Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms another car with character

anyone got a beetle?

going for my 400th!

My very first car was a blue 1968 VW Beetle with 49500 miles I bought for $900 in 1973. I put another trouble free 50000 miles on it, then a valve push rod snapped and blew the engine. It was a great car. It had 53 hp and I remember I needed about a mile of straight road to pass a car with a head wind.

My Dad's first car was a Beetle bought new in 1967 FOD 499D. I used to sit / lay in the area behind the back seats.

when you’re in a beetle you always get a wave from other beetles. as with morgans.

the 1969 Beetle had poor acceleration, unpredictable in the wind, high and heavy pedals, prone to rust, and you couldn’t change the plugs - but it was a great improvement on my previous vehicle: namely a bicycle.

Although probably sniffed at by "real Beetle" owners, I have had a new gen Beetle Cabrio for 14 years and it is brilliant even though it was built in Mexico. If I was in Germany, I think it would qualify as a classic or at least a "Young timer.
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One of my earlier cars was a 1303S super beetle, ODL360M. I had all the usual experiences of a new driver and despite the essentially awful dynamics loved driving it. As the S model it had the uprated 1600cc knitting needle propulsion unit and never ever achieved quick never mind fast. Bag of cement in the frunk almost meant steering worked unless it was wet or even worse snow. No point in trying to steer at that stage. I do remember the day I switched from Michelin XAS tyres to Pirelli CN36 and found out what people meant by tyres changing a car.