Volkswagen Smell

[53 0val]

I understand that a major part of the "smell" is from the glue used on the headliner and carpet. VW used the same glue throughout the bus and beetle years and quality restoration shops source out the same brand.
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"What a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away." Dobee, Dobee, Do

[Sidbus]

Everytime a friend/family member gets in my '76 westy they comment that it smells exaclty like the '77 I owned back in the 80s. Door and clutch squeak is the same noise also.
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57 Panel http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=453943
62 so34 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533160
76 Westy http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=520076

[Nwilgus]

I would love to have some of that VW incense!

[gavin.dude]

mine used to smell like mad exhaust but I figured it wasnt enough to kill me so I just kept on drivin and my heater cables were gone so I hade the flaps in the heater boxes held open with hose clamps so I'd be warm this winter till a couple weeks ago I cranked it up and a huge cloud of smoke came up through the defroster vents and I decided it was time to give up on heat for awhile
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73 SB, Hormiga

[bandi]

My co-workers can tell if I drove my Beetle to work because I smell like it apparently.
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'60 Canadian Standard, '64 Bug, '66 Bug, '66 Bus, '69 Sunroof Bug, '71 Super, '72 Super, '73 Canadian Custom, '73 Super, '74 Love Bug, '83 Mexi Bug, '94 Mexi Bug, '99 New Beetle, '02 New Beetle Turbo S. And some Fieros.

[Beetlebaum]

[79SuperVert]

I like the smell but my grown-up daughter took a whiff and said it smelled of mildew. That kind of spoiled it a little for me, because she likes the Beetle but this was a very quick, spontaneous response so I think it must be the first thing that comes to mind to the average person.
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Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.

[elkriss]

[carcass]

About a year ago I installed new WW seat covers and seat pads in my '62
A couple of days later a co-worker was checking out my "new" seats and said "they look great,but it doesn't have that "old Bug" smell anymore".
I hadn't really thought much about it,but that odor sort of adds to the car's vintage "personality"-so,since I still had the original horsehair seat pads in the shop(that IS where the smell comes from,believe me),I cut some strips from the odorous old pads and zip-tied them up under the seats-now the smell is back,although a bit "milder" than it was before the new pads were installed.
My wife apparently doesn't feel the same way about the smell-I offered to install some "odor" in her reupholstered '67 Bus,and she just gave me "The Look",and called me a nut...

[patrick66]

My understanding of the distinct smell of VWs (and Audi, M-B, etc) is the MB-Tex upholstery used in these cars. I don't notice the smell so much in M-B cars with leather interiors, but the others smell exactly like any Beetle I have ever driven or ridden in.

It is distinctive, pleasant, and it brings back good memories of my Aunt's 66 Beetle from when I was a kid.

You guys mention the horsehair stuffing - I'd not thought about the padding/stuffing, but that makes sense, too.

[53 0val]

[Harris]

Some yearts ago my '62 got new seat covers (horsehair removed), new squareweave carpet, new door panels and a new headliner. Volkswagen smell is still there without a doubt. Maybe due to the stale air system?

[NJ John]

I always thought that the engine and trans oils add to the smell.
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1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[subwayaz]

I like that ole VW smell; it's part of the mystique. I think it's oil, grease, Steel that gives it a totally unique character.
I've changed the complete interior of all of mine that I've owned and it still had that smell. You can mask it slightly with different freshners but it still remains to some extent. I recently have used the Febrees vent freshner and they seem to knock it out for the most part.

[OVIEDOAV]

I just got another 67 SC and the smell is great. My brother snuck an air freshener in it, but I sniffed it out within a few days. My 17 year old daughter just got a bug, and the "smell" was required. She refused to even look at one that didn't have the smell. My genes live on.
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1967 SO42

[bandi]

The '83 Mexi Bug I just picked up doesn't have the smell... it smells like a Mk1 or Mk2 watercooled car.
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'60 Canadian Standard, '64 Bug, '66 Bug, '66 Bus, '69 Sunroof Bug, '71 Super, '72 Super, '73 Canadian Custom, '73 Super, '74 Love Bug, '83 Mexi Bug, '94 Mexi Bug, '99 New Beetle, '02 New Beetle Turbo S. And some Fieros.

[VOLKSWAGNUT]

Similar topic
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=221435

and my take on the stench

[TL Jer]

I was annoyed that the PO of my '66 Fasty replaced the seat covers but left the crunchy, lumpy original pads in. But maybe he wanted to keep the smell. If so, I guess his heart was in the right place. There's definitely some heater and motor oil smell in that heady bouquet, too.

[rabbitmania]

[Zundfolge1432]

Our friend Bob Hoover answered this question about 15 years ago in another forum before Samba. This material you are calling horsehair is actually coconut fiber. This material is tough stuff and it is also used in the oil bath air cleaner.just for the record its not age related my 74 bug had the smell even when the car was new. I miss you Bob.