Volkswagenwerk

[HarleyEarl]

It was 60 years ago last Friday that the first VW Beetles were delivered to dealerships.

Service bulletin from the early beginnings.

[ocnblu]

Never again will an automobile be so simple, friendly, and universally loved as the original VW Beetle.

[HarleyEarl]

I loved it's basic goodness. I wish someone would again build a car like the pure simplicity of the VW Beetle...no power windows, no air conditioning, no power anything, just a speedometer and gas gauge....and build it with utmost quality. That sort of thing Germans used to be so good at.

[balthazar]

Right on, HE! I have been thinking about just this for some time: the MinimalistKar. Bare bones, solid build, easy for the shadetree mechanic to service it, great longevity & easily modifiable. The Model T / Beetle all over again.

I believe there's a real market for one. Who's gonna step up & build it?

[ocnblu]

Let's find an airplane hangar and get to work! Let's see, who can we put in a dress to send out on the road to market this thing?

[HarleyEarl]

LOL Blu.

Balthazar and Blu, I believe so strongly that there is a market for a new millenium 'Beetle'. I wouldn't even want it to be too stylish....just simple design, simple construction and I don't care if it's slow. Of course a convertible version would sex it up a bit. I tell you here, now, I would be first in line for such a car.

I don't know how many here have been in or driven a minimalist, elemental car, it makes you feel more part of the vehicle...not so pampered, not so cushioned from the real world. It's a wonderful feeling. You feel more alive. As much as I like many new hi-tech cars much of that connection with the machine is disappearing. The closest new vehicle that still has some of this feeling may be the Jeep Wrangler, with the doors off and the windshield dropped down.

[razoredge]

Sad thing is guys, that will never happen. The insurance companies are ruling the world now and I dont think a car will ever weigh less than 3400 lb again, no mater what the size. We must have 500lbs/$5000 worth of airbags, hoods that wont dent the heads of those idiots that Momma never taught to look both ways before crossing the road. High belt lines and high ride height so cars dont get lost in the never ending sea of SUV's, Kenworth size PU's, and "Crossovers". A pillors that are large enough to be considered timber and B & C pillors large enough to be considered "old growth". Mans only natural preditors has been cancer & the automobile and now they are trying to rule that out...............so much for survival of the fittest....................

The same thing that you are talking about with the Beetles is only part of what I loved so much about my Sunbeam. The wireing harness on that car was so simple. It had 2 fuses. You could open the hood and start the car from under the hood by pushing a button on the remote solenoid while tinkering. You would be under the hood tinkering just because it was fun and not overwhelming. And you know what....if I rolled it over I was going to die and that was knowingly accepted and the knowledge of that made me a better driver.

Today you open a hood and its like "what for" to look at gobs of plastic engine covers and electro gadjets that you can do nothing about, nothing with. A real engine modification today takes nearly 3000.00 and a engineering degree in computor technology...........then there will still always be some bug that no one even the genious's can figure out.

No doubt cars are better today, less hasstles until they reach their half life............then look out. Look at a dashboard and imagine if you ever needed to get in there to fix some stupid electro gazmo that was designed to fail at year 5 or 100,000 miles/whatever comes first.............like GM's moronic fuel gauge issue. Reads empty after a fill up, straightens out for 3/4 of a tank and works proper then rises toward full again as you are nearing empty

It it were'nt broke, why on earth would you waste R&D $ to make something so simple as a fuel gauge so unreliable, complicated and no doubt heavier ?

Friend of mine had a Vdubbya, it was cool to drive and "bomb" around in but it was too much like work getting up hills.

[balthazar]

My wife once owned a 4-cyl '87 Mustang hatch. Eventually the heater core let go. Repair cost (circa 1993): $600- you had to purge the A/C system, remove the console & the entire dash.

I once changed the heater core in my '64 Cat while hanging out with my buddies late at night at the 24-hr gas station- took about 20 minutes.

There are multiple viewpoints as far as judging something 'better'.

razor- IMO If this gas thing continues to become more burdensome- the econobox will make a marked return and the SUV will retreat to a degree- making some room for the MinimalistKar. It may not end up being as stripped as -say- a '60 American, but there is still at least a niche market for it.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

There is a way to get a bare-bones car on the market...just classify it as a motorcycle. (And, yes, a motorcycle can have three to four wheels. What do you think they really classify an ATV as on a title? They can also seat two. Just look at the two-rider Bombardier and Arctic Cat ATVs.)

I also thought VW was giving these concept cars some serious thought, especially the first one, which would be considered as a motorcycle and be priced at around sixteen or seveteen-grand.

(VW GX3:)

(VW EcoRacer:)

[csaba1218]

yeah it's unfortunate but that is how it is in safety world. the government seems to think we are to dumb to keep ourselves safe i say it is survival of the fittest why protect someone dumb enough to get run over with softer hoods higher beltlines , plus everyone seems to need all these gizmos that we got by without for so many years, dvd players, nav systems, bluetooth , air conditioned glove box ( what the hell is that good for anyway) giant hot wheels looking rims all kinds of stupid crap not because you need it because it makes you cool and you wouldnt wanna have a car without all these gizmos because your neighbor might not be impressed, whats next a car that gives BJ's .. the beetle and many cars before stand for what a car should be a ,machine that gets you from point a to point b . today this is lost in all the brainwashing and corruption by the media, and government.

hey i guess we can dream about it though.

[Sixty8panther]

Probably the most significant & historically relevant thing to

ever come out of Germany. I agree 100% with Harley,

Balthazar & O.B. there's something beautiful about the VW

Bug. The new one does not do a thing for me though.

The original was awsome... RWD, air cooled, for a while

manual trans only & waht little weight it had to tug around

even that was well enginered. Low center of gravity due to

the pancake motor & to top it all off it had a timeless look

to it, hard to beleive it was almost three quarters of a

century old when it was finally discontinued.

Instead of all these POS, semi-modern, FWD complicated

cars they're selling in third world countries the Bettle should

still be made for those markets.

[HarleyEarl]

yeah it's unfortunate but that is how it is in safety world. the government seems to think we are to dumb to keep ourselves safe i say it is survival of the fittest why protect someone dumb enough to get run over with softer hoods higher beltlines , plus everyone seems to need all these gizmos that we got by without for so many years, dvd players, nav systems, bluetooth , air conditioned glove box ( what the hell is that good for anyway) giant hot wheels looking rims all kinds of stupid crap not because you need it because it makes you cool and you wouldnt wanna have a car without all these gizmos because your neighbor might not be impressed, whats next a car that gives BJ's .. the beetle  and many cars before stand for what a car should be a ,machine that gets you from point a to point b . today this is lost in all the brainwashing and corruption by the media, and government.

hey i guess we can dream about it though.

171164[/snapback]

Perfectly said. I couldn't agree more.

[HarleyEarl]

Probably the most significant & historically relevant thing to

ever come out of Germany. I agree 100% with Harley,

Balthazar & O.B. there's something beautiful about the VW

Bug. The new one does not do a thing for me though.

The original was awsome... RWD, air cooled, for a while

manual trans only & waht little weight it had to tug around

even that was well enginered. Low center of gravity due to

the pancake motor & to top it all off it had a timeless look

to it, hard to beleive it was almost three quarters of a

century old when it was finally discontinued.

Instead of all these POS, semi-modern, FWD complicated

cars they're selling in third world countries the Bettle should

still be made for those markets.

171179[/snapback]

You guys articulate it so well.

It was even little things like the front windshield close in.....I love that. And when VW would make annual changes they were not huge but effective...like say, the tail lights would be made larger...incremental improvements...not wholesale changes.

Or when you closed the doors it would suck at your eardrums....so airtight.

[razoredge]

The reality is that the VW Rabbit was equally if not a more significant vehical. Some fraction of the origional peoples car lives on in the Porsche and is still a tried and proven design of great evolution, though a bit pricy for the "people".

As for the "POS" thing, I really dont recall anyone ever saying how perfect their Beetle was...............in fact I seem to remember the basic attitude toward VW Beetle amounst American "enthousiasts" as being one of "POS"......................hmm..........ponder that ?????

as for the minimalist car, Im really sure the totalitarian insurance rulership of all things human will forbid any such thing as becoming road legal in the US. They are currently going hard after the motorcycle escape route and will find a way to dictate that as well. Im sure if we all started pedaling our bicycles and taking the train they would find a way by witch to mandate we carry individual liability insurance with limits no less than 3,000,000............hey, we need ways to keep our massive population in money............and this is how we are doing it...........if I didnt have a conscience I would hop on the insurance gravy train myself.

Perhaps the closest thing to minimalist car I can think of today, at least that I have seen first hand that impressed me is Lotus. However we all know if this was not a nitch car and became massively popular amounst citizens..........the insurance industry would be there to crash the party.

[Drew Dowdell]

My wife once owned a 4-cyl '87 Mustang hatch. Eventually the heater core let go. Repair cost (circa 1993): $600- you had to purge the A/C system, remove the console & the entire dash.

171135[/snapback]

all the Fox body Fords are like that. had to do the same thing in my '85 Continental.

[Cadillacfan]

I know I'm , but didn't Hitler help design the original Beetle or at least set it in motion? Interesting how that psychopath had something to do with one of the best selling cars of all time.

[HarleyEarl]

I believe Hitler gave instructions of what he wanted and Ferdinand Porsche designed it.

[HarleyEarl]

It's more like he stole it from the Mercedes 170:

[ocnblu]

What year is that Mercedes?

[HarleyEarl]

What year is that Mercedes?

172301[/snapback]

The Mercedes is a 1937.

[ocnblu]

When did it debut? I thought Hitler was directing Dr. Porsche well before then on the volks wagen.

[HarleyEarl]

Blu, I don't know much of the history of this little Mercedes. Hitler reportedly came up with the idea of the VW Beetle in the early '30's.

Amazing how much these two vehicles look like each other though.

Here is the '37 VW Beetle prototype.

Edited August 23, 2006 by HarleyEarl

[HarleyEarl]

I just did a bit of research on the Benz 170. Apparently Hitler grew impatient with Dr. Porsche's prototypes and commanded Benz produce this car. 30 were produced. So Hitler had a hand in this one too, there's the reason it looks like the VW. Technically production of the 170 came first but the idea and protoypes of the VW predated it.

Edited July 28, 2006 by HarleyEarl

[razoredge]

I found this profile to ring a bell, sure the cars are night and day but the styling.............That first post war Citroen has striking similiarities too

1934 DeSoto Airflow 2Door Coupe