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BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story...
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Subject: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 03 Aug 13 - 09:27 PM Something that every old folkie has in common with every other old folkie is... ...the Volkswagen story... No, I'm not talkin' about Rabbits and Jettas... I'm talkin' air cooled... I got mine... No, I probably have half a dozen but... ...How about yours??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: ChanteyLass Date: 03 Aug 13 - 10:38 PM My mom saved the money she earned at various jobs over the years for a car of her own so that we could become a two-car family. She looked at several and chose a VW Bug. I had learned to drive on a car with automatic transmission and had to learn how to shift on it. Because mom worked as a school crossing guard by the time she'd saved enough to buy the Beetle, she had summers off and as a college student I got to drive it to my summer job along the coast of southern RI. I was good about turning off the radio when I parked the car, but one morning I drove to work through fog and forgot to turn off the lights. When I finished work and tried to start the car, well, you know. I never forgot again but am grateful that cars now turn the lights off if the driver forgets. After I graduated from college, got a job, and bought an automatic transmission car of my own I lost the ability to shift. When I married, my husband (I'm now divorced) retaught me and this time it "took." Except for the car I had when we married, all my others were standard transmissions until the one I bought in January. At my age, I've decided to simplify driving, and I don't even know if there are standard transmission Priuses. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Joe Offer Date: 03 Aug 13 - 10:53 PM I learned to drive in a 1961 VW. It was that weird, powdery green color. I knew you were supposed to shift down when making a turn, but one time I shifted down from fourth to first on a turn. That, indeed, was a revelation. I had one accident with that VW, and my brother had several. We bought a second, inoperable VW as a backup, and cannibalized it for part. It worked fine. Most of the accidents were not our fault, so we made money off the insurance settlements. I attended a Catholic seminary in the 1960s, and the seminary had a VW bus, which I was allowed to drive. Every time there was a wind, that Microbus was all over the road. But one time, I had a full keg of beer in the center compartment of the Microbus. That vehicle was sooooo stable. That's all it needed, a proper portion of beer. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Janie Date: 03 Aug 13 - 11:46 PM The 1st car I ever owned was a 1969 VW Beetle. It was that nondescript beige/taupe/tan color. My sister had a similar Bug, but sexier, red with a white racing stripe climbing up the hood and over the roof. I ran the wheels off that thing. $5.00 would fill up the tank (gas was .53 cents per gallon then.) But $5.00 bucks was a lot of money to me in those days. My take home pay was about $250 per month. Lived in a big, cheap apartment with a whole crowd of people to share expenses. Visited Ma and Pa every Sunday for a good big meal, did laundry, and got sent home with cans of pinto beans and the like to help keep us fed during the week. The heater sucked in winter, but with it's rear engine it could climb the steep hills of Charleston, WV's West Side where many of my friends lived and where music was happening in living rooms and bands were rehearsing in garages, if only the band members could get up the hills to rehearsal during the frequent heavy snows in those days- so I was in high demand as a taxi service. Amazing how many people can pack into a small space in the time before we had enough sense to realize seat belts save lives, and all were young enough and thin enough to not mind sitting on laps (or being sat upon.) In summer, roll the windows down and hope you could drive fast enough often enough to cool things down a bit. My boyfriend during part of the years I had the VW was playing with Turley Richards in the midwest, based in Louisville and playing often in Chicago and environs, so I was often making that long trip west and north on I-64 and I-65. Always found myself in the company of truckers, my little bug sandwiched between them, all of us doing 45 mph up the grades, and 65 mph down the grades. Those were also the days I was spending most weekends spring to fall at old time music festivals around West Virginia. It was amazing how much gear could be jammed into that little car, and how often I was the only one who was able to drive out of mudclogged fields after a weekend of camping in what was normally a pasture on top of a mountain. And since temps are better in the mountains and there are no traffic jams, (and long haired hippy-chicks with hair captured in a band didn't mind the wind whipping through the windows.) Fond memories. Bought it for $500. Abused it. Got sideswiped and the fender dented. Sold it for $500 a few years later. Great memories. But I was so much younger then. Would not want one now. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 04 Aug 13 - 01:33 AM Back in the late 70's my gay friends (both almost 2 metres tall - that's 6ft 6ins in the old numbers) had a VW & I remember a trip back from the central coast (about 50 miles north of Sydney) I was sitting/sprawling across the back seat as they had to push their seats waaaay back. I don't remember crawling in or getting out, just the very long slow trip on a hot summer's day, windows wide open to get a breeze. I don't think the back seat got much breeze! Part of the delay was explained at the Toll gates - there had been an accident much earlier, & everyone asked the collectors about the delay. My friends also had 2 standard poodles which would no doubt have had a more comfortable trip in their car. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Janie Date: 04 Aug 13 - 01:49 AM Now, I could write a book - at least a short book of essays and short stories only partly fictional - about life in a Ford F250. But the Memories from the VW days, while less dramatic, are also fonder. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Kampervan Date: 04 Aug 13 - 04:31 AM My daughter bought a 69 late bay in the early nineties when she was at university in Plymouth (U.K.). She had a great time running around the West country for 2/3 years. Then she went off around the world for a year and a half. While she was away I rebuilt it, got the bodywork fixed and re-sprayed and used it myself. Went to Copredy, had a great time just driving it around. When she came back my daughter began using it again and she went to folk festivals around the country. Beverley several times, Shrewsbury, Llama Tree. She slept in the van, and, if I was with her then I slept in the tent (my wife doesn't do folk!). Then she met her partner, they rebuilt the van again, and now its a holiday bus for them, their 1 year old son and his 13 year old daughter. In fact the VW is now Vicky's passport to credibility with her step-daughter who is looking forward to going to festivals ( not necessarily of the folk variety) with her next year. So, at 44 years old (my daughter is a year or two younger than her van) the VW has been part of the family for a long time and has given all of us some great memories. But the best bit is that, hopefully there are lots more good memories to be made. good luck to all air-cooled owners. K/van |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 04 Aug 13 - 05:02 AM Janie, me too. Bad idea... Officer: I didn't know a Bug could do 80. Me: This one will do 95 on a steep hill. Officer (rather disgusted voice): Hmmmm. Be right back.... here ya go. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 04 Aug 13 - 05:04 AM Oops! "... a really steep hill." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Rog Peek Date: 04 Aug 13 - 05:10 AM Once owned a 6v Beatle. Worst car I ever had! Was glad to see the back of it. Rog |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Rog Peek Date: 04 Aug 13 - 05:15 AM That should of course have been 'Beetle'. Sorry John, Paul, George, and Ringo! Rog |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 04 Aug 13 - 05:26 AM I kept a propane torch in mine fer thawin out the pedals and their wires. Broke the clutch cable once. Steve was 6'6" so he operated the clutch on the way home. Always had "stuff" in the trunk. The heavy cord was useful - tie a piece from each wiper thru the widows and you pull, I pull, repeat. Put tires the width of which were over the size recommended (the mechanic said it wouldn't work) with studs in em on the back. Frederiction has long, rather steep hills. At 5PM, when the line of vehicles trying - one at a time - to get up the hill on campus was long, I would get in the line. I lived at the bottom of the hill. I'd wait for an opening. When the oncoming lane was clear, I would pull out and zoom up the hill, turn around a come slowly back down past the long line. Kinda cruel but I was young. Mike had a Mini. In heavy snows, with about a half dozen guys and several boxes of beer and shovels, we'd roam the streets and get people unstuck and on their way. I used to hunt waaay back and that little Yella Bug would get me darn near anywhere. Just a few of my Bug stories. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Tiger Date: 04 Aug 13 - 06:40 AM My father, a lawyer, bought me a VW (probably about a '55) as my first car. He bought it from one of his clients, a widow, whose husband had used it to commit suicude by running a vacuum cleaner hose from the exhaust. A gruesome story, but SOMEONE had to buy it. Never bothered me particularly, but it creeps out anyone I tell. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Leadbelly Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:49 AM Bought my first second-hand Volkswagen when I was 18 years old directly after my second approach for driving licence. Some month' later I invited my parents for a trip to the Luneburger Heide near Hamburg. When we left the car my father went around my blue Volkswagen researching for this and that. Suddenly he came to me and said:" Hey, have a look at this tyre, son". And indeed, one of my tyres was worn out to the canvas! Thanks dad, you made a good live-saving job. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 04 Aug 13 - 11:06 AM VW Camper Van Tent CLASSIC RED VW CAMPER PLAY TENT VW Wash Bag Blue what next? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: EBarnacle Date: 04 Aug 13 - 11:40 AM I've had interactions with 4 VWs over the years. My father's friend Jerry had one of the first, with split read window. The directionals were little arms that swung out of the doorpost to tell the [hopefully] alert public which way you intended to go. We crowded two adults and a mess of kids into that one. [Yes, he bought it new.] My friend John Dring, who was a fellow grad student at the University of Maine [US], had a split windshield van that constantly needed alignment. That was probably because of the way we did it. We would take a stick and hammer two nails into it to act as a reference mark and start adjusting toe in with the van up in the air. We both left Maine after that year. I understand he lives in Ireland now. I was a rallye navigator during the 70's and was invited to run in a friend's VW. That was a "once." After 4 hours, I could barely straighten up. Of course, I had a similar experience in an E Jag. The seats were hideous. My best VW experience belonged to my writing partner Mark Lovewell, who now works for the Vineyard Gazette and is still a folk musician. He had a Porsche powered van with a pop top. We did an engine transplant in under an hour once. Took that thing to festivals and parties all over the place. Once I borrowed it for a couple of weeks while my Citroen was in the body shop. Good vehicle. Painted with dragons on the sides to honor his wife. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 01:38 PM Got my first VW in 1967... It was a tan one year old '66 and bought it used from a VW dealer... Didn't take long for it to go from looking like a boring '66 VW to a not-so-boring hippie buy with flowers and peace signs painted all over it... It lasted me 3 years when I sold it to another hippie and set off for the West Coast in my band's old equipment truck, a '49 Ford Panel van, also painted up with the usual hippie art work... Didn't last too long on the left coast and found myself back in Richmond and bought a '60 VW panel bus with door on both sides and Westfalia camper in the back... It had been wrecked and had no engine but, hey, it was cheap... Over the next few months I did the body work and found a 1600 dual port engine for it and had it on the road... About that time I was dating this newly separated lady who had a '65 Karmann Ghia that needed a clutch... She sold it to me cheap... So for the next 10 years (at least) those two VeeDubs were all I had to get around but that was fine 'cause by then I had figured out how to do anything that needed to be done to keep then running well... (Well, fine, Boberdz... Where's the story???) Okay, running fine and looking fine are two different animals... It was around '75 and the Karmann Ghia had gone thru quite transformation mechanically with modifies suspension, engine, wheels and tires and I was auto-cross racing it on Sundays... But I really didn't care all that much what the poor thing looked like and the rear bumper had gotten bent up so I bolted a 2X6 board to the bumper brackets... Oh, an' okay... I might not have had the best turn signal lenses in the world and the wiper blades were shot... Well, the mother of my son and I had been up north in DC for a party and were about 10 miles from Richmond on our way home when a State Trooper decided that he didn't much like the looks of my VW... Well, that kinda made two of us.... I didn't much like the looks of his copcar with them blues lights flashing behind me... "Driver's license and registration"... Okay... So Officer Meanie has my drivers license and my registration and tells me to get out of the car... I'm thinking, "What, am I gonna get arrested for driving an ugly old VW?"... He then precedes to walk around the car with me pointing out the cracked lenses, the worn out wipers and then gets around to the right rear of the car, puts his foot up on that wood bumpers and says, "And further more, your bumper is on fire"... Well, yeah... The exhaust had it kinda smoldering a little... I wouldn't call it "on fire"... I mean, there were no flames but it was smoldering and a little smoke was coming from it... "Son, I want you to follow me"... I had no idea where he was going to lead me??? The ugly car jail??? The hippie jail... I mean, this was back then when hippies and cops didn't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff... So we pull into this gas station in Glen Allen, Va. and he says for me to park the car behind it and then tells me that I have to have a tow truck come get it and take it to a repair shop to fix all the things he pointed out... He tells the guy at the gas station that a tow truck will be coming for it and then says to me, "Get that car fixed, Son" and leaves us standing in the office of the gas station... The guy working there asks how many tickets I got and, well, I really hadn't gotten any actual tickets so I said, "None"... "No way" he said, "That cop is the meanest trooper out there... He'd write his own mother a ticket." Well, folks... I've often remarked that God looks after fools, drunks and kids so I guess I had triple coverage that day... Oh, and do you really think I had my car towed out of there??? Heck no, I didn't... The buddy I called to come get me and my son's mother drove me back out there after it got good and dark and drove it back home that night... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: frogprince Date: 04 Aug 13 - 01:45 PM EBarnacle, I'm sitting in my brother-in-law's summer home on the Vineyard; they know Mark Lovewell. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: robomatic Date: 04 Aug 13 - 02:38 PM I flew to Auckland during Christmas season - for New Zealand this meant shine your little lights in Summertime. My girl 'down there' had gone to a lot of trouble to plan an excursion to South Island.This included buying a bug with a seized engine from her friend who didn't know you put oil in the back where the engine was ever so often. Her father was a metal worker with a car bay in the garage. He dropped a '55 engine into the '65 frame and we were good to go - sort of. It wanted a paint job, new exhaust pipes and some fitments such as a water tight window washer tube dash-pump. We attended to some of these and hit the road. With a slight wind behind her, Thunderguts could actually hit 50. We couldn't attract the interest of the militia by speeding, but I was came from a country where the right side of the road was now wrong, so I had to bear watching as instinct made me bear right. I has helped by the oddness of shifting with my left hand and hugging the little steerage wheel with my right. My testing by fire began when we drove from Auckland to the south part of North Island in order to take the ferry to South Island. It's a large ferry for a short but deep ocean crossing. We came late and tired to the campground and woke a bit groggy in the morning and even before breakfast discovered that Thunderguts had a flat with barely fifteen minutes to loading time! The method of attaching the hubs to the wheels involved bolts not nuts and the jack looked like a piece of uncooked linguine. We didn't exactly shriek with anxiety but our concern reached the tent next door, which just 'happened' to have in it a couple the male half of which had once won a competition for fastest changing of a Volkswagen tire. In much less time than it takes to read this scread he had us going to a successful ferry loading on our spare. Not everything about the little auto was so endearing but it was a miracle of minimum transportation and we made a successful round trip when we couldn't afford the bus. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: GUEST,Ed T Date: 04 Aug 13 - 03:03 PM My first car was a used VW, which I bought when 16.This car saw me pass into adulthood. Last year a childhood friend I hadent seen for many years told me he knew the girl involved inm that incounter. When I asked him how he knew - he said the car was parked on an old side road and he saw my bare legs protruding out of the open door as he drive by. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Ebbie Date: 04 Aug 13 - 03:10 PM robomatic! Long time no see! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Wesley S Date: 04 Aug 13 - 03:20 PM We had an old Beetle and I drove it as my main car for many years. After awhile I discovered that if you pulled up the floormat on the passenger side in front that there was a little metal panel you could pull up with your fingers that had an empty space below it. About the side of half a shoe box. It was the perfect place to - well - "stash" things you didn't want certain people to find. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bill D Date: 04 Aug 13 - 04:28 PM I have already posted about my 56 bus that I parked in a space shorter than itself I have had 2 other buses and a '62 Beetle. My friend, who was pretty good with engines, talked me into pulling the beetle engine to lap the valves. We pulled it out in the driveway and set it on a little table and he showed me how.... not that *I* ever intended to do it myself. My 66 bus was fairly new when I got it, and I got famous as "Bill, the bus driver" when folks needed to move stuff....(you know how that goes). But the most interesting story was when I was living in Lawrence, Kansas and planning to move BACK to Wichita. I drove the VW back to Wichita and collected my friend the mechanic and we rented a U-Haul truck (as we intended to end in Wichita with both VW and truck. I assumed I'd drive VW bus and he'd drive truck....but.... he said...."Hmmmm...I wonder. No sense in buying gas for 3 vehicles.Do you know where there's a loading dock?" Oh-oh! Turns out there was a dock right near where I used to work, and I had used it to load a big fork lift on a truck to take it for service. So, wondering what laws we were breaking, off we went and drove that VW right into the U-haul! Blocked the wheels, set the brake and headed off for 3+ hour drive to Lawrence, where there was a loading dock at the place I'd been employed in Lawrence...Stokley-VanCamp's bean cannery. Arrived late at night...maybe 10-11PM, backed up to the dock, and I went in to find the night watchman (whom I knew slightly) to make sure we were not 'surprised'. Told him we needed to unload my van. He looked dubious, but shrugged. Now this dock was not like the deep, wide one we'd used to load... it was only a couple feet deeper than the length of the VW......but if you saw my earlier post, you know I can do things with a VW bus! So... I gently backed out of the truck and carefully, after 5-6 back & forths, got the van parallel on the dock. Easy...almost done...right? Umm... not quite. The only way OFF that dock was the ramp used by the fork lifts to go down to a gas pump, and the ramp was at the far end, flush against a wall, with a two-flap folding rubber door at the top of the ramp. We had NOT measured this ahead of time...we just relied on my "Oh, I 'think' there's room." guess! So... having cleverly pointed the rear of the bus toward the ramp end of the dock, off I went, making 7-8 or more tiny moves to get the bus pointed at the rubber doors. S-l-o-w-l-y I eased the rear of the bus between the flaps of the door with maybe 1/2" to spare on each side and felt like we had made it...until I heard "Whoa"!. Seems the rear view mirrors were an issue. Rolled the passenger side window down and folded the long mirror slightly into it, then folded the driver's mirror as tight as it would go, and squeezed thru those rubber doors. I am sure that if they had been metal doors, we'd never have made it. I mean we are talking 1/8" safety margin! So...then we loaded the bus and truck at the house & moved... everything seemed so simple after that! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 04 Aug 13 - 06:16 PM 1/8"! Great story! As are many others. What a great thread bringing back many memories for a lot of folks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 04 Aug 13 - 06:52 PM Der Fliedermause Rie (don't look it up in translation because I did and Google tells me it ain't even close... maybe Rap can sort it). Bro had it shipped back from a stint in Germany when he was there with the RCAF. Man... I was about 14. He pulled into the driveway and I had never seen anything like "The Red Bat"! Pimped out is what it would be today. Porche engine dropped in (GOOD storiesss about Germans on the Audubon flagging him d own to ask how it could hit 115mph). Abarth mufflers. Radial tires... huh? WTF is a radial tire? An infrared map reading light out of CF 104 Starfighter Supersonic Interceptor (NEVER intended to carry nuclear weapons and every Canuck will stand by that bullshit). He took me for a spin around town. Fuuuuuck he could drive! Scared the crap outta me! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 07:31 PM So, Bill... Ya' saved what??? $5 in gas... Oh well... Great bus story... For folks who haven't had the pleasure of owning and driving a VW bus I need to point out something that Bill knows all too well... When on the interstate there is only one way to drive them... Find a tractor trailer truck and draft behind it... If it will do 70, so will you... No tractor trailer truck and 70 mph on flat land is impossible... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Joybell Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:44 PM Back in the 60s my first car was a bright yellow beetle. I loved that car. I stuck big black foot-prints on the bonnet running up over the roof to the back. It was actually the family car and not just mine but it was my colour and I was the one who loved it most. Me, my husband, two kids and a big German Shepherd (the doggy kind) and camping equipment, food and clothes, all fitted in that beetle for long trips to folk festivals. Then two of us slept in it. Come to think of it the dog loved that car too. Later, in the 80s, (after leaving my first husband) True-love and I had a red Combi with blue and red flashing lights and fake-ocelot fur covered gun racks. The fur also covered the whole interior including the gear shift. Looked as though a long-legged furry animal had been run over and its legs had got stuck through the floor. The decor had been the work of the previous owner -- I hasten to add. Joy |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:03 PM Combi??? I guess that is a bus??? Fur interior??? Sounds cool to me... Better than shag carpet... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bev and Jerry Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:19 PM We bought a brand new red VW bus in 1970 for about $3200 and took our two kids camping all over the western U.S. in it. Drove it for 32 years (about 250K miles) and, after two engine overhauls, sold it to a lady living about 75 miles away for $2850. Part of the deal was that we retained visiting privileges! The main reason we parted with it was that a chiropractor told us that it was killing Jerry's back and Bev's knee. Bev and Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bill D Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:25 PM "Find a tractor trailer truck and draft behind it.." I almost posted THAT story... well similar. While living in Lawrence, we went to a friends wedding north of Kansas City. Somehow go in behind a Greyhound bus and wanted to pass it...but... he was going 60+...so, for about the only time in my life, I drafted! Zoom! Must have held close to that bus for 15-20 minutes....why I might have saved 50 cents in gas! But we made good time. It was a bit scary, as I was too chicken to get REAL close like at NASCAR, so there was a bit of buffeting. I don't think the bus ever knew I was there. Finally got near a town and things slowed down. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: GUEST Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:27 PM The old bugs did well in snow drifts in northern winters. But, the lack of a heater and window defroster made window scraping an art. Before the gas heaters, the only real heat was focused on the drivers right foot. I recall using stick on window defrosters that pluged into your cigarette lighter. The battery was under the seat in my early model, and would arc when heavy people sat on thbe seat directly over the battery. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:57 PM Bill, I'm an old race car driver (mini-stocks, autocross)... Drafting was fine with me... One time I was driving to DC from Richmond and locked in of the first tractor trailer I could catch up to... Then another tractor trailer come up from behind me and we run 70 mph - give or take a couple mph's - for about 90 miles... That, among truckers, is called the "rocking chair" and they rocked me for 90 miles... Loved every minute of it and they did, too 'cause when my exit was coming up I was able to get each of them's attention and as I exited I gave them a honl and both of them honked back... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bill D Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:19 PM In racing, everyone going about the same speed and everyone knows about where everyone else is. On the highway, I don't trust 'em. One semi..or bus... braking suddenly because of a deer, and I'm up his tailpipe. I had my one tale and lived to post it. Tomorrow, I'll type my Karmann-Ghia story |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Don Firth Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:32 PM I never owned a VW Beetle, but I've ridden in a lot of them. A friend of mine with a somewhat whimsical sense of humor glued a couple of small, round, black pieces of paper over the headlights, making the car look cross-eyed. Pretty funny! My first car, bought new, was a 1968 Toyota Corona 4-door sedan. Nice little car. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: open mike Date: 05 Aug 13 - 01:23 AM we had a pink vw bug....called it pinkie...traded it for a bath tub. one hose on the engine went to (or from? ) nowhere, apparently. it had a pencil stuck in it to block it from leaking. sometimes when it wouldn't run i figured it was the fault of the pencil. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:37 AM Ya have a boo at the new "Bugs"? Yecch! I wonder if they'll float like the old ones. I heard that they would float pretty good for up to 13 minutes. I could get across small beaver ponds with mine if I could get enough of a run at one. Then, one day, at a pond I had crossed several time before... stump! The water was low. Took us over an hour to get it out. Thank goodness it fetched up so that the air intake didn't see any water. Never tried it again. Lost both tailpipes. The VW dealership wanted $108!!! Said I had to have a new box. I went into the Uni engineering workshop and st.. borrowed a length of thick wall, turned two pieces to fit and welded em in place. Worked just fine. Looked kinda odd tho. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bill D Date: 05 Aug 13 - 11:49 AM In about '62, we had real gen-you-ine Hootenannies in Wichita. One night the festivities got started, but there was some problem where we were....someone sick or something... so the party had to move to someone else's place. There was a slight shortage of cars, so folks had to double up and help take 'stuff'. I still don't know exactly how the organizational details happened, but one guy had a little black Karmann Ghia.(You're supposed to know that a K-G is a sporty little thing on a VW frame, but with no back seat...just a small space behind the front seats--two 'bucket' seats) He also had a guitar, a banjo, a Siberian Husky and two friends who needed a ride. I ended up helping 'pack'- to use the precise word- three people, one dog, three instruments (one other guy had a banjo also), 2 gallon jugs of cider and something else...maybe a popcorn popper... into that car. They all pached in, and I handed in stuff. The dog got to sit on two laps, and I doubt anyone except the driver could see out. They all arrived safely. There were jokes invented about the trip...... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 05 Aug 13 - 12:59 PM Well, this story is kinda Chapter 2 (or three) of my old '65 Karmann Ghia that I bought from Cynthia Shockley... As I was telling' ya'll, I had modified the poor car for autocross racing and it as fast as it was it was equally ugly... (How ugly was it, Boberdz???) Well, I took it to Manassas for the semi annual Bug Out, won the slalom event with it and had a picture of it printed in the Hot VW magazine where the writer described it as "semi-ugly"... So I wrote the magazine and complained that the writer had described the car accurately... The editor printed a correction in the next edition that read, "The slalom event was won by this ugly Karmann Ghia with a small reprint of the pic that had run the previous month... A couple months later a buddy told me about an autocross coming up sponsored by the Corvette Club of Virginia... The event was a two-day happening at an airport in Crew, Va... I got a hold of the an ad for the event and it read "open to everyone" so I figured I was part of "everyone" so put my racing tires on the Ghia and trailer-ed it behind my 60 VW bus to Crew... When I got there with my son's mother we - no, the car - got more than a fair share of dirty looks from the Corvette folks who weren't at all happy to have such an ugly car compete against their shiny Vettes... Might of fact, we got a tad roughed up by the tech people who tried to find some reason no permit the car in their event... There were a few semi-heated words but they finally agreed to let me race and placed me in A/Mod (top class) to insure that I wouldn't beat out any of their B/Mod Vettes... Well, the 1st day went real well... I had 3 or 4 runs and ran within 5 seconds of the A/Mods and had better times than any of the B/Mods, which I'm sure made these folks pretty mad 'cause as the after noon went on an camping spots were being taken seems that no one wanted to camp anywhere near us so we ended up way down at the end of the runway of the airport, a good 1/4 mile from the Corvette people... The following morning a couple of Corvette guys walked down to where we were camped and tried to play nice and act as if they had any interest in my car, which they didn't... Then one said that a lot of the Vette people offended that I had brought the car to a Vette event... Hey, there were several Z-cars, a couple of Porsches and a few big muscle cars so... ...I ran it early and nailed the run and was within a couple seconds of the slowest A/Mod and a good 7 seconds ahead of anything in B/Mod - where I should have been teck'd - and it was going to be a real hot afternoon and I knew I had to tow the car back behind my bus so I just put it on the trailer and headed out... Out meant having to drive right thru all the Vette guys, half of whom I had bettered, so I took my time driving thru the pit area and gave a few waves, a couple winks, and completely enjoyed the entire grand exit, as I am sure they enjoyed it as much... I'm sure that this story is being told from time to time when the old Vatte club guys get together for beer and story swappin' and would love to be a fly on the wall to hear their side... Anyway, this ends Chapter 2 of "My Ugly Karmann Ghia" story... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:03 PM B~! LOVE IT! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: GUEST,Rahere Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:23 PM Used to use one as a mobile radio station, the back seat went and was replaced by an old military radio, with the antenna through the sunroof. Nobody ever reckoned on something like that as a transmitter! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: GUEST,Ed T Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:31 PM One of my first girlfriends was so tiny that we hid her in the compartment behind the back seat of my 60s VW and we threw a blanket over her so she could hide to surprise a couple of friends. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 05 Aug 13 - 07:32 PM "My Ugly Karmann Ghia", the "Last Chapter"... Well, from Cynthia's clutch-less "Geero" that I bought for $100, the poor thing went thru a lot of different changes over the 10 or so years I owned it... As it became more just a race car and less a daily driver, I did keep it street legal... However, it didn't look street legal and I finally painted over the flat gray primer with a cheap off the shelf burgandy colored oil base enamel... By then I had a little VW repair shop, "Southern Bug" and lettered it up like a real race car with "Southern Bug" on the side and lots of decals... It was still street legal but not for long before I took out all the windows except the windshield and took out the interior with the exception of a race car seat I bought at a swap meet and a race harness... Next thing was to chain the front suspension down and next thing ya' know Cynthia's ol' Geero was nothing but a mini-stocker which I raced on Friday nights... I think I raced for 2 years but it might have been three... Never won a race... Had a couple 2nds but mostly ran 4th ot 5th out of 8 or 9 cars... It was fun and I didn't have any real money in the car... Okay, maybe a couple grand... Then my son was born and his mother was worried I might get killed??? Huh??? Killed??? What??? So the chin music got too loud and so a buddy said he would buy the car if I wanted to sell it so... ...sold it for $1500 race ready... Sniff... I miss that car... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Joybell Date: 05 Aug 13 - 08:05 PM Sorry Bobert for "combi" read "bus". I was being Aussie. Joy |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 05 Aug 13 - 08:07 PM Seems that a lot of Aussie stuff was the same as US stuff... Okay, ya'll right hand drive??? That would make 'um different but VW did make both left (US) and right (UK) drive... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Joybell Date: 05 Aug 13 - 08:14 PM Right hand drive so's we can drive on the left, Bobert. Joy |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: mayomick Date: 06 Aug 13 - 12:56 PM I knew a Mr Singh who bought a VW second hand in 1968 . He worked as a rep and drove his Beetle around the length and breadth of England for ten years without it ever breaking down. It had no heater and looked unfashionable though ,so his wife and kids nagged at him to get a new car. He eventually conceded and was able to sell it for nearly twice the price he originally paid for it. The new car he bought broke down within a couple of months. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 06 Aug 13 - 03:28 PM Bobert... Men At Work come from Down Under and they travel in a fried out Combi (Combeh, eh). Down Under. Love the first album! Absolutely amazing talent. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 06 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM I know all about fried combis... B;~( |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: PHJim Date: 06 Aug 13 - 08:49 PM My first car, bought in 1970 for $200, was a 1961 tomato soup red VW Karman Ghia. The last time I drove it was on the 401 highway by Newcastle, Ontario. I managed to get it to a garage and the fellow looked it over, said, "You know you have to change the oil in these things once in a while." He gave me $30 for it and I hitched hiked back to Hamilton. My second car, also $200, was a baby blue 1961 VW Beetle. Like the Ghia, it had no gas gauge. (well, that's not strictly true. There was a wooden dip stick) There was a reserve tank, but mine was seized open, so did no good. I ran out of gas a few times. Either the heater didn't work, or there was no heater, I can't recall, but it was mighty cold in the winter. The last time I drove that car, I woke up in the hospital with a concussion, a broken collar bone and a punctured lung. I later talked to a school bus driver who came upon the scene of where I had driven the car into a gully beside the road. She said that I was standing on the side of the road and someone said, "Hop in and we'll drive you to the hospital." She said I answered, "Oh no, I've got my car." She said that my car was hardly recognisable as a VW. My future father-in-law had his birthday during the month I was in the hospital, so I gave him the VW for his birthday. He sold the engine to a kid who was building a dune buggy. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 07 Aug 13 - 07:04 AM The little old lady was screaming at me and then at the officer about dirty young hippies driving 60mph! Downtown St. John, nb.ca. at noon hour on a Saturday on The Square, 50 yards after a left turn (so, there is no way I could have been going any more than top of second). The cop asked her if she had her signal light on. She said, "Everyone knows you have to change lanes." (her lane turned into parking spaces) When I looked in my mirror, it looked like jaws... my left rear fender was hanging from the right side of her bumper. Her insurance company called and said it was clearly a 50/50 accident. I screamed. They paid. Wouldna been so bad if the guy who did the welding had not burned the wiring harness. About three months later... POOF. That cost me a bunch beacause of uni exams as there was no time for me to do it. I was tooling along and saw buddy come to the stop sign of a side street just ahead on my left. He was on the motor so I kept a close eye. Not close enough as he ran the stop and I only had time to stand on the break and take my seat belt off. Thank goodness I got the belt off in time and only ended up with hip and arm bruises when he T-boned me. I got out the other door and glared at him. He said, "Where the hell did you come from?" I pointed back down the street, said, "That way." and started laughing. He didn't laugh. The cop told me I had to go to the hospital. I told him I had to go to work, crawled back in the Bug and went to work. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: GUEST,saulgoldie Date: 07 Aug 13 - 08:27 AM Don't know if I could keep my VW story and thoughts to less than about maybe couple thousand words. But...drafting? Have you ever drafted behind a (commercial) bus or BIG truck as it pulled away from a light and accelerated to ~50MPH...on a BICYCLE??!!! Wound out my #52 chainring with the #13 cog! Wooowee! That was *some fun*!!! (Mom woulda *kilt me*, if she knew!) Saul |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 07 Aug 13 - 02:17 PM I was about to write a story about Bro's Bugs and something struck me! I said "...Germans on the Audubon flagging him down to ask how it could hit 115mph..." Nope. The one with the Porche 914 engine would do 135mph on the flat. The one with the sahve flywheel could hit 115mph and it accelerated like a birch partridge (ruffed grouse). So... today I saw a VW Bus (Westfalia) and a pimped out bug with a great paint job, exposed engine with all the perks, flared fenders... drooool! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 07 Aug 13 - 04:12 PM The top speed for a steel bodied VW was set a couple years back at the Salt Flats... 153 mph... Of course the engine wasn't stock and the tranny was built with a huge Overdrive 5th gear and the ring and pinion gear was around a 3.30... I got the Hot VW magazine with the article in it about the run... BTW, it was a Karmann Ghia and about as ugly as my old Geeero... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Richard Bridge Date: 07 Aug 13 - 06:32 PM If you want to be brave, try that in a Renault Floride (or Caravelle). I was behind a very pretty restored one the other day for a few miles and oh boy the tap-dance the swing axle rear suspension wsa doing was alarming. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: voyager Date: 07 Aug 13 - 07:09 PM John Muir - How To Keep Your Volkswagon Alive Was the 'VW Repair Guide for Dummies' back in the day (1960s-70s). So when my VW engine was leaking oil (circa 1969) we followed these instructions - 1. Drop the engine 2. Remove the flywheel (using flywheel lock and breaker bar) 3. Replace the flywheel seal <-- Almost! As it turned out - 1. We removed the crankcase seal (2" below the flywheel seal) 2. We had to 'split the case' and reseal the engine block 3. Costly lesson learned! This was the 1st of many VW misadventures and a love of the original VW cars (bug and van). Some destroyed, many well-traveled. voyager |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 07 Aug 13 - 07:14 PM Grew up on John Muir... Heck of a cool ol' guy... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bill D Date: 07 Aug 13 - 08:01 PM I have a copy of John Muir's book... or I used to. Wonder where I put it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: Bobert Date: 07 Aug 13 - 08:07 PM Don't know where mine is either, Bill... I do recall the cover... Picture of John with a parrot on his shoulder... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Your Best Old Volkswagen Story... From: gnu Date: 07 Aug 13 - 08:09 PM He stopped designing killing machines for Blockhead and started workin on VWs? Yeah... cool guy. |
