Herbie gets a makeover as Volkswagen reinvents the Beetle

The Daily Mail ^

[rintense]

Looks like a bloated Audi TT is a smushed Beetle from the past 5 years.

[Fresh Wind]

Quality issues. I know several folks who absolutely hated their VWs because they were always having to take them to the shop.

VW seems to have gotten its act together in the last few years, if you can believe Consumer Reports. Here are several summary reports on some current models:

Golf 2.5
Golf TDI
GTI

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Porsche created the VW Beetle.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

the timing chain was a &*#&^@ to change.

Beetles don't have a timing chain.

[Daffynition]

LOL...Pass the Mae West's!!

[Gena Bukin]

A matter of opinion, I guess, but did you ever have to use one in the winter in a Northern state?

German winters are cold as well. When the heater channels aren't rusted out and the ducts are properly connected, a VW Bug will provide a surprising amount of heat.

[Principle Over Politics]

I would never buy a car that had tires with only 1.5 inches between the rims and the road. Call me old fashioned.

[43north]

I don’t know... I once had my Dad’s ‘72 Bug up to nearly 80mph going downhill with a tailwind. Took a while to get there, of course.

[IYellAtMyTV]

I never had any power problems.

My 67 (1500cc factory) was bored out to 2180cc, had dual Webber DCNF 40’s with velocity stacks, ported & polished, 15 lb. fly-wheel, etc., etc.

With Av gas it dyno’d at 280+ hp.

I could pretty much smoke anything for a city block; by which time it was geared out.

Was always fun to see the looks on the faces of the kids in their Cameros or the old guys in their Porches after blowing their doors off. :-)

[dblshot]

Yep Incest! Not to mention:
While developing the Beetle, Porsche also made tanks and engines for the Nazi war machine. After the outbreak of World War II it used forced laborers in its plants in Wolfsburg, in northern Germany, as well as in the Zuffenhausen facility. http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/details-of-porsche-s-nazi-ties-spoil-centennial-bash-1.6324

[ROCKLOBSTER]

VW would have died as a result of the war if a British Army officer, Major Ivan Hirst, and some GIs hadn’t helped revitalize it.

[43north]

Now that is hardly a STOCK Beetle you are talking about...

OTOH, I should have stated that one of the “PROS” of the Beetle was the relative ease with which that little horizontally-opposed four banger could be converted from a wimp to a wildcat with the addition of a few bolt-on parts.

Can’t do much of that with today’s engines - the Nazis at the EPA and NHTSA wouldn’t approve... although I do like my up-chipped Dodge Cummins.