Old VW smell...

[KingWeazle]

It is the smell of Hippie Lettuce absorbed into the headliner and horse hair seat cushions.

[VWfinatic273]

I love that smell if they bottled it and sold it I'd buy it. No other car smells like it and its unique. I look forward to the hot days the sun brings that smell out!

[VOLKSWAGNUT]

IMO....the smell....is not the best. Frankly.... don't like it, but can tolerate it.
I usually do all I can to remove it....but it seems to always ooooooooze and permeate through.

It all boils down to old, previous owner induced, saturated, and musty coconut husk fibers..(not horse hair) If you want the smell ....lighter you got to ditch all the fabric and coconut fiber....then maybe....just maybe..... the smell will be lighter.
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aka Ken {o\!/o}
Its your vehicle- stop askin' for approval-do what YOU like for cryin' out loud
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Its about the going not the showing
Rebuilt to drive not decorate
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Usually and often edited

[KTPhil]

From another thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=305109

Coconut fiber seat padding.

Oh, and if it's an oldie, you also have to blend in:
- exhaust fumes from leaky heat exchangers
- oil smell from leaky oil cooler
- raw gas fumes from leaky gas gauge sender
- brake fluid from leaky rear line under floormat
- hydrogen from battery acid spill under back seat
- burnt plastic from shorted wires fixed with band-aid
- salty air from day at beach
- stale beer from can stashed under passenger foot rest when pulled over for broken tail lights
- faint smell of old weed (location forgotten)

And if it's an old Bus, it could be biological, but let's not go there.

[kkjellquist]

Speaking of smells...just bought our first bus and on the way to drive/inspect my wife says "Did you ask the guy if he's a smoker?". I just laughed.
_________________
1977 Sage Green Deluxe Campmobile - "Turtel"
(1978 2L FI, Pertronix, Hydraulic Lifters)

Turtel - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=561195

Pisgah Bus Rally - New Year's Day
http://pisgahbusrally.blogspot.com/

[CherylG]

It's the only car I know of that keeps the "new car" smell FOREVER!. I love it. Even if I'm not driving the Beetle I open the door every once and a while and take a good whiff. And since the window visors are on the doors the windows are down at least 2 inches all the time and the smell never goes away.

[jjohnston]

Not surprisingly, 356 Porsches share this wonderful aroma - one of their many delightful features.

[VWfinatic273]

Nothing is better than a vw you have stored and while you open the door you hear the seal peeling away from the body and that lovely, inviting smell hits you in the face like a wave. Occasionally I need my fix.

As for your wife asking about if that guy was a smoker, that's hilarious!

[drscope]

Went to the local Cruise Inn Saturday night with a buddy and his 2 young daughters. The youngest (she's 5) wanted to see the inside of many of the cars, so I had to pick her up to look inside.

We came across a nice 63 beetle and when I lifted her up to look through the passenger's window, the first thing she said was "It smells just like your car in there!"
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[cyclehobby]

Great replies by all. At a recent VW gathering, a guy with a completely restored Beetle sat in my 67 and commented on the smell of an old VW. He said he missed it in his car and we both attributed the smell's departure to his new seat padding plus all the brand new materials in the interior.

This got me thinking about how much I actually relate the "smell" to good times and all the old VWs I've had in the past. I'm not saying it's a pleasant smell, but it is certainly tied to a part of my memory that makes me feel comfortable when I am exposed to it. To me, it's like a perfume. It may not be a fragrance you'd buy for yourself, but it can be OK. A combination of gasoline, oil, battery fumes, exhaust, age and just the right amount of B.O. After all, these cars carried lots of sweaty people through many summers - without A/C!!!

In all, the smell is a part of what makes old VWs a part of each of us. It's not bad. It's just the way an old VW is.
_________________
1967 Beetle
Northern NJ

[pb_foots]

In my case, add the smell of my Dad's pipe. Many, many insanely good memories of the inside of various VWs as a family.

On really warm days I still get an occasional whiff of 'captain black' out of the headliner. My father hasn't driven this car in 15 years and he's been gone for 3 years, but it's still my Dad's bug.

Keeping the car for my son, so he can relate too.

My wife didn't grow up with one, so she recognizes the smell but doesn't necessarily enjoy it.

[Das67bus]

[Traveling Writer]

I don't know what that interior smell is, but I adore it. For me, though, the best VW smell is driving the bus a decent day's distance, pulling over for gas, and while it fills, sticking my nose in the downwind air intake (77 bus). Hot, clean, good-working VW engine smell.... I would wear it if someone could only bottle it. Even my wife has gotten hooked on it... I bust her reaching up on tiptoes and taking an appreciative sniff every so often with a big smile on her face.
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Cheers,
Davi

1977 2.0 FI Westy
2011 1200cc Yamaha Super Tenere
1976 Feet (they work surprisingly well)

[Lost in Space]