
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Long Island's Aircooled Club

[johnanddes]

DO you mean miles or time? I bought it in El Monte and drove it to San Pedro, 30 miles, 2 hours with traffic
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John

64 Stock Beetle

Chuckin' chips at a store on the Central Coast near you!

[Lil' Lulu]

Bought it in Ptown drove it to the coast (100 mi)

Without a clutch. Took at least ten years off my age
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"There's no nookie like Chinookie" Ray Troll

[djkeev]

Hi,

Not a purchase, a gift from Dad. 1960 dark blue (may have been slate, didn't know, didn't care at the time) ragtop. Sears & Roebuck rebuilt engine in it.

Monmouth County, New Jersey (10 miles from the Atlantic ocean)- San Francisco, Haight-Ashbury (a few miles form the Pacific ocean)

In a time before freeway completion as we know it today.
My brother went for the ride. Young, foolish, we're lucky to be alive today! Many stories of stupid things done on that trip but when you are young you ARE invincible! Or so you believe at the time. (you also DON"T tell your parents the stories)

Dave
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1974 Super Convertible
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=rust+repair

Creating a 69 1/2 Ghia Convertible out of a 69 Coupe and a 70 Convertible
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

And the newest arrival!....... 86 Vanagon Westy!
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

[Iowa Mark]

The one in my avitar was driven back from Texas to N.W.Iowa (just over 1000 miles) in the plus 100 degree heat a couple of summers ago. In Kansas at a gas station some guy seeing the Texas plates said, " Wow, you're a long ways from home with that old car!" I said, " Old? This thing's 11 years newer than me, and I'm thinking we are both only half ways home." He looked at me kind of funny and backed away. I went into the McDonalds then and sat in the AC for while, and he was in there too with his wife. He kept pointing at me while he talked to her. I'll bet he never did figure out what I said.

[fred g]

Crumple, my 66 I bought in Bradenton, Florida and drove home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (about 1400 miles) There was heavy snow for the last 500 miles and I had to pull the wipers back and forth with shoe laces threaded through the vent windows.



Ruby, my 62 I bought somewhere between Sacramento, California and Reno, Nevada. I flew out from Boston and planned to drive it back; an idea based on the claim from the owner that "It ran great when I parked it..." I ended up buying old Honda and a tow bar and pulled it to new Hampshire via southern Florida. So, 3200 miles to Florida then about 1500 miles to New Hampshire.

Damn, what was I thinking... I guess I am willing to do most anything for a rust free car.
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66 Sunroof
62 Ruby Red Ragtop

[LouisB]

Drove mine from Orlando to Tallahassee, about 250 miles, but it took 7 hours. We took the back roads instead of the Istate and kept it at about 45 - 50 due to not knowing the condition of the engine. (Stopped a lot too to check the vitals) I will add that I had a friend following me with his truck.

--louis
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Louis Brooks
'67 Manx II

Old people at weddings always poke me and say "Your next." So, I started doing the same to them at funerals.

[67 Florida Deluxe]

[runamoc]

Drive it home after buying it More like towing home a project that will be my next new car. I haven't 'bought' a ACVW that could be driven immediately it over 20 years.

[jewest]

[peaceful warrior]

Lately, I tow them all home, but the last one I did drive was from San Francisco to Los Angeles all the way down Highway 1/101.

It was fun, scary at times, as I would hear strange noises coming for the car. I would guess abot 400 miles, and 9 hours. Enjoyed the scenery!

[my59]

Annapolis MD to NYC. In February. At night. Took 4 days, between the fan breaking, getting it towed, my having to train back to NYC for work and then training back to pick it up when the work was completed.
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'83 MB 300CD, '89 MB 190 2.6 5 speed, '93 Volvo 240, '68 Volvo 144s and yeah, '01 NB turbo

[spotco2]

I've had many, many ACVW's over the years and a majority of them I either brought home with a tow bar or they were at least within a couple of counties from my shop (some even got delivered).

I flew out to Houston TX to teach a class back in the mid 90's and ran across a 64 just down the street from the hotel I was staying in. The guy wanted $250 and claimed to have just rebuilt the engine. I drove it back to GA (about 800 miles) with no tools and no issues.
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69 Beetle

VW's are not just a car, they're an adventure!

[ocdbeetle]

2 hours - 100 miles from Charleston SC to Florence SC...

Only a couple miles after getting it home the drivers side balljoint
came apart pulling out of a parking lot...
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1967 Lotus White Beetle

[russ hilyard]

Some of you guys have balls...... i bought my 65 from a vw wrecking yard in Fresno. its about 40 miles from my house. i test drove it and it only needed gas and all the glass. i had it towed home. the tow cost me 100, but the yard took that off the 1000 dollar price.

[hsu1995]

I drove my 65 that I bought in Oct 07 from Yorba Linda( Southern Cali) to Las Vegas, NV (280 miles). I saw the bug advertised on The Samba Classifieds. A friend and I took a day trip down to Southern Cal to buy it. It drove beautifully. It has been my daily driver since... All I have done to it is change the oil and valve adjustment.

-Speedy G.

[GeorgeL]

My first drive in my '71 bus was 460 miles from Reno, Nevada to Van Nuys California via US395 over four 7000 ft passes and across the Mojave desert.

Pretty uneventful, though the steering box was crunchy and I was wondering why all the cars were flying past so fast. Geeze, I knew that VW buses were slow, but I was driving 65MPH forgoshsakes...

Later I learned about optimistic VW speedometers.

[Zundfolge1432]