Originally published at: Playmobil's VW Camper and Beetle are likely better than the real thing | Boing Boing
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I loved our 74 VW Camper. Our family had one with the extendable ceiling and ceiling bed, stove, fridge…In the 90s. I still get anxiety about hills and highway driving. My friends called it “The Toaster”. My mom called it the “fun buggie”. It was riddled with mold and I sincerely question my parent’s integrity for driving us around in that thing. But, it was beautiful. Those campers are gorgeous, and I wish vehicles were still designed to look beautiful. But I’m not sure if it’s worth buying Playmobile…
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“Now I drive cars you can get replacement parts for”
I was under the impression that spare parts for classic Beetles were easy to find. I read somewhere the Beetles, MGs and Mustangs have abundant aftermarket parts. As the owner of an MGB, I can confirm MG parts availability.
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My condolences…
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What’s not to love?
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If’s not entirely rational, but the thing that sticks in my mind is those flat glass windows. Because that makes me imagine they’re just regular domestic single glazing, and then I immediately picture what that’s like in a crash, which makes me also think about how the rest of the chipboard and thin sheet metal construction would hold up, and at that point I just don’t want to be in one. I’m sure I’ve been in less safe vehicles without it bothering me, but once the thought is in your head it’s hard to get past.
Also, I had somehow never heard of this clutchless shifting. I don’t really understand the point (for people with two legs).
ETA oh yeah, what I came here to say is that almost all Playmobil sets are preferable to the real thing (pirates, feudal overlords, road construction, farm animals etc). That’s the whole point.
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The JC Whitney catalog was the go-to for air cooled VW parts. A person could build a VW from scratch using just what the catalog offered. Sadly the JC Whitney catalog is no more as of last year… =(
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I hear Playmobil will release an MGB toy once they figure out how to make it leak oil.
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Some parts are a lot easier to find and are a lot more affordable than others, depending on the model. You can get it, though, you might be waiting a while. I’m in Canada so, YMMV.
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VW and others had a semi-automatic shifter that disengaged the centrifugal (?) clutch when you put your hand on the shifter. Jalopnik had an explainer that I have probably misremembered.
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No, I mean, I read that that’s what it does, but why is it desirable? Is it so you can use your left leg to steer?
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Not everyone finds the timing to be easy to master. And the intrinsic joy of shifting (!) is harder to find in traffic than reverse in an old gearbox. There is an argument that manual shifting confers superiority but I’m not here for it.
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A friend of mine had a beetle that he meticulously removed, disassembled and rebuilt the engine using this as a guide:
Despite being the target market for this book, he (we) failed to have the skill (and probably tools) necessary to correctly remount the engine back onto the transmission (couldn’t get the splines lined up). I recall being amazed that the engine is only held in place by four bolts to the transmission without any connections to the frame/chassis.
This was many decades ago so I could be misremembering details.
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My BF in Southern Coliforniyah had a VW Bus as his first car. What a hunk of junk. One friend gave him a “0-60 in Ten Minutes” bumpersticker, and another gave him a Speed Racer license plate frame.
I’ll never forget his somehow managing to drive it back to Ontario after a gig at the Whiskey. It kept acting like it was gonna die on us, coughing and spluttering, esp as we crossed the big hills & mountains. I almost kissed the ground when we finally got home.
He foolishly tried to teach me to drive a stick with that bus, and I gave up in fury after ten minutes. Another friend successfully taught me, using his VW Golf. Within less than fifteen minutes I was shifting more smoothly than he, and he was even the one who pointed it out. Starting it was the only really hard part. I imagine I’d never have been able to start that bus.
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And necessity for said parts.
Ditto. I had a '66 MGB. It was a fun car to drive but maintenance intensive and gutless compared to almost anything else, even with a shaved head and careful tuning.
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There were dozens and dozens of VW mechanics who just followed Dead tours. Was probably a good gig, especially if you liked getting paid in sheets of acid.
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I’m glad somebody gave a shout out to this precious volume. A 1963 VW bug and How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive got me through most of the 1970s. I never drove a bus (nor did I try to remount an engine), but my dear old bug kept on chugging for very little money and not that much effort on my part. Though nostalgia obviously tinges my memories, I must say that a basic, non-digital, non-automatic, humanly comprehensible car that I could fix myself was a wonderful thing and I wish such a creature existed today.
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I remember a news item in either Car & Driver or Road & Track many years ago; the Porsche rally team used a VW microbus as a parts and service vehicle. They bolted a race tuned engine out of a 911 in place of the regular VW engine. It was capable of 140 mph all day.
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If you like rear-mounted, air-cooled boxer engines, you should try a Corvair. There’s parts available, they have six cylinders, and they generate lots of “I drove one in college” from the ladies at Trader Joe’s.
Plus, they leak oil.
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I had a Type 3 Notchback.
Nothing to add - I only mention this because my therapist said it would be better if I dealt with this openly.
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