Own a Piece of Mulholland Drive History: Paul Newman's Insane 300+ hp VW Bug

Reaganite Republican ^ | May 6, 2011 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Even casual observers of legendary actor/director/racing enthusiast and professional driver/philanthropist Paul Newman can tell you that amongst his widely varied personal interests,
the boy liked his cars... and particularly the fast ones.

The late-great movie star also possessed an independent streak that contributed to his aura and celebrity appeal, thus in the wake of initial Hollywood success of the early 1960s -starting with 1963's The Hustler- the free-thinking Newman went and got himself not a new Cadillac convertible, Rolls, or Ferrari... but a cherry-red 1963 VW Beetle Convertible.  He was soon recruited by VW's agency in the US to pose in ads with his car-
a no-brainer for Volkswagen.

Paul Newman's fame and wealth swelled by late Sixties with epic performances in Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Then while training to drive a race car for the shooting of 1969's Winning, Newman acquired a serious interest in real-world racing that was to develop into a second career for him (and his salad dressing ain't bad, either!). 

I myself attended a Trans-Am race in the mid 80s where Newman ended-up at the top of the podium, and he once even finished 2nd-in-class at the prestigious 24 hrs of LeMans- the man was really a pretty skilled race car driver- not a poser at all. Alas, once Newman started hitting the track regularly, he never again shot films during the summer racing season.

But it didn't take long for crazy ole Paul to get a wonderfully crazy idea in that same Summer of '69: "I wonder what a V-8 like that would do in my Vee Dub?" Of course there's only one way to find out, and the task fell to California-based Indy car builder
Jerry Eisert (apparently cost no object). 

What Eisert's shop created came to be known up on Mulholland as the "Newman Bug"- a very professionally-executed
300 hp VW Beetle convertible featuring not just Ford 351-W V-8 power but an exotic race-style suspension, 5-speed HD gearbox from a Ford GT40, heavily reinforced floorpan/unibody, much chrome, a front-end customization to accommodate a radiator/cooling system, aluminum brakes, etc... an incredibly balanced and capable package considering this machine was created from an air-cooled, 40 hp economy car first designed in the 1930s... and the whole back seat is now stuffed with engine.

In the wake of it's complete restoration, the historic 1963 VW 'Newman Bug' has now been put on the market: they're asking $250,000... and it just might bring it, a special car in every way:

More photos/details at Reaganite Republican


Enjoy your weekend, FReepers

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IMDb   OldBug.com   LATimes   Wikipedia   h/t Speedunque

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Pfft. Why would I want a wimpy Beetle with only 300 hp? I'll take this one:

[gov_bean_ counter]

Geeez, that is one hell of a suppository.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Cool story. I’ll have to show it to my grandson. He just got his first car: a 1975 red VW superbug with a ragtop.

[Reaganite Republican]

Uh... maybe you’d best NOT show it to him lol

[Cyman]

“Geeez, that is one hell of a suppository. “

What an innuendo. (Italian suppository)

[Joe Boucher]

Many years ago I worked for a Datsun race team.
We were at Elkheart Lake, Wisconsin for a race.
There were many classes and Paul Newman showed up and entered a porche. Goodyear showed up with a truck load of new stickum tires by far the best made to that point.
Newman bought the entire truck to not allow anyone but him to use them insuring him a win.
Just saying./

[Reaganite Republican]

I would pay to see him pull into a smog check station with that lol

[Reaganite Republican]

I hear ya

Big racing fan here

[Fireone]

While racing Porsches in the early ‘70s, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Mr. Newman, just outside of Donnybrooke, the track that is now Brainerd Int’l Raceway, Brainerd, Mn.
He was every bit the gentleman people said he was. Most polite, and a great sense of humor. He had racing stories that had us almost crying from laughter!

[from occupied ga]

Paul Newmn, when alive, was one of the bad guys. A heavy contributor to liberal causes and politicians, and a member of the board of Directors of Handgun Control, Inc.

[gov_bean_ counter]

LOL!!!

[Revolting cat!]

Dude, pimp mah bug!

[Broker]

My parents met him at a big NYC fundraiser where he was the keynote speaker. All who met him came away feeling dirty..

[Sudetenland]

great actor, great humanitarian, lousy liberal scumbag.

[Bitsy]

What’s the MPG on that little beauty I wonder?

[chris_bdba]

Neat car but I have to disagree about the salad dressing it is awful as are all of the Newman products I’ve tried.

[mountainlion]

I saw a 60’s VW with an Olds engine hanging on the transaxel.