Sorry, we got off topic and began chatting about old VW bugs and vans. This thread will begin about my squareback which is really a tiny station wagon. Thought a new thread, or at least a repeat of an old one I don't know about, might get some interest in our VW's of the past. The VW fastbacks and squarebacks were mentioned. I don't off hand remember the year of the squareback I bought new but it seemed to be a lemon. Even though it was a nice dark blue color. At first small problems came up. Then on a camping trip from central Illinois to southern Illinois the main wiring harness burned up. With a stroke of luck,(?) I coasted into a Volkswagen dealership. It was Saturday afternoon and near closing time. We were given permission to campout in our squareback with two small children behind the main building. We were even given a key to the storage lot gate in case we wanted to go someplace on foot. Also a key to the rear shop where we could use the restrooms. They sure trusted us! Monday got complete new wiring and new alternator. Finished our campout and made it home. Within weeks it happened again. Our local VW dealer replaced almost all wiring and another alternator plus other electrical componants. :confused:Another time, we got a recall to have the rear engine side louver vents removed and turned around. Seems they were embossed backward. The replacements were ugly rivited on larger panels. Several starters and other things went bad on this now two year old squareback before we traded it off. Sadly, we liked it. yes, there are lemons in every brand of car out there. My Beetles were all used cars and never a problem I couldn't fix with bailing wire and duct tape. They even came with their own tool pouch with basic tools. I had Model T's and looked at my Beetles as modern Model T Fords. I had my 1957 Beetle when the new Corvairs came out. We were out in the sand in a State Park playing around with the Beetle. Came across a salesman in a new Corvair, stuck in the sand. He was doing what I was, trying to see how well they handled in sand. I pulled him out and promised not to tell. Ha! Do you have a VW tale to tell?
I'll try to find sme before pics....it sure was fugly unit when I got it pic of a pic Good memories with this bug I guess it was 95/96(?) and my daughter (22 now) was "punch bugie" every time she saw a bug, she just loved them. One day my Dad sugested we go 1/2'ers on a $1k-1.5k factory stock bug and expect to do some repairs. Dad would find them in the paper and I went to look but all were rusted junk. It got so bad and we looked for so long me and my Dad thought I wasn't interested, yet he never would come with me to view.....we ended up telling each other to **** ***! One day while driving I spotted it in a drive way with a 4-sale sign, a fugly multi coloured creature it was, rear suspention draging on the ground, interiour trashed, bald tires, no mufler, passenger door didn't open, and you had to keep your foot on the gas or it would stall, but it was rust free solid. $600 OBO and it had a temporary permit. Seller said it was a father son project but the sone lost interest. Seller let me take the bug for drive by myself and man what a ride, stalling between shifts, brakes pulled to the left big time. I pulled over and looked at the carb, crudly adjusted the idle and it ran on it's own. I babied the bug to Beatle Auto Service here in Victoria. They took it for a spin, took it in there shop, and came to me an said it's fugly ut it's solid and for a $1000 they will fix everything. I drove back, stopped a block away and un-adjusted the carb to stall mode. $350 and I drove it rite back to Beatle auto. 2 days later I picked the bug up and drove it to my shop, my Dad and my daughter still didn't know. The interiour was so bad I couldn't put my kid in the car so I gutted it, interiour panels I replaced with pre-painted green sheet metal and it looked great but I had no seats. I then rememberd a friend I hadn't seen in some time and he had 2 green cloth buckets from a Scirocco. I took over a box of beer, drank it with him and left with the seats Now I needed tires and rims as the bug was still riding on the tiny factory rims but had no $ left. The fellow next to my shop scrapped cars and we made a deal, he had piles of tires and 2 15'', and 2 14'' fat wheels for the bug. I had a tire machine, he didn't, so I spent a afternoon taking tires off for him, got the rims and my pick of tires, even a set of beauty rims. Also with some scrap steel I made the front bumper. Now if I only had insurance. Back then you could only buy a full years worth and there were no monthly payment options, just 10 day permits that were not cheap. A couple paydays later I got a permit. It still looked so fugly all miss matched coloured but it now was safe and road worthy. I'll never forget the expretion on my daughters face, she was in the front yard at my parents when I drove up, Holly Dad even liked it! Dad pid for a year insurance We drove it all fugly for a few months andjust because of how it looked I got pulled over by police a few times. Beatle Auto told me to keep my reciets in the glove box and if (It's like they knew) I get pulled over show them the reciets as the car has passed inspection.... I allways drove away no problem Summer was coming and my daughter was going to spend it with her Mom up north ( I had custody ), and I had promiced my girl the bug would be painted. I let her pick the colour......shure looked different on that tiny paint card....holly freeken M+M's green it turned out I went for marine enamal, $30 a gallon. Had no primer, no bondo, no sand paper, no $, again. Summer was passing and every time I talked to my little girl on the phone she would ask if the bug was painted and I, like any father who's kid isn't around....I lied! Well before I knew it, I'd run out of time, and I didn't have the $ for all the supplies needed. So I went to my Mom and said..... Can I have some $ for 3 boxes of beer please?, it's for the bug. After explaining the power of beer to my Mom I went to Chriss who still owns Autoteck Collition here in Victoria, drank beer with him and the guys and left with, high solids primer, gun wash, spray gun, tape, bondo, sand paper the works! In panic mode I started on the bug in my parents garage and I guess deer old Mom felt pitty for me as the down stairs fridge was full of beer! Thanks Mom So then I work, drink, and work non stop for a couple days and now I start to paint. Well the last coat of paint went on @ 4AM, I was beat, beer buzed, and stoned from paint fumes. 8AM I peeled the tape and paper off a very tacky bug and rolled it out into the sun. Mom shut down the beer fridge and was pumping me full of coffee. 11AM Dad said, your not driving and made me sit in the back seat of my Collony Park as we all went to the airport to pic up my Daughter from her summer vacation. She was thrilled to death when she saw it....... I fell asleep as soon as I got in the house Alot of great memories in that bug, my little girl and I traveled many a logging road and some wild trails. First mud pit we came up to I floored and she rolled her window up fast, I lauphed calling her a wimp, then I stopped lauhing, but she was lauphing like crazy...... The side of my head and face looked like a cow took a crap on me, I was so covered in mud Once got high centered on a fallen tree, told the kid to stand behind the bug. I left it idling in 1'st gear and started jerking up and down the rear engine cage. Well, when the rear tires hooked the tree the bug took off and theopen drivers door slamed. I had to run and head first dive through the window to stop it. Great memories for sure.
It was 1986 I was at a Motley Crue Consert in Salt lake city, fun concert Whitesnake opened lots of pot smoking in those days, so to say the least I got a little baked. I drove my 72' standard beetle to the show. We jumped in the bug after the concert and fired her up went to give her gas and PLINK! the accelerator cable broke! The little S bend that connects the cable to the pedal broke right at the bend. So picture this 12:30 at night, downtown SLC, cops EVERYWHERE and I am a long haired teenager driving a bright red bug and I am burnt. Finally the fledgling mechanic in me came to and started thinking. I went to the back of the bug and fished the cable out of the small tube that runs through the tunnel and pulled the entire cable out until I had a 7 foot cable in my hand that was hooked to the carb linkage. Just in front of the fan shroud I noticed a body plug in the rear fire wall. I fished the cable through that hole and up to the front between the seats. After firing her up again I found myself with a hand operated throttle. Drove from Salt lake to Ogden that way (about 35 miles) gasing and shifting with my right hand and steering with my left. Getting this system down took a few miles to get used to, but by the time I got home I was actually doing pretty good. Oh what a night!
Learned to drive a stick on a buddie's '71 Squareback that his folks bought him new foe college. The gears were there - somewhere. I seen to recall having a heck of a time finding reverse.
LETS SEE 68 BUG 83 GTI , 86 CABREOLET 20 TROPHEYS TOP 250 CAR FOR NEW ENGLAND, 1995 PASSAT B-5 WAGON YUP I HAD SOME FUN WITH MY VW, BUT I LOVE 86 BIG BETTEY BUICK
You could haul a VW Beetle in that Buick! Yesterday I sat in our red Dodge quad cab with fibreglas topper at drug store. Then beside me parked a red Smart Car! It was about the same distance from front, but ended where I was sitting in the truck. I was thinking it would fit inside the truck topper. Also was thinking who would survive in a bad accident. Clark Kent used to change clothes in things larger than that Smart Thing! I still like the older VW beetles.
That must have been 1968-69. With the updated bodystyle in 1970, came front-facing air intake vents. :rant: One of the dumbest recalls ever, IMO. It had nothing to do with the rear-facing air intakes causing the engines to overheat , it was simply from customers complaining and thinking they're smarter than a team or German Engineers. The vents don't need to 'scoop' air, there's a big fan on the end of the crankshaft to pull air in. They're in a low pressure area of the car, anyway. So a scoop wouldn't have much effect. The original design served the purpose of preventing water from being drawn in when driving in the rain. The later design lets rainwater flow right in, and now the rear corners on my 71 are rusty. :rant: Yes, many. I've owned several over the years - 15 or 16, including parts cars. Only 5 or 6 drivers, though. My first was a 1981 Bus. It was built in Mexico, so it had the 73-79 body with a Bug engine. A bastard vehicle, I had a hard time getting the right parts for it. I owned it for 7 years, but only put about 25,000 miles on it. I lived in a small town at the time, and could ride my bike anywhere in town quicker than I could drive there. Most of those miles were trips out of town or to the lumberyard. I lived in it for about 6 months, while working and saving up money to buy my first house. I'd park on the street outside work during the week, and camp in National Forests on the weekends. Despite their reputation for being slow, the fastest I've moved in a VW was in that Bus. After climbing Teton Pass west of Jackson, Wyoming heading into Idaho; I dropped it out of gear and coasted for several miles. It reached 94mph before the road curved and I had to choose what I wanted to use to slow down - the brakes, the rock wall alongside the road, or the side of the Bus. 94mph isn't really that fast, I know. But, being in a 6 foot tall toaster, it felt much faster than the 125+ I did in my Olds 98. disclaimer - the story may or may not be true, and the statute of limitations has long since expired on both events which may or may not have actually happened. I recently found it for sale on Craigslist, about a mile from me. I've been meaning to go check it out. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1204563 Here's a picture of it when I owned it. I've had a couple Bugs over the years. I don't have any exciting stories about them. They were cheap, reliable, easy to maintain and repair transportation. Just like Dr. Porsche envisioned them, even though they were 30 years old at the time. I got my first Squareback in 1999 or 2000. I've owned several since. Having driven a van for a few years, I was craving the drivability of a car without sacrificing too much cargo room. (sound familiar?) I didn't own that one for long. It was rusty, and had numerous previous-owner hackjob repairs. Fast-forward a few years, and I picked up a 1965 Squareback at the Pomona Swap Meet. Transported it back to MN, and it has become a long-term project. Finding all the pre-US import parts (they weren't officially imported until 1966) has been a challenge. I currently drive a 1971 Squareback, it has been my daily since 2007. Easy to drive, good on gas, easy to maintain and repair, sleeps two, and can haul just about anything I need to transport. Here's the most recent picture I have of it: I've since cleaned it up and painted the bare/primer spots with Allis-Chalmers Orange, the closest match in a can to the original paint. I have no plans to restore this one. I could buy a restored one for half the cost of restoring it. Then I'd start to worry about it getting hit by carts in parking lots and whatnot, and be generally afraid to drive it. Why own a car, if you're afraid to use it?
Bsquare I loved your story. I was afraid to write about Volkswagons But I realize even though the beetles are not wagons they are called VolksWAGONS. Catch 22 ! :confused:Now I have to find some information or pictures of my blue squareback. I'm thinking it was 1972 but you say it couldn't be that late. It did have the louvers pressed into the rear sides aimed rearward. I never had any problems with it overheating. But kept getting those memos to bring it in for repair. One day while at the VW dealership they looked at it and offered to do it right then. They explained it would void the waurantee if I didn't. As many problems as I had with that thing I needed the coverage. It was so long ago I don't remember any details about it other than it was a lemon. I usually remember dates and details about my cars. i suppose I am just blocking those bad images from my little mind! Your 1971 sure looks like my squareback from what I remember. But like all VW's, probably so little changed they all looked alike. Is Teton Pass near Alpine Valley? Been there with 50 foot refer and semi from Pocatellao Idaho
I was afraid I spelled that wrong but too lazy to look it up. For this topic I like my spelling better--------VolksWAGON ! Because this is not a stationWAGEN site. My brother's wife tried to teach me German but I am mentally challenged. Thanks tbirdsps!
I remembered another funny Bug story: A friend of mine named Bryce was a bit down on his luck and found himself sleeping in his 63' baja bug at a rest stop just up the canyon from town. He had been harrassed by the UHP he had been awakened by strange sounds and various big rig activities. One morning about 6am he was rudely awakened yet again but this time by what he thought at first was an earthquake. He felt the rocking then felt the front rising in the air, at first he thought he was being towed and thought "Oh great, just what I need", but then the front came down again only seconds later to rise again..."what the hell?" Bryce thought, all the windows were covered from a very frosty night next to the river, he could'nt see anything. As the front of the car rose yet again he kicked open the drivers door. Immediately the front fell but very quickly this time. As Bryce stepped out he came face to face with two very large men, one black one white, both with very suprised looks on their faces, both men began to apologise profusely. A bit confused and still half asleep Bryce asked "what exactly were you doing out here?" Seems the two men were a driving team and the white guy had bet the black guy he could'nt dead lift the front of the bug 5 times by its push bar. Both men assumed by the cars frosty condition (and being a bug) that had broken down and left behind. Embarrassed and feeling very bad for waking up Bryce up they took him to breakfast and then brought him back to his car.
The first car I ever drove was my future sister in law's '56 green Bug convertible when I was about 13 years old. She eventually got rid of that for a '67 blue one that she and my brother had for years until they traded for a used '68 red convertible. My brother Walt bought a '59 from his father in law which was a faded blue. We took care of that by paint brushing it bright red. It had a vinyl sunroof that ran the whole length of the car. He got rid of it after 4 or 5 years and bought a '66 convertible in red, very similar to my other brother's. Wow, didn't realize how many of those VW's were in the family.
VW Seems like Volkswagens were addictive. I had several friends who just kept buying new VW's when they tired of perfectly good older ones. One friend bought his while in Germany and had it shipped to central Illinois. He was a Model T collector and felt the VW was a modern day Model T. Maybe that's why I liked them. So basic and simple to work on. Still several of the older and newer Beetles here in the boonies. Not far away a bike builder turns them into rat trikes. Some complete with back halfs of the beetle body.
When I was in jr. high school a friend of mine was dating a fellow who's friend had a vw bug. We (the four of us) had more fun skipping school and drving around, listening to crocodile Rock... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ta0qCG8No Then in high school my brother got a VW bus, again a great time was had by all who entered. Then a while later, still in high school I dated a guy who had a VW Fastback, much like this one, in forest green... wasn't as much fun as the other VW because the starter must have been shot because whenever he parked the car it had to be on a hill or else I had to push it to get it started...not fun dates!
