In a bit of a quandary and that is a friend of mine who is into the aircooled scene has asked when i would do the swap and join him and get a bug? i can see the appeal and in doing so he has a friend who would love to take my Polo off my hands as he knows how much time and money I've poured into my car over the years.

I've never driven a classic bug but know the pitfalls to look out for as been reading up on mags and watched programs devoted to these cars so the question is has anyone on here had experiences of these cars and their thoughts on this subject?

Be good to gauge what people think of the aircooled vs the watercooled side of things, a subject that has probably been spoken about before on here once or twice

Your love it or hate it :-D

eughhhh

Marmite thing.

A very different driving experience and probably ownership experience.

Each to their own.

Its a very different experience to owning a water cooled car.

Bugs are slow, can be unreliable, dont handle and dont stop. They have crap heaters and no de-mist. They are uncomfortable on long journeys, and when you lower them, even worse. Cheap ones are rusty and good ones are expensive. However i still like them. Once you know what your doing, they are easy too work on, and parts are pretty cheap and plentiful if something does go wrong. You can almost build one completely from scratch out of bits. I dont own one myself, as they are definately better as a second car, and i dont have the money. But i am around them alot, a mate works on them for a living, and My mom owns one. They are good fun and worth the trouble they can give you (although if you keep on top of maintanence they arent too bad). Even if you,ve had a miserable day, jump in your bug and your suddenly happy and relaxed. People wave as you drive by, you always get let out into traffic and theres no rush and No worries I'd say that anyone who doesnt like them, has never been out in one on a sunny day.

What's not to like?

The reality is very different though, even if you do have £20-30,000 for one of those.

I drove an early '70s one once, was a good one being a 1600 with flat windscreen, dunno much more about it other than light customization with flip paint and fancy wheels saw it lowered. Lovely looking motor even in the mid '90s when they were still reasonably common but whoa i didn't like driving it, just not enjoyable to drive. And i wouldn't like driving one of those above really, unless it was for a wedding or the like.. Certainly wouldn't wanna own one (many had become typically unreliable by the '90s).

What's not to like?

The reality is very different though, even if you do have £20-30,000 for one of those.

I drove an early '70s one once, was a good one being a 1600 with flat windscreen, dunno much more about it other than light customization with flip paint and fancy wheels saw it lowered. Lovely looking motor even in the mid '90s when they were still reasonably common but whoa i didn't like driving it, just not enjoyable to drive. And i wouldn't like driving one of those above really, unless it was for a wedding or the like.. Certainly wouldn't wanna own one (many had become typically unreliable by the '90s).

Well i def wont have £20k to spend but looking at the internet for around £4k/5k you can pick up a reasonable late 60s early 70s mostly structually sound and what that means prob most have had floor pans replaced or repaired . I wont be using it as a daily mainly for show and pottering around ,the only thing that troubles me is will regret it ? so maybe getting a chance to drive one might be the best bet to gauge if making the jump is the right thing .

For 4-5K you will definately get a good flat screen solid beetle. The expensive ones tend to be very original with documented history.

Now with most cars history etc is something I like to have if I'm spending more than a few hundred quid, but bugs are a different kettle of fish really, I would just ensure it has solid Floor pans, heater channels spare wheel well are the first places I check.

I would love one now but unfortunately I don't have the cash to buy one that could be used daily (couple of grand at most) but like I said so long as you're patient you will find a reliable bug that will look after you as much as you look after it within your budget!

Go for it, my favourite cars by far!

Thanks for that Mikeloon I have a chance at the school I work at to look at 2 , one being a 67 ba soft top which has had some work but the parent cannot give me a price until her husband gets back from a buisiness trip but expecting it to be the top end of 4k the other is an earlier model being a 64 which I feel needs some attention to the engine again a price not given but could haggle due to work so will have to wait and see . One thing I have noticed is how attatched owners of Beetles become of their cars as both parents have owned them since their early 20s and both have asked if I did purchase could they still have a drive in it from time to time .

They're horrible things. Slow as hell, and making them go fast is so expensive you might as well buy something fast to begin with. Even the mintest examples are utter shit to drive, with non existent handling and brakes. They were woefully outclassed by the competition even when they were new, and the years haven't been kind since. I honestly can't see how VW managed to sell so many, they really pulled the wool over the consuming public's eyes with their advertising!

I have a flatscreen '71 1300. I will never sell it, despite all the above.

There you see my case in point Samage ,people who own a beetles are very reluctant to sell .When Hitler had this idea for most people to own a car he as you know wanted a cheap manufactured car and the beetle was born . I don't suppose he ever envisaged how appealing this car would be but somehow it won the hearts of a lot of people with its cheeky looks and the style has carried on even through to the new model. I suppose the appeal noew days is mainly due to people wanting to be different as like us who insist on driving old Polos rather than the modern cars that are being churned out that have no individuality .

All you have to remember most beetles are 40+ years old and do you want it to use for a bit of fun at the weekend or a daily?

I have a 61 bug, i have always said i would have a water cooled daily and aircooled for shows and sunny days.

I built my own 72 Bug. I had it for three years, the last 6 months of those on the road as my daily driver. the first time i drove it i was scared shitless.. the front geomometer was way off and god did it steer its self! just that was sorted.. ish.. i had a 1600 van engine on a reco 1300 gearbox, and it wasnt slow of the mark but never got it over 65mph, just used to go everywhere at 55! and you can find a good one for 1500quid if you look. i sold mine 5months back for 1700. all new floors, heater channels ect. rot free but rat look paint.

and i disconnect my heating because i wanted my heater channels to stay rot free!

would i buy another? erm.. not just yet anyways... dont get me wrong, i loved it but i regularly do 300mile journeys to see my gf and the 25mpg i was getting wouldnt help! i still get excited when i see one though, and yes big smiles per miles, used to get alot of attention driving it, probley for the wrong reasons!

Edit- Have a pic, back when I had long hair last summer... fitted in with my car

Edited 15 March, 201313 yr by MaxVW

I like them, have owned a Beetle of one sort or another for the past 32 years. Have used then as daily drivers through all weather & travelled thousands of miles in them. So far only one breakdown on the road (points closed up one X-mas morning fixed in 5 mins).

Everything people tell you about them is correct, but what you have to remember is 50 years plus production & over 21 million cars means a vast amount of differences between the early & later models and endless opinions on them.

Most cars these days have been repaired or restored and been through multiple owners who have all done there thing with them so no 2 cars are really identical these days or even drive the same. But once you have owned one, they do have a certain something about them.

These are the 2 I have, owned the Cabrio 20 + year's and built the racecar from a £50 scrapper back in 93.

I have a bug, I love bugs, I hate not owning one BUT (kind of relevant here I feel) I own a 6n2 to use daily. As much as I love them I'd rather hammer my bollocks flat than use one everyday. Your mate probably wants you to suffer his pain

Finding good ones is also very hard and you really need to know what you're looking at. They are mostly rotten/bodged/full of filler and if they're not they'll be expensive and will deteriorate quickly if used daily imho.

Mine was pretty good structurally and only cost £200 but it's cost another £1200 (and alot of blood, sweat and tears) to make it roadworthy.

Up to you but I'd say that compared to your Polio you'll find they're quite high maintenance/hard to live with.

Cheers,

Andy