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finster Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2012 Posts: 7934 Location: north o' the border
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 3:26 am Post subject: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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looking at the pics of this '55 oval in the classifieds I immediately thought of those 'follow me' airport beetles in the 50s/60s - could this be the remains one of them?
as a diy custom job this would take a lot of effort to convert, finding the right shaped glass/perspex for the curvature etc. I can only find pics of a split based car on the web - what do others think...?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2218397
having emailed the owner he has confirmed the window is glass, has no history of the car yet has added the words follow me into the ad's heading |
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joey1320 Samba Member
Joined: September 12, 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: Cleveland, OH
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9638 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:27 am Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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In the early 1990's I translated several articles from the German VW magazine "Gute Fahrt" for the Vintage VW Club of America. The articles came out for many years in the monthly editions, written by Hans-Joachim Klersey. The 1-pagers covered many rare, coachbuilt or conversion-bodied VWs from the '40's thru '60's. One of them was for the "Follow Me" Beetle. I vaguely remember a very similar photo as the original yellow Beetle. I don't remember which company made these conversions. Purpose was for the Beetle to meet the landing plane at the runway after it stopped and lead it to the airport terminal. Size of the rear window enabled the driver and/or passenger to look up to the pilot in the plane at a steep angle. I've never seen an actual Follow Me Beetle in current photos. Too bad the seller of this Beetle did not include a photo of the instrument panel. |
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finster Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2012 Posts: 7934 Location: north o' the border
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:22 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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what would a photo of the dash reveal? I'll ask him for one |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9638 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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Just to show what was changed. The ad mentioned "the dash are also modified and cut". I don't remember a photo of the original dashboard in the Gute Fahrt article. But with so many other exterior changes to the car, it's likely the dash was also modified by many previous owners since the FollowMe original conversion was performed. |
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finster Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2012 Posts: 7934 Location: north o' the border
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 7:39 am Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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he has sent me a photo of the dash but it has been cut out completely and customised - however there is what appears to be a large bracket where the rear view mirror would have mounted which might be 'original'. I would expect a follow me to have a larger than standard mirror set-up
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banana split Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2002 Posts: 1070 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Canada
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:50 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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Just for reference, here's a split window (or maybe an oval if you go by the tail lights) that was made into a follow me Bug :
_________________ My Beetles :
1951 Crotch Cooler 11G Split Ragtop
1953 Zwitter
1964 Chop Top |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9638 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:30 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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Thanks for getting and posting that dashboard shot, finster. Reminds me of a small airplane cockpit inspiration.
The follow me Beetle with the pretty gal could play Herbie and follow her around! |
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splitjunkie Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 4091
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:01 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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banana split wrote: |
Just for reference, here's a split window (or maybe an oval if you go by the tail lights) that was made into a follow me Bug :
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It's a split. Other pictures of that car show the open bin of one of the glove boxes. It also has split bumpers, one piece windows and 16" wheels. The tail lights would have had to have been updated at some point.
_________________ Chris
You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld |
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joey1320 Samba Member
Joined: September 12, 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: Cleveland, OH
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Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:03 am Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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banana split wrote: |
Just for reference, here's a split window (or maybe an oval if you go by the tail lights) that was made into a follow me Bug :
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She's stunning _________________ **1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0 |
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vwhelmot Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 617 Location: united kingdom
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:42 am Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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joey1320 wrote: |
banana split wrote: |
Just for reference, here's a split window (or maybe an oval if you go by the tail lights) that was made into a follow me Bug :
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She's stunning 8) |
She looks like The Joker |
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Motorhead55 Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2007 Posts: 468 Location: California U.S.A.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:21 pm Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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I'll bet the car wasn't still a 6 volt electrical system. In fact, it may have needed an auxiliary generator or an additional generator mounted in the engine compartment and driven by the engine. _________________ 2007 Dodge Cummins Diesel 4x4 6spd stick
1939 WILLYS pickup
1967 Triumph Tiger Cub |
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finster Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2012 Posts: 7934 Location: north o' the border
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:54 am Post subject: Re: 'follow me' airport beetle? |
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you're right - they had an extra generator set-up something like this
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