For those that own a beetle or have owned one… would one of these make a good daily driver? Our family truckster is on its last leg, and I’ve kinda been digging these more and more over the last few years. From an owners perspective, if well maintained and tuned, could one of these be a good daily driver/grocery getter? If so, are any particular years better than others? It would be mainly for my wife to do weekly grocery runs (around here that means about 30 miles one way on the highway and up and down huge mountain p***es). 40hp on the highway makes me a little nervous that it wouldn’t keep up with traffic, but if they only weigh like 1000lbs, then maybe that makes up for the lack of horsepower?
Having spent a large portion of my life working on air cooled VW's, I would not recommend it for a daily driver. I am ***uming you are talking about older air cooled Beetles, not the new generation water cooled ones. At this point the newest one you could get would still be around 50 years old, now they have become somewhat collectible so prices are going up, not so cheep anymore, not particularly nice to drive or safe. If you are just looking for a daily there are much better choices out there. Now if you are talking about jumping into the vintage VW culture and enjoying one as a cool, old, collectible car that is a different story.
In the 90s I had a Karmann Ghia as a daily driver in Chicago. "Daily" is a bit of misnomer since I mostly took public transportation, so I mainly drove it nights/weekends on local streets. Chicago is flat, so I can't comment on mountains, but these cars drove over those mountains in the 50s-80s. 40hp isn't much, but they're small, lightweight vehicles. There are a wide range of engine sizes and HP though. The later the car, the larger the HP. 1600 cc? 1800cc? I forget. I will say that the heat, defrost and wipers are not great. I suppose they are better in car with a rebuilt system, but were never great.
How much winter do you get in your part of Oregon? They drive great in winter, but operator comfort is seriously compromised- can you say no heat, s****e windows inside and out!
I owned a 1966 for many years, I loved driving the car, the 6 volt lights were useless but that didn't stop me from driving in the dark. Wish I had never sold it. HRP
I have dailied a Bug for a long time and it's not that you can't do it, but the main thing is that it takes the fun out of owning one. Like eventually I was asking myself "why do I want to go to a show, to look at a bunch of cars that are just like the one I drive every day?" Much better to keep it for sunny days, or when you actually want to drive it. Weekly (weakly?) grocery getter would be alright. It's more the day after day thing that can grate. Huge mountain p***es might be problematic, unless you tune the motor a little. They actually weigh around 17-1800lbs, but they are low geared and the motor makes decent torque, which means they'll climb most anything so long as you aren't in a hurry. If you get to the point where you have to shift into 3rd on the highway, and your rearview mirror is filled with a truck grille, then that's not so good. Heating, lights and wipers are often poor, but you have to consider that they all worked well when the car was new, and if they aren't working now, then it's because there's something wrong with them. Repro heat exchangers are **** and will never make the heat that an original will. 1967 is often considered the best year, for looks, power, reliability, although they have a bunch of one year only parts on them.
I had a 64 beetle for a few years as my daily driver and it kept up on the freeways in Sydney Australia. Winter times aren't much fun for a 6 volt and they do need regular maintenance. That said sure you can drive one everyday but the fun of owning one soon disappears. As mentioned above, get one, but drive it on sunny days and enjoy it. They are great cars, cheers
I built the Kellison T in 1967 and 59 years later I'm back at it! The '71 Super Beetle rag top is set up to tow behind my motor home.
I daily drove a beetle for years in san diego. It was great. With that said, I also daily drove one in kenai alaska, not so great!
My buddy's absolute turd of a super beetle that sat in my driveway for a few years.. also any love for watercooleds here?
Can't speak for anyone else, but I never had any enthusiasm for VWs watercooled cars. There's not much with transverse FWD that excites me. They're just older modern cars.
My son has been dedicated to water cooled VW’s since I got him his first ‘84 GTI when he turned 16. He has operated his VW only parting, fixing, selling and engine conversion business, for going on 25years. My 19 year old grandson, is in lock step with my son and this 1.8T pickup is all his own handwork.They can be made to run like a scalded monkey!
I started on air cooled 60 years ago. Had to be air cooled rear engine. Still have my '52 Beetle. Then came Rabbits. Had a bunch of them, still dive a Jetta diesel. My grandson just bought a 6 speed GTI with some trick parts that's faster then anything I ever owned. Factory rated at 153 mph.
I had a 67 Beetle as a daily here in England - a while back now - thing I remember most was on the Motorway, it was very light on the front end, so, especially when being overtaken, the front used to sway a bit - touch un-nerving. That and transporting my two very young cats at the time, that escaped from their basket and then sat on the back of the rear seat upright, wobbling backwards and forwards - very entertaining; if a touch distracting in the rear view mirror. Little monkeys then decided to creep forward and curl up behind the brake pedal - which as you all know, is floor mounted. I had to glide to a stop to get them out for fear of crushing them in an emergency stop! I'd have another as a daily (Beetle, I've got a lazy cat too!) - loved the old German car vinyl smell....
Count me in for the mighty "water pumpers", learnt to drive in a first gen Golf. That's what they were called in Australia. I think you fellas in the northern hemisphere called them Rabbits, cheers
My avatar is a 1960 that I've had since 1983. It now has a Berg 1776/5 speed with SDS EFI, four wheel disc brakes, and a 1976 IRS floorpan under it. Always garaged, I don't drive it much anymore, but it always fires right up!
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