What is your favorite part of your vintage VW???

[TDCTDI]

They would have much better results if the carburetor was properly adjusted for the altitude & if they extended the vent tube so that the float bowl wouldn't dump it's contents into the manifold on steep climbs & lots of sloshing due to rough terrain. This is a common problem that is easily fixed.

It's always fun to see the incredulous looks on motorcycle, ATV, & 4x4 owner's faces when you blast past them in a car.

And instead of your example of a pair of hapless dimwits, here's a class 11 beetle's adventure through the Baja peninsula.

[sb001]

[TDCTDI]

I did say "damn near anywhere". Aircooled VWs in stock form are just as capable as 80% as the current SUVs & have probably seen more adverse conditions in their lifetime than 90% of the modern off-road trucks will ever see. They were designed to drive on cobblestone roads, goat paths & what would now be considered off-road trails as part of their every day use.

Just don't go where the Cattails grow, unless you have a Schwimmwagen.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[*Darren]

[TDCTDI]

[Helfen]

[marklaken]

My favorite thing is that they are incredible nostalgia incubators for anyone within their presence.
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Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

15" Bus Wheels in fair condition

Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[Helfen]

Think about the Styling of a beetle. The Beetle styling IS late 1930's universal car styling soon to be surpassed in the early 40's cars by first eliminating running boards, then pontoon fender extensions into the doors, the Air Foil Styling of the Buick Century and Road Master, Next the Flow Through Fender styling ending up with Slab side styling.

If you look at a 1937-39 Ford 2 dr. sedan it has all the design features of a beetle. A body with four removable fenders, Running boards, Front headlamps that are integrated into the front fenders with glass over the headlamps. And if you look at a 40 Ford you see the same in Beetles built after 1967 with sealed beam headlamps.

The beetle styling started in the late 30's of the 20th Century and finished in the 21st Century in 2002. And even with new features like A/C, ( of course Packard and Cadillac had that first in 1939) Automatic (Oldsmobile in 1940), Alternators, 12 volt electrics, Radial tires and disc brakes on some Beetles. The Beetle retains it's 30's character / feel / look, And When driving it 'It's like a time machine"

Two days ago I was going home on a rural road and coming towards me was another Beetle. All flashing lights, honking and waves out the window with smiles. Man...…..that's what the Beetle experience is all about!

[oprn]

[ZENVWDRIVER]

... favorite part on my old '50 was the speedometer needle that went backwards -

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5/50, pastel green 11G - SOLD
8/50, gray 11A Beetle
6/52, pastel green 11C - SOLD
11/4/52, black Zwitter - SOLD to my little bro.
1954 Porsche, pre A, with VW 36 horse- SOLD
1/54, black 11C Beetle - TRADED
2/55 Iceland green Beetle, on a 1965 pan
3/55 113 Beetle, stratos silver
1955 Messerschmitt KR175 - SOLD, sadly
1960 single cab
1962 SO33, with SO 42 interior
9/63 Pacific blue, Ghia
'87 Toyota MR2
'02 WestFORDia E-150, GAVE TO OUR SON

All super-heroes, wear a MASK

[Helfen]

[62DoKaGuy]

If I'm thinking part(s) specifically, I love the cross-break in the '65 & earlier single/double cab rear partition metal. One of my favorite angles, looking at my trucks (pictured borrowed from Gallery, not my DC).

If I'm thinking experience, it's hearing the whining of straight-cut reduction gears as I'm driving down the road...or off it for that matter.
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,,Wenige Menschen denken, und doch wollen alle entscheiden.'' -der Alte Fritz

[ZENVWDRIVER]

[Zundfolge1432]

I’m pretty sure the kubelwagen proved itself during WW2. The Baja 500 also was a proving ground for the design. On my own I’ve had them in situations a normal car wouldn’t work, probably because of lighter weight. VWs made a name for themselves driving all over South America during 50s and 60s on the back roads. 😀

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

The smile on Ms. AlmostHeaven's face when we drive around and the good times it has given us together.

Also,
The exhaust "FWEEEEM" noise at cruise

The 'engine brake' noise, that type of low rumble as the engine compression holds the car back while gearing down on a steep hill

The 4-speed on the floor

The looks we get when people realize that we're a young couple, who own and drive a classic VW
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1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[Jim H.]

I have owned around 12 or 13 different VWs during the past 18 years. All of them were either a Bug or Bus. I love them both! Almost bought a Squareback, but never did. I just love them for the nostalgia, the simplicity of their mechanics, and restoring them (not as a Show car, but just to use as a daily driver.) I even tried to get myself out of the air-cooled VW hobby at one time, but the need for another one quickly 're-bit' me, and I soon found myself another Bug! It is true for most of us here that once you get into classic air-cooled VWs, you are hooked for life! I currently daily-drive a '69 Autostick Bug, but have the need to get a restorable Split-Window Bus too. I'm just a regular 51 year-old guy, with an extreme passion for these cars! I don't make a lot of money, but always find a way to obtain a decent vintage VW Bug or Bus. I have even vowed to myself that I will drive a classic air-cooled VW for the rest of my life, until I can no longer drive! There are so many things that we love about our cars, and trying to choose just one of them is hard. I love all of the old accesories, like the Dehne, Drager, Beck & those rare mercury-filled fuel gauges! Also the rear-window blinds that a lot of the old Bugs have. So many cool 'toys' they've made for these cars!

[Pruneman99]

The DRIVE.

Three peddles, manual steering, shifting gears.

The sounds of the flat tappet engine screaming out back, seeming like it's gonna come apart then setting down to a lovely idle at rest.

The old smells of hot metal and exhaust.

The inability to talk on a cell phone, but not wanting to anyway.

It's a time machine. It brings you back, or transports you to a time you never knew.

The DRIVE.

[IdahoDoug]

On the Vanagon, there are a few cool things to like. The vent windows for one - nothing like a cooling breeze you can direct straight at yourself like that. Opening the license plate to check the oil at a gas station and "keeeerthunk" it makes on the rubber snubbers when you close it. And the sight of it in a parking lot when I'm coming out of a store and perhaps have forgotten that I'm driving it.

Seeing this thing in a sea of "lesser" anonymous looking Fords, Chevys, Toyotas and the like. I like walking up to it and the sense of pride of ownership it gives me - even in my late 50s and with some other cool cars in my garage. I feel like a teenage kid with my first car - hoping someone will walk up to me and ask about it. Pulling up out front of a busy coffee shop other people catch my eye and give it thumbs up. I don't care how old you are. If you are a true car nut, that feeling never goes away and it's always a thrill. Sure, it's somewhat of a juvenile desire for attention, but the thing about this situation is I want the CAR to have the attention. And that's the cool part for me - the car. Taking it from a non running hulk with the paint seared off by sitting in the Georgia sun, to a gleaming beauty close to the way it looked 35 years ago. That's cool. Way cool.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Bobnotch]

When I roll into the gas station and lift the front hood of my 65 Notchback to add fuel. The looks I get are priceless.
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Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[cdennisg]