beetle

[yancovitch]

my wife told me about something she saw on netflix.....a beetle with huge jaws has to climb to the top of a tree to mate with a female who is waiting there ...on the way he meets other males and he has to fight them by grabbing them and throwing them off the tree....he starts off first fighting one, then another and starts gaining so much confidence, he's throwing one after another off the tree on the way to the top....finally he reaches the top and approaches the female and she wants nothing to do with him.....so he forces himself upon her..... ..i guess he got in such a habit of throwing so many off, that he couldn't control himself......and threw her off the tree....

[Jean Loup]

One good reason for preferring non jawed beetles!! This one don't climb trees.. Jean

[ozzy72]

Unless you drive like a total plonker Jean

[logjam]

I wouldn't accuse Jean as being a plonker, but believe me there's a few in Mexico.

[Jean Loup]

Unless you drive like a total plonker Jean

My total plonker, at right (1973 automatic, 1,700 cc aircooled), fixing my partial plonker trany, at left (1998 soft-top automatic 4WD)



& my plonkers manual

[ozzy72]

I love the old VW campers and the original Beetles. Classics. I'd be happy to home one of each in my garage!

[Fozzer]

We still get the occasional Volkswagen Camper trundling into Sainsbury's car park.

A reminder of San Francisco Flower Power times!

Always a good sight to see.... and a sound to recognize!...

Do Avco Lycoming air-cooled flat-fours sound a bit like Volkswagen air-cooled flat-fours?... ... ...1

Paul.... ...!

[yancovitch]

loved my old vw buss......early 70's, i drove it alone all the way from vancouver bc, to fairfax virginia, following a spiritual master at the time....was my favorite vehicle....i sprayed the inside with 1-1/2'' of urethane foam, and then sprayed it with gold paint....looked like a gold grotto....kept very warm, as it was in the fall that i went......

[ozzy72]

There are a couple of them down the road from me, one is used as a wedding car. Always makes me smile when I see it!

[Jean Loup]

You would not believe, the 73 Combi was a gift: actually, she was payment for changing the gas tank (rusted & without the mesh) cleaning both carbs, repairing the fuel pump (in that 1,700 cc engine, same engine of the ugliest Porsche ever made: the midengine 914/4, the fuel pump is under the car, behind the engine flywheel) because one check valve had come loose & a general tune up like valve lash adjustment, the 3 italian surfer kids owners, said: "We are running out of money, and we have three days left in México before we return to Italy. We will pay you with the bus"- Knowing the Italian mafia fame, I did not even say yes, I just said they were gests of México & you ow me NOTHiNG, thinking about all those road helps I got in 35 past driving years, by people that lended a very needed hand & never charged nor were seen again. Maybe in the future somebody will help my sons in road distresses, in exchange. Life had teached me this: I was lucky since the day I was born (and maybe before that, too!), luck is for sharing & NOT for charging. Three days later they invited me for breakfast & gave me the keys: that was at the end of August 1997, in Puerto Escondido. They only asked a ride to the airport as payment.. the Combi even had a full gas tank

[ftldave]

Considering the recent historic dates, this 1938 Beetle pic seems appropriate.



From the Wiki:

The need for this kind of car, and its functional objectives, were formulated by Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, wishing for a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for the new road network of his country. He contracted Porsche in 1934 to design and build it to his exacting standards. Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalise the design. This is one of the first rear-engined cars. With over 21 million manufactured (21,529,464) in an air-cooled, rear-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform, worldwide.

[pete]

Owner of 2 Karman Beetle Cabriolets in the past -- 1966 and 1982. Loved them both. Will try to dig out my old photos -- though I think my ex-ex--ex-ex-ex has them all .... ;(

Classic car enthusiast to the end! Would always have loved a camper! Maybe one day!