Such a cool little car! (VW Beetle (Original))

Member Name: herbie__53

Product:	VW Beetle (Original)
Date:	08/04/09 (262 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, quirky, stands out from the crowd

Disadvantages: The repair bills :(

The VW Beetle (the original one!) is perhaps one of the most iconic cars of all time.

Nowadays, it represents a free spirited individual, not always a hippy, and someone that is after something that little bit different. It reminds people of the sixties, flower power, and festivals - a time when things were brighter in colour and outlook. It is often linked to surfing as well, a classic picture of the Beetle is of it on a beach at sunset with the surfboards on the roof.

The Beetle was made by Volkswagen, which means "People's Car" in german, and linked to Adolf Hitler who asked Ferdinand Porsche (the owner of Porsche) to develop a car for the average family. The finance for building came from the Third Reich, and the earliest productions of the car in 1931 that would develop into the Beetle were used as military vehicles during the Second World War. The earliest Beetles produced for civilian use were mainly for the use of the Nazi Elite during 1940 - 1945, in Germany.

The first Beetle sold in the UK was in 1953, but the name "Beetle" was never officially used in Britain. The car was always known by its model number; 1200, 1300, 1303 etc. There are different designs of the car: The Split Oval, The Oval, Cabriolet, ones with sunroofs, ones with larger back windows and ones with curved windscreens (the 1303), but they all revolve around the basic template of smooth wings, running boards along the sides, and the engine in the back. There are various engine sizes, but the most common is the 1300cc engine.

Depending on the year of the car, there are different shaped engine lids, longer bonnets, various different shapes for the headlamps and tail lights, and different styles of interior front seats. Also there are different colour combinations for the paint, interior and running boards.

I own a 1972 Beetle, which I have had for nearly four years now, and I would never ever part with it. Yes - it has its quirks; the heating doesn't work as the on/off controller broke and it was on permanently so in the summer I had to disconnect all the pipework, and never got around to reconnecting it for the winter (thank god its almost summer again), bad earth wires can do very funny things with your electrics, there is always an oil leak coming from somewhere, and you can say bye bye to modern things such as automatic wipers (the Beetle doesn't even have an intermittent setting), indicators that click off automatically, fog lights and reversing lights! But despite all these things - I will never drive anything else. The car brings a smile to my face every time I drive it, and it brings smiles to other drivers too. It stands out from the hundreds of other cars on the road and is a refreshing change to see a little Beetle storming along amongst the silver and black business cars that seem to dominate the roads these days.

The Beetle has its engine in the rear of the car, with the battery housed under the back seat. This is a bit of a pain to get to when you are in a hurry, as you have to manoeuvre the seat out of the car first, and there isn't a lot of room! The engine is air cooled as opposed to modern water cooled engines, which means air circulation and adequate ventilation in the summer is a must to prevent overheating. The engine lids do have vents on them, but I also have the lid raised slightly away from the car (on what are called Stand Offs) to help get the air moving. Personally I have never had a problem with the car cutting out in hot weather, it is normally cold weather that is the problem!

The engine is simple to maintain, it's easy to find the spark plugs and change the oil, the one good thing about this car is that everything is accessible to the budding mechanic. There is a great book (essential for any Beetle owner) by John Muir called "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive For Complete Idiots" which gives idiot proof guidance on mechanical tasks and helps diagnose and fix any problems you may come across. I have done many a thing myself to the car, using the book as guidance and have saved myself a packet on garage fees!

Speaking of garages, if you have one of these lovely cars I would advise taking it to an air-cooled vw specialist as they really do have the knowledge required to get the best out of your car. My nearest garage is half hour drive away, which is a pain when you are driving with a mechanical problem, but I know that they have the tools to fix it properly. Also sourcing parts can be a problem if you take it to a mainstream garage as they do not know where to get them from. Parts are widely available from such online places as VW Heritage, Cool Air, German and Swedish, and eBay for those harder to get or second hand parts. My steering wheel came off eBay, second hand for £40 whereas new they cost over £200!

Rust can be a problem with these older cars, so it's important you tackle any rust spots as soon as they appear. You can buy parts that are fibreglass, such as doors and wings, to prevent rust forming but these can be seriously expensive. So long as you use a rust treatment as soon as you see it you will be OK.

There are shows up and down the country held especially for air-cooled vehicles, where you can get together with like minded people and chill out for the weekend with barbeques and fun. Some of these are Bug Jam, Run To The Sun and Big Bang. For some of the shows they hold a "Run What You Brung" event where you can take your very own Beetle down the race strip! If your car is a daily driver though I wouldn't advise it - I've seen people do some serious damage by racing it and instead of taking their owners to work on the Monday morning the car has been towed to the garage with a hefty repair bill attached to it.

Overall I would totally recommend a Beetle to anyone thinking of buying one. Yes they have their problems, and yes you will be hit with repairs bills, but that's the price you have to pay in exchange for the cool car and smiles and points from other drivers. If you're Beetle was born before 1973, at least you can offset the free car tax against the repair bills!!

Summary: Keep the VW spirit alive :)

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