Volkswagen - The Last Mile video
 

I'm not sure how many of you have seen this video - Volkswagen put it out in honor/remembrance of 70 years of the Beetle.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vw+-+the+last+mile&view=detail&mid=4CC6705D12ED3353FFC D4CC6705D12ED3353FFCD&FORM=VIRE


I have to be honest with you guys - it brought tears to my eyes.

My first car was a '62 Beetle - just like the one in the video. I bought it with a bad engine for $75 in 1973 at 15 years old. My Dad and I rebuilt the engine, and it was ready to drive at the end of my sophomore year of high school.

My god, what freedom and dreams that car brought me as a 16 year old kid working at McDonalds after school and on the weekends.

It stoked a love for German cars that continues to this day.

I went through college with a '69 Beetle and a '70 Karmann Ghia, while being able to have Dad's '67 Porsche 911 to drive whenever I could talk him out of it for a day or two.

Every day on my way to classes I drove past the Porsche dealer with the new 911SC, 928's and 944's parked out front. Absolutely the cars of my dreams.

In 1985 I went off to flight training in the Air Force behind the wheel of a '78 Porsche 924. The 924 was eventually sold to buy an '87 944S, then that was eventually turned for a '90 944S2 cabriolet, which I still own.

Now my fleet is composed of a large handful of 986 Boxsters, a 996, my 944S2 cab, several 928s and a 914. Rounding out the collection are a couple of BMWs - an '85 635CSi and a big '07 7-series. In my past are a couple of Audi's as well.

I live and breath my Porsches and my German cars. They are a part of my identity. I've owned my VW's and then at least one Porsche every day for the past 45+ years. What a blast it's been.

And it all started for a 15 year old kid with a '62 Beetle with a bad engine. :cheers:

:cheers: :cheers:

My first car was a '67 Beetle with a dropped valve. I fixed it (and I look back and marvel that it actually ran; my mechanical skills at the time left a lot to be desired) and like the OP, it was a ticket to freedom and joy via a set of wheels. That Beetle was quickly replaced by a series of newer and better cars, most of them Japanese.

Unlike RedTele58, I've not been enamored with German cars. Most of my favorite cars (Datsun 1200, Mazda RX7 and Miatas) have been Japanese. I work on German equipment, and certainly don't buy into the "superior German engineering" thing at all. My Boxster is the first German car I've had since the Beetle.

My first car was a Volvo 242 with a blown head gasket. I replaced the gasket with a new one and a very liberal application of gasket sealer and tightened the head bolts without using a torque wrench! Oh Man! I, too, look back and marvel that it actually ran! LOL! Your mechanical skills were most likely better than mine!

It wasn't my first car (Simca Aronde) but I bought a 68 beetle from a junk yard rebuilt the engine and it served as good transportation to college. While driving to finals the fuel pump died spraying gas all over the engine compartment (I made the mistake of reusing the original pump). I felt a power loss and looking out the review mirror saw flames spewing out the engine compartment. I opened the lid and some of the raw gas flung onto my shirt melting it. Thankfully a home owner was watering his lawn and put out the fire. I turned the car into a baja bug and drove it for several years (with a new fuel pump). A fun car. I remember the days when bugs and busses catching fire on the side of the road was a common occurrence.

Growing up we were a Ford family but always had a VW as a 2nd car. I learned to drive on a manual trans 63 bug. My 3 yr older brother had managed to dent 3 of the 4 fenders, so I quickly looked for a car to rebuild for my own. We found a 70 Mach 1 that was hit in the rear that we rebuilt. But the VW was a great car to learn on.

A few yrs later dad bought an orange 71 Type III with the auto-manual. That car would be worth some money today.

The family's '72 VW bus did none of the things my 16 year old self thought cars should do. I didn't Go. It didn't Stop. It didn't Turn.. The heater was some sort of German joke. And the engine compartment didn't lock so my buddies could just remove various bits at their leisure. I hated that thing.

First car was a 67 beetle. Learned how to wrench from my friends dads, older brothers. Everybody had a VW in the 60''s and 70's. My friend and I got to where we could pull an engine in 20 minutes. We had a VW parts house close. You could buy a piston, rings and cylinder for $25.00. A 30/30 over crank for $35.00. Orange County Bugins were great.

I had 4 air cooled Volkswagen before I was even 16. 73 bug, 72 bug, 69 Ghia and a 914 and none of them ever ran. I ended up trading for a running 72 after I turned 16. I got back into them in the 90's and had a 68 bug, 73 SB and 70 Baja. I bought the 68 while I was living in Reno. One evening while cruising down town the car died and I instantly could smell wires burning. I saw this one wire under the dash start turning bright red. The car started filling up with smoke and I thought to myself "that's a lot of smoke for one wire". As soon as I thought that, I hear this rush of flames behind me. I turn around and flames were shooting out from under the back seat. That's where the battery is stored. I jump out and run into a casino. I yell at the top of my lungs "I NEED A FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!". The whole casino goes silent and everyone stares at me for 5 second. And like on cue, everybody goes back to gambling like nothing ever happen. I run back outside and by this time there's a huge crowd watching my car burn. People start asking whose car is that and I just melt in the crowd like it's not mine. Someone finally runs up and puts it out. The police and fire department show up and that's when I cower over and take ownership for the smoldering pile not far from the sign that reads "Biggest Little City". The cops are telling me I need to get it out of there before they tow it. I call my friends who have been drinking to get a rope and come tow me home. I think the cops knew we were all under the influence but didn't care. They just wanted that car out of there. So we start towing the car home with this tiny rope. As we start getting some speed, all the extinguisher spray starts blowing in my face. It partially blinds me and I get close to hitting other cars. People are yelling at me and flipping the bird but we manage to get it to our house. The next day I go out and examine the damage. The seats are nothing but springs, the windshield is completely bubbled and pitch black, headliner is gone, the dash knobs are semi melted and dropping down, the cluster glass is cracked and covered in soot. I stripped the interior and took a garden hose to it. The more I cleaned, the more I realized the car actually didn't get too damaged. I replaced the windshield, threw some seats in and spliced some wiring by the regulator. Not a month after that I drove it from Reno to central Pennsylvania were I started going to college. I drove that car for a whole semester with no problems. It sure would stink like burnt plastic when it was hot though. I miss the old air cooled Volkswagens. The new generation bug was a chic's car. I won't miss it
Just remembered I also owned a 62 and a fiberglass dune buggy too

That's the truth. Your ankle would burn off depending on which front seat you were in. But that was the only warm body part. And VW was the only car you had to scrape the frost off the INSIDE of the windshield as you drove.

And depending on how big of an oil leak you had, the cabin smelled like burning oil and you had to keep the window cracked a bit to breathe thus defeating the purpose of the heater.

Drove a '74 metallic blue 'Super Beetle' back in the late '70s, my second car—loved it!

It was my street legal go cart ;)

Never was big on the German cars. About 5 or so years ago I got my Ghia, just cause I wanted a rear engine vehicle (I entertained the idea of a diesel pusher bus, but the Ghia looked better). After I got it I loved it.

The little design things are fun. Like the fuel pump's gearing off the distributer shaft. I don't know why I like that, but there are things like that throughout the engine/car.

I love the 911, like a fast bug and good looking. But its just not really possible to daily drive a 911 (air cooled) on a 5 figure salary. I don't want a car I can't beat on.

My wife said she like the boxster, and after I started looking figured it is cheap enough for most to have. So I bought her a "badge". I didn't realize that they handle pretty damn well. After that it was a no brainer to get another and make it fast. :D


So I guess it started with VW.

I remember as a young lad riding in the rumble seat of mother's big. Once we riding down a country road and the front hood flew open. 4 kids in that thing no seat belt no air bag. You wonder how we ever survived. Later in high school several buddies had the super beetle. We could cruise for hours on a couple bucks for gas eight track tape playing smoke on the water. Those were cool cars for sure

Burning oil is okay, carbon monoxide not so much.... I kept that triangle wing glass open to stay awake:eek: so never really had heat, and yes windshield frosted inside with my breath.

I still have my fathers 1973 SuperBeetle sitting in my garage, I’ve kept it up and it still runs like it did when I learned how to drive manual when I was 16. Every year our neighborhood has a garage sale and I get more questions about the superbeetle than I get on the boxster.

This was the only car my parents had for a couple years until we got the Plymouth Volare Station wagon. It fit 4 kids and two adults, I still remember the family outings with all of the kids in the backseat. lol. Gotta love the 70’s. And this is where I learned how to work on cars, changing oil, adjusting valves and replacing brake shoes. This was my father’s precious, much like I treat the boxster now.

Owned 3 beetles in my younger years. Two burned to the ground and the 3rd tried to burn with me in it.

Never understood the fascination with those cars.


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Over the years, we've had 4 of the old aircooled VW's. My mom's was a '52, really, really primative. Had semifore turnsignals, 28 hp motor with a starter rope, mechanical brakes (no hydraulics) and it was true, you had to scrape the frost off the inside of the windshield. My dad had it repainted at Earl Scheib after a front end accident. I think he lived to regret selling the little pos.

My first VW was a 62 convertible, top frame on the driver's side was rust locked, but the top could be lowered. Fun until it spun a bearing. Didn't know in those days that I could buy a top frame and an engine for practically nothing. Fender mounting bolts were pretty rusty tho.

My second VW was a 64 Microbus. I repaired the the rocker panels with stuff from JC Whitney, fiberglass, and some bondo and repainted it myself in my Dad's driveway. Actually looked pretty sweet. I rebuilt the engine with jugs, pistons, & gaskets from JC Whitney, might have gotten heads, too. Really ran great. The worst feature was that the gas tank was directly over the engine. The bottom of the tank was the top of the engine compartment. I was delivering pizzas and one nite came out to a strong gasoline smell, the fuel line had started to leak! I sealed it up with a plastic bag from the pizza shop and some black electrical tape, quit for the night, and drove it home. It never leaked again. Especially since I took my mom's duster to the AP store and bought some new hose.

My Brother had a Karman Ghia, automatic stick shift. Pulling a fuse would disable it. (My bro spent a couple of days trying to figure out why the car wouldn't shift, I DIDN'T pull the fuse.) VW's in those days had the funkiest glass fuses, and they would fall apart. Spun a bearing on the Penna Turnpike. They walked away and abandoned it. Mass. car, very rusty!

And now, I have an 01 Boxster in the driveway, needing to be put back together. When it runs it's fun, but lately it hasn't run and I'm not a fan of working on it.

AND, in honor of the death of the gen 2 Superbeetle, I'm going later this week to look at and perhaps buy an 02 SB Turbo S. God help me, it's got 160k miles on it, but it's SuperCheap. I suspect if I live long enough it will be a collectible. Cars in these parts don't rust, tho.

It wouldn't surprise me if the current gen. Superbeetle would come back as an E-car. Aesthetically it's a pretty nice look. I don't buy that it's chick-mobile.

I learned to drive in my parents' '60 beetle, mostly on gravel roads. I figured if I wasn't watching the road through the side window while cornering - I wasn't going fast enough. My first car was a '57 or '58 Triumph TR3 with a blown engine that I bought just out of highschool. I found a very used engine and installed it myself in the yard.
Later, when I was about 30 I had a beetle (don't remember what year the car was) which I drove till I notice that while working on the left front wheel I could see the drivers seat...