I was yanked back to the '60s this afternoon when I saw this "Bug" at a small, local car show.

Jer

[Rimfiredude]

Very nice, kinda Porsche looking.

[eaglem]

Hitler's Revenge on the World or a Nazi Noise Can. Either way two damn good shots.

[paulh]

Great looking shots!

[volley]

Thanks for posting these my friend!
Not only because these are great shots but because you are bringing back some many memories!
My parents used to have one of these for many years in the 60th. and I can still remember sitting in the little storage space behind the rear seats.
Our first vacations? My parents with us four children, a large tent and camping equipment for a 2 weeks stay at a camping site at the german coast.
Again, thanks for bringing back these memories, Jer!

[slowpez]

Our son's first car was a bug. It was an awful shade of pinky purple and we called it the fuchsia fart or furple part. He loved that car.

[coa75]

Good processing

[lesmore49]

Those generation 1 VW Beetle shots, really evoke some very pleasant memories. My very first car was a '61 VW Type 1 (Beetle to the uninitiated ). It was blue and in great shape for a 6 year old, used car. It had 49,000 miles on it, but back then in '67 chances were fair that the odometer had been rolled back. Remember those days.

My dad had two cars in mind for me. One was a '60's Morris Oxford. Beautiful, deeply padded leather seats...that looked like they were out of a posh Victorian, London men's club. It also burned oil like a 2-stroke on starting. Nope to that, as I felt my $ 600 CAD budget would need to go elsewhere.

The other car my dad liked, was a family friend's '58 Oldsmobile Super 88. I liked it a lot. But that Rocket V8 that had so much punch, was also very thirsty. I felt I couldn't afford the Old's big (371 cube V8, 4 barrel) drinking problem.

So I went for a '61 VW Beetle which within the first 32 days, burned a valve. The warranty on used cars with this dealership was 30 days. They said I would have to pay the full freight on the repair. Thankfully, my persuasive dad talked to the dealership and finally got them to agree to do a valve job for half price.

After that though Der Beetle was a wonderful car and really didn't have much more in the way of repairs and I drove the absolute...schnott, as it were...out of it.

The handling wasn't good in the ice/snow...something we get a lot of it up here. I crudely experimented with placement of a heavy sand bag in the front, to change the weight distribution and improve handling. I got it to the point that it handled like a good front engined, rear drive car that I could throw into controllable slides on loose surfaces.

I had a '64 Beetle. It had valve problems also. I sold it quickly to a VW mechanic for a $ 75 profit. The mechanic knew the car had a valve issue, when he bought it.

Then my last Beetle , a '69 1500cc Beetle. Bought it as a demonstrator with 6000 miles on it. It was a great car and had a lot more punch than my previous 1200cc Beetles.

I had it for a year, drove it across the prairies, forded a small, shallow ( probably only a little over a half a foot deep) stream with it and no ill effects, in the Alberta foothills.

I also drag raced it. My best time was 68.5 mph @ 19.4 seconds, according to the Chrondeks. I also took it out for a couple of hot (? ) laps on the local ice racing track. On my last lap, with fuming girlfriend riding shotgun, it went into a lurid and long slide, whereupon I came to a halt, by stuffing it into a snowbank. Fortunately there were others there who were able to lift up the entire front end out of the snowbank, while me and silent girlfriend were still in the car.

Funny what memories and long winded accounts, can sometimes be triggered by a couple of photographs, albeit excellent pictures.

Les

[Sailor]

Very nice, kinda Porsche looking.

Hey, thanks much. And you're right, the front end of the heavily modded Beetle reminds me of some of the "outlaw" Porsche 356s that people have built over the years.

Jer

Hitler's Revenge on the World or a Nazi Noise Can. Either way two damn good shots.

Thanks, EM.

Jer

Great looking shots!

I appreciate the kind words!

Jer

Thanks for posting these my friend!
Not only because these are great shots but because you are bringing back some many memories!
My parents used to have one of these for many years in the 60th. and I can still remember sitting in the little storage space behind the rear seats.
Our first vacations? My parents with us four children, a large tent and camping equipment for a 2 weeks stay at a camping site at the german coast.
Again, thanks for bringing back these memories, Jer!

Norbert, I'm delighted to stimulate such terrific memories!

BTW, my daughter is driving the descendent (sort of) of the Beetle - a GTI complete with a 6-speed manual!

Jer

Our son's first car was a bug. It was an awful shade of pinky purple and we called it the fuchsia fart or furple part. He loved that car.

How cool, Susan. In the '60s, a couple of cousins and a number of my friends drove (and loved) Beetles, but none of them radiated a pinky purple! Connie and I flirted with the idea of a Karman Ghia convertible, but that was as close as I came to buying an air-cooled VW.

Jer

Good processing

Thanks very much! I worked hard to get the look I wanted, so I'm pleased that you liked it.

Jer

Those generation 1 VW Beetle shots, really evoke some very pleasant memories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny what memories and long winded accounts, can sometimes be triggered by a couple of photographs, albeit excellent pictures.

Les

Les, I love your automotive recollections and I appreciate your kind remarks about the pics.

We never owned a VW when I was young, but I know I told you in a post some months ago that I learned to drive in a Morris Minor convertible. However, my first car was a '64 Mustang, which - like the Beetle - is an icon of the era.

Jer

[GeoJerry]

Love that first one, a real iconic shot. Remember how many of these things were around back in the day? And you never had to worry about ignition problems, just get a few guys to push you (by hand of course) and you were good to go!

[Sailor]

Love that first one, a real iconic shot. Remember how many of these things were around back in the day? And you never had to worry about ignition problems, just get a few guys to push you (by hand of course) and you were good to go!

Thanks, Jerry. And, yeah, they were everywhere; I also remember the clever, almost anti-establishment advertising the company used to such good effect.

Jer