The history of the Volkswagen Bug told in a way I enjoy

I did, but I will forever miss my beloved little Beelzebug. :cold_sweat:

4 Likes

So who remembers the trick of when the starter stops working, you climb under the car & connect the two prongs with a screwdriver? ( Suggested in Complete Idiot book.)

2 Likes

Ooh same (or similar) color! Except that in my dream the bug is free.

Edited to add: yes I know Woody Allen is a creep but:

3 Likes

Learned to really drive a stick in a boyfriend’s Beetle. His entire family had VWs; his parents owned a microbus and a Karmann Ghia, he and his brothers had Beetles.
Made the (ex-)husband buy one when a friend was selling it for $50 in 1982. It was yellow inside, but the outside was darkish green house paint, slapped on with a brush. IIRC, it was a '68. I loved it, he hated it, and wouldn’t fix the brakes when they went out. It was left in the parking lot were it bumped to a stop, and eventually towed away. I still miss that fun little car.

1 Like

Yes, I did have my back seat catch fire once. Had to stop and throw it into the road to put it out. The battery was under the back passenger side of the bench seat.

Nobody was sitting back there, but the battery connection was bad. This also explained the need for so many push starts.

Those really old cars often had holes right under the battery because the battery would leak and corrode the metal. If you knew about this early enough you got a plastic tray to sit it in. If you already had a hole, you usually got a piece of plywood to cover it.

When I was a kid we had the station wagon version; tons of great times in that thing. I loved it. And VW would send us all sorts of promotional stuff (ex: a ‘bug’ coloring book sent out for a contest to see who colored the ‘bug’ in the best; VW-related jokes; etc.)

Flipside: One of my uncles owned a ‘bug’. He was tall as hell and had to stoop while at the wheel (which could not have improved his dangerous driving habits). I was forced one time to accept his offer for a lift to Shea Stadium in said ‘bug’. My high school date in the back with me, with his wife sitting up front. As expected he wove in and out of traffic as fast as he could, and with the ‘bug’ severely dipping left and right; he was a mad man. At one point he came incredibly close to hitting a woman who took a step off the curb; that’s when my uncle’s wife turned to him and very calmly said. “You almost ran over that woman.” All so strange.

That’s what my mom used to call my baby niece! Love Bug.

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.