anybody else love Volkswagen ?

[tomuncommon]

1966

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[tracker]

I owned a red '67 sedan bought at the factory in Frankfurt; my wife, mostly, and I put 6,000 miles on it in Europe that year. It finally died after 150,000 mi. and three engine changes. It cost $1200 and was worth every penny, except for those annoying valve adjustments.

[tomuncommon]

I have a spun brake drum, needs to have the axles replaced so the teeth will quit stripping splines.. common issue with LOWERed beetles - I love this little car, best head turner you can buy for the money & everybody has some familiarity with vintage Volkwagens, so I enjoy talking to people about them whilst out 'n about.

[tracker]

One winter in Connecticut I put some cinder blocks in the front baggage compartment to give me more traction in snow. While driving to LGA one morning for a flight I went around a curve onto the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. As I came upon a line of cars I hit the brakes but the weight of those blocks wouldn't allow me to stop in time. I whipped it to the right, onto a high snow bank and rode along the bank at about 45 degrees  to the roadway on two wheels. The snow bank curved away after about 50 feet and the little VW stabilized back to the feeder road on all fours; although a bit shaken I parked it in the parking lot unscathed and proceeded to my destination. After returning home those cinder blocks were removed from the compartment.

[tomuncommon]

What a cool story Tracker ! That sounds like a frightening yet fond memory. 

[tracker]

Yes, Sir; right on both counts.

[backupr9]

My  '63 Bug went through a major snow storm in the Virginia mountains without any trouble, finally being stopped when overnight snow was so high that it was over the bumper and the car snowplowed.  Drove it from Richmond, Va. to Ft. Lauderdale one spring vacation, leaving at 4 pm and driving all night, most of the time with the accelerator floored...needed a valve job on arrival at noon the next morning. Although grossly underpowered it was a great little car for the money for sure and when not abused, never broke.

[tomuncommon]

spent most of Sunday tooling on my bug & never made the range trip.
hopefully this coming weekend I can let this PUP bark/bite a little

[Douglas]

Never had a Beetle. Dad did, upon returning from Vietnam; used to cruise it up and down the Thruway from Utica to his temporary assignment Albany in NY, and when it ran out of gas the troopers would come along and throw him a couple of gallons as a matter of courtesy for an officer.

I had a Golf Mk IV. Loved it.

For the buffs: ever read this? It is one of my favorite books, and I'm a reader!

[tomuncommon]

Papillon Puppy - 9 weeks old , "Rohrby"

[tracker]

Now there's a real pup; beautiful.

[Richard S]

In 1986, I rented a Volkswagen "Bug" in Haiti during the period in which Jean-Claude Duvalier was ousted by a "peoples' revolution."  I "drove the wheels" off of that thing and gained an abiding respect for an automobile I had theretofore dismissed as a descendant of Hitler's Germany and a machine unworthy of attention.

Love it?  No.  Respect it?  Yes.

_____

I have "loved" only two automobiles in my life -- a Triumph TR2 I owned while in college and law school (1955-63) and a Sunbeam Alpine GT Series 3 I owned while stationed as an Army officer in Germany (1963-66):

[Reinz]

Those are quite some pics there Rich!

I don't recall ever seeing a TR-2.

Thanks for the treat!

[Richard S]

Thank you, Reinz.  I sold the TR2 in March of 1963 before shipping out for Germany. Once a year, around March, I kick myself in the a## for having sold it instead of putting it up on blocks in secure storage.

[Reinz]

Can't imagine what that little jewel would be worth today, especially knowing that you would keep her Tip Top!
But even better, the joy she'd bring you would be Tip Top as well I'm sure!