[vidguy]

Would you spend $5000/$6000 on a restored 60's Bug to drive around?

Been thinking about this for a few years.
Wondering if any PY'ers had or has a Bug.

[ponchjoe]

Vidguy, whatever floats your boat man. I would but it would have to be a Baja type bug or they are boring and you could upgrade some horsepower in your other ride substantially with that much cash!

[salem1912]

b-man does. see page 4 in MA post Front End Friday.

[dataway]

I would at least for a while for just the novelty of it.

[NBF823]

Probably not, no.

The way I see it, theres bad and worse. That front suspension is quite comical. There rear suspension comes in "Ok" irs, or "I wouldnt touch it with a pole" swing arm.

They can be fast, they can even corner well. They dont have miserble fwd plow weight balance, and god knows I love a featherweight.

But given the cave man components, terrible shape, performance vs reliability ratio, and the current asking price - not gonna happen for me.

For 5-6k, I think i could gut an 84 monte, find a posi, a 350, and a 4-speed, and ram said 350 right into the firewall, and have way more fun.

[David Jones]

I had a very nice 72 Super Beetle back in the mid 80's. I sold it to a friend after a couple of years....he still has it.
Thoroughly enjoyable little car.

[Chris65LeMans]

They aren't my style, but it's good to see any old iron on the road these days.

About 15 years ago, I worked in a high-rise office building next to a freeway. One day, all 200 employees made their way to the windows to watch a commotion. There was an old VW bus burning to the ground on the freeway shoulder, while a couple of hippies frantically tossed all their junk out the side door.

At least 3 people commented, "Yep - that's how my VW died, too."

[hurryinhoosier62]

Not a chance! I can’t fold up enough to fit in one.

[b-man]

Drove them exclusively until I was 30 years old, they're a damn good car.

At age 18 (40 years ago) my daily driver '66 bug ran 13.70s, street raced it regularly.

Always had at least one vdub in the stable.

They're awesome !

[Dennis H.]

I have had a 65 that I built into a rail dune buggy, and a almost new 71
super Beetle in 1972. Great little cars, excellent in in snow and ice, but heater sucks to no end.

[marxjunk]

Id drive a nice one..ive owned a few ruff ones...and they always needed worked....gets old fast

[lemansboy70]

I've had a couple. Fun to drive EXCEPT in the wintertime!

Got a speeding ticket in my '68.

I have two Mini Coopers now. An '04 and a '14.

[skullbucket]

No, Dad had to drive one to work and most of the time we followed in another car and take him the rest of the way to work!

[camerjeff]

They are a lot of fun with a Turbo Subaru Boxer upgrade!

If it was a Super Beetle maybee my sister had a 63 regular Beetle and the windshield was just to close to my face for my driving comfort, her 74 Super Beetle had it a few inches farther away. I wasn't so paranoid driving it. Not that it would really make a difference in a big collision either way.

[Kenman]

I drive my 1977 super beetle convertible pretty often. The supers have plenty of room on the interior. Plenty of head room even with the top up. Front suspension is McPherson strut and rear suspension is IRS so the ride is nice.
Once you get them sorted out they are dead reliable. Cheap and easy to repair.
No Cave man components that I see. You do need to check valve clearance
every 3k miles as regular maintenance. Here's mine

Ken

[bob d]

the first car I ever owned. paid 150.00 bucks for it. had a lot of fun with it and the chicks loved it. would love to have another one. her name was luverne lush named my previous owner.

[Old Goat Racer]

I bought one brand new in '65 three days after I got married. A GTO was NOT in the budget and we needed 2 cars.
It had bucket seats, a 4-speed, dual exhausts and it was Red. I would NOT own another one !

[Sirrotica]

There's a reason that they are nicknamed Hitler's revenge!!!!!!

I owned one, and will never own another one, technilogical abortion and a nightmare, and that doesn't even cover being woefully under powered.

I never even wanted it for the original VW part of it, I wanted to build a dunebuggy. Even at 32,000 miles it broke down all the time and was so unreliable I traded it on a 67 326 HO Firebird, I just scrapped the dunebuggy idea. After owning a Pontiac I never looked back. I traded up to the Jeep cult for any off road activities.

Those places called cute names like AUTOHAUS that had dozens of dead VWs strewn around them in the 60s-70s were there for a reason. Cannibalize the carcasses just to keep them running, and because almost no one wanted to work on them, the guys that owned one of those facilities were sitting on a gold mine. It's known as a captive audience.

As the VWs died off, (rust or major mechanical failures) those places either went away, they started working on other foreign junk that no one else wanted to work on, fiats, simcas, and anything made by the British that had a Lucas electrical system, etc.

[tripower]

One of our department heads hear at work has one as his daily driver......at least when no snow or ice on the roads. He loves the car and hasn't had any issues with it. Knowing that you could pick up a restored one for that price would seem like a no-brainer. Best of luck!

[tigergto]

Back in the early 70s I owned a 62 Beetle, it served its purpose then. I've never had the desire to own another one. Now that I think about it the car was painted in psychedelic colors and I had shoulder length hair, needless to say I was constantly being pulled over by law enforcement.