[gOOber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwlbCLX7aZk&feature=related

[DruulEmpire]

Hey, it still makes more sense than the Rocketeer.

I think this may begin to explain Herbie.

[Bad Kitty]

I giggled slightly.

[Palomine]

I giggled slightly.

Agreed. Mildly amusing and competently produced. Given the fact that the luftwaffe did manage to get a few jets and rocket planes into the air before the end of the war, I get the joke that the original Beetle might have started off as another secret/special military project (which is sort of true, though more in the area of propaganda... and of course, variants like the Kubelwagen were widely used by the German military).

Mostly, it just reminded me that I've never owned an original Beetle, which makes me a little sad ...I've had several VWs but only one was air-cooled, and that was a camper. Yes, by today's standards they're primitive and unsafe, yet anyone who's ever driven or ridden in one knows they're also extremely charming: making utilitarian into a virtue. I must not be the only person who thinks so: clean original air-cooled Beetles stopped depreciating years ago and have only been going up in price since then as the supply of available cars dwindles. It's not the least bit uncommon to pay $10K or more for one in car-crazy SoCal, if you can even manage to find one that hasn't been modified past the point of no return.

Though I'd still want to also have a regular (i.e.: modern, with plenty of air bags and effective HVAC) car too, if I could get my hands on a Beetle like the one pictured below for anything resembling a doable price, I'd willingly sacrifice my current (modern, safe and practical) VW if doing so made it possible to have a Beetle like this:

[Bad Kitty]

They are elegant and charming in their own odd way.

They were considered "unsafe" in an era where most cars didn't have airbags or seatbelts though. Mainly because the heaviest models only weighed 1800-1900lbs. And of course the engines were like 40-60hp. Which makes the beetles actually quite similar in stats to my old Geo Metro I had in the early 90's. Which was basically a go-kart with a body skin, windows, and cloth seating.

I think the main safety issue with the bugs, is that a Cadillac could completely crush one, and barely notice. Of course if everyone drove VW bugs, that wouldn't be an issue. But as things stand, it really is the sort of vehicle which would get completely obliterated by wrecks which other cars might drive away from.

Also, the rear engine, it's back-heavy. Brake hard on a slick road and you'll go for an interesting ride.

I love the style though.

PS: they were made in mexico (no safety regulations) until 2003. might be able to find a relatively new-ish used mexican bug. Though I dunno if you could import it without liscencing it as a kit car or something.

[solvegas]

My mother ( RIP ) retired as a hospital administrator / financial planner and so she was privy to a lot of information regarding accidents and such. She use to call the Beetle back in the 70's as " Hitler's revenge " because so many people were killed / injured, taking into account how many there were and other statistical factors, by VW's. She always thought it was curious how Ralph Nader attacked GM for the Chevy Corvair but a vehicle that actually killed more people like the Beetle was hardly bothered. I personally never liked them. They were cramped, noisy and underpowered. Yes, they were cheap and so there is that in their favor. One thing I know is that nostalgia can make the past glossier than what it really was and so the Ferdinand Porshe design of 1936 can be seen in a better light than it deserves. To think in 1946 Ford did not acquire VW because it thought the vehicle obsolete and, of course, the german goverment at the time convinced the US goverment not to allow the deal anyways. It was the Beetle which made buying foreign cars in a large scale acceptable in the US.

[pedonbio]

Mostly, it just reminded me that I've never owned an original Beetle, which makes me a little sad ...I've had several VWs but only one was air-cooled, and that was a camper.

I've owned a couple over the years; someone once said that so many of us bought them because they looked like they needed us. I thought it was wonderful that they were so easy to repair, because they needed repairs so often.

There is a story, probably apocryphal, that a supervisor at GM's engineering center went through the employee's parking lot and found that more than half the cars were VW Bugs, even though the engineers could buy Chevies for very little. So he came up with a solution that was typical of the GM thinking that eventually drove it into bankruptcy: A memo came out forbidding employees from parking German-made cars in the employee lot. The story may be apocryphal, but I first read it more than 30 years ago.

[rtpoe]

Given the number of bat-shit insane weapons the Nazi War Machine was actually working on, killer Volkswagons is not something that would surprise me.

In a weird way, we have to be a little glad that the Nazis were trying all that crazy shit. It diverted men, material, and brains from making more of the things that were actually good at killing the Allies.

[TysonWarm]

Actually just started reading "In The Garden Of Beasts:  Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin."  Kind of interesting that in 1933 that a lot of people thought that Hitler's government wouldn't last very long.  And that you had to perform the Heil salute in public or you would get beaten down.

[pedonbio]

I think this was one of Pal's:

[pedonbio]

Actually just started reading "In The Garden Of Beasts:  Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin."  Kind of interesting that in 1933 that a lot of people thought that Hitler's government wouldn't last very long.  And that you had to perform the Heil salute in public or you would get beaten down.

From what I've heard, it is a real gem and I want to read it. I gather that the ambassador's daughter was quite a character.

[Night Lord]

I like how it's labeled "Fake or Fiction." Yes, it is at least one of the two.

[TysonWarm]

From what I've heard, it is a real gem and I want to read it. I gather that the ambassador's daughter was quite a character.

Yes Pedonbio.  I would recommend it.  The ambassador's daughter had quite a few suitors.  I don't want to spoil it for you if you read it, but she was the most interesting character in the book at least in my opinion.

[pedonbio]

I think this was Pal's VW bus...

[Palomine]

I think this was Pal's VW bus...

Mine looked like this... same model, year and color. It was great in most respects and though I have no immediate plans for another 12,000 mile summer road trip, if a nice one crossed my path, I'd be tempted to buy it anyway. They're like little apartments on wheels, plus they have great ground clearance for dirt roads and they're pretty cheap to fix.

I only had mine for a few years and to the best of my recollection, I never had any topless chicks in it, let alone one who looked as cute as that.