VW beetles?

They're s**te.

Get a camper.

'Suits you, sir' ;-)

Agreed, and I drive a fastback one. Albeit a six pot.

Ho yuss, but they're not cheap.

I'd love a nice BeetleBus.

They did an awesome one on Pimp My Ride at the weekend.

White / lime paint, with a lime leather and grey fabric interior, complete with PS2, *huge* stereo, 'corner sofa' style seating and a 42" plasma telly. Not to mention the powered surf board rack on the roof (lowered your board down to shoulder height on the push of a button).

My sister has a rebuilt from scratch classic beetle, even so it's like being dragged around a rocky field in an oil drum.

I'd rather walk....

In fairness, it hardly gets driven and is more or less a show car. It came last in a historic "race" at the new Dubai F1 track, but got the biggest cheer of the lot. Kinda sums it up for me, s**te but people seem to have a soft spot for 'em.

Evil. Okay. Combination of factors:

One - the car was designed in 1934. The '69, unless it's a 1500 Semi-auto, is a swing-axle, torsion-beam front, so the most basic suspension of any Beetle. Corner too fast and adding to the weight of your engine acting like a pendulum, your outside wheel is going to tuck under the car.

Two - they're not bad to drive ultimately, but they are a 70-year old design.

Three - they actually weren't horrific for rusting, but they're ancient, so by God can they be rusty. Floorpans are easy, sills aren't so east to do nicely. Fuel line breaking off means a lot of work.

Four - you're either going to freeze (J-tubes, no heater) or get gassed by it. The heat for the passenger compartment comes from the heat around the exhaust. Add rust, and holes, and you get exhaust into the cabin. Not good. Also, the heater is highly ineffective even when it does work. Farting would be more efficient and only slightly less toxic.

And the brakes are terrible.

Now, some plus points: Any monkey can fix them. They are insanely simple. The engine can be swapped in minutes, pretty much. The gearboxes are tough, The rust problems with them are well documented. You can buy absolutely anything for them - anything. They also are totally non threatening and girls love 'em.

Richard

Sister of a old mate of mine had one. Was STUPIDLY slow, and don't think it'll be RWD fun, they don't have the power to spin the wheels. EVERYTHING about it was crap.

lol i may avoid then, just looked a giggle but not interested if they drive s**te, although speeding would be more difficult! hehe

Horribly, horribly horribly noisy. I mean tractor noisy. Deadly handling. Slow...

All but the best are rotten somewhere, and as much as people rant and rave about the mechanicals, they're not hugely reliable, just relatively simple to fix when they break. In all seriousness, you'd be much happier in a diesel corsa.

Second Richard's comments on the heaters. They're S*IT. Really really s*it.

And a Volvo 340 is a much better car...

Vamp could speed in a 340.

He'd have no wish to speed in a 1200 Beetle, and once he'd discovered the cantankerous handling of a Beetle he'd be too scared to.

What he *really* wants is a Capri 1.6.

Amusing handling, but bugger all in the way of speed. Won't do 100 in standard form either.

I have to say, my '78 bug, whether sporting the original 1200 or the

Which makes me think of another car Vamp should get to impress the judges whilst having fun: Skoda Rapid 136. It's a Skoda, so automatically a slow, bad car in their eyes, but in fact, they're bloody hilarious to drive (and the Rapid has semi trailing arms at the back so doesn't spin quite as easily). Gotta treat them like you hate them, but rewarding to drive fast.

Richard

Indeed. The wrong side of 100mph was seen even in my 1.4.

Or any urge to be able to hear in a non "I've just walked out of a nightclub" way for the next week...

Wouldn't go down as well with the magistrate though. Sports car that is.

Truly horrible, no brakes.

I used to work with a Dutchman who had one. He once took me for a ride and swerved around the road crazily while shouting "unsafe at any speed" over the clatter of the engine.

Don't do it. Even the 2CV is better, actually much better. Very comfortable. I've driven a 2CV from Essex to Manchester and it was fun.

Nah get a Morris Minor, MUCH better than a beetle - hey mine would spin the wheels in reverse...Simple to fix but a fair few rotten ones around...

Or be totally weird get a Saab 96 V4, incredibly modern to drive, cool looks and burbly exhaust note :-)

My abiding memory of my sister's 73 1303 was the noise. Rest of the car wasn't particularly bad from the passenger's seat except for the heater.

They need 5 liters of gas.

To put them on fire...

Forget about it.

Before you start making big plans, wait untill the judgement is done.

It is allready suggested: get a bike and get fit.

If you are lazy (which I can perfectly understand) get a Solex, a Vespa, a scooter, something that won't go faster than 50kph.

Summer's coming up. Don't do the raindance and you'll be fine.

Tom De Moor

Yeah, that man.

Vamp should contact South Coast Skoda. They would assist in sorting the right car, as long as he promises to love it, and drive along various seafronts mooning Max Power readers from the back of Peter the Muppet's* mint modded Rapid Cabriolet when requested.

Meet the boys from South Coast Skoda and you will soon learn who Peter the Muppet is.

No Vamp, no. But you'll probably be more of a hit with the ladies in a Beetle than an MR2. However you previously said you wanted jap and I've just the thing for you, a 1986 Nissan Micra Colette 1.0 sitting in my garage. You can have it for free, to anyone else it's =A3200

Saab 2 stoke, same body shell, completly different driving experience.