I remember watching the Oscars many many moons ago and everyone was showing up in Lemo's and Roll's Royce's to the red carpet and here comes Paul and his wife in the VW, that made a lasting impression on me..............
I remember that there were at least two companies that offered adapters in and around the '70s to enable the installation of a V-8 (I believe SBC) into the back seat area. I think I remember the manufacturers to be Crown and Kelmark. The frame required strengthening, and the transaxle was turned around front to rear. It worked because the VW engine rotated in reverse to American V-8s. The Crown and Kelmark system was not often seen, and quite cool in its own right, but had nowhere near the sophistication that this build posesses. I have to add that in spite of the level of engineering in this car, I personally have no great attraction to any VW, and would sooner own a hot rod with this same type of conversion. In fact, I've daydreamed about it. And for the amount of $ that's being asked for this car, a guy could purchase five high-end hot rods. But hey...it was Paul Newman's, and you'd probably be hard-pressed to duplicate it for less. I wonder if this is one of the few VW threads that'll be allowed to remain. I imagine so. It's a foreign-built car, but the largest percentage of it is American-made. Interesting non-the less, and a thing or two to be learned here. Thanks for sharing, gnichols.
I was wondering why everyone was being so "nice" about this O.T. post, then I looked at the article. That thing is bad ***, ultimate sleeper!
Anyone who hates this car because its a bug should hate anglias too. Nothing about that car is VW except for the skin. I definitly thought about a build like that when I had one of those. -webb
Paul Newman, sure liked "sleeper" street cars, right until late in his life. The Volvo wagon, with an American V8 transplanted in, was another cool ride, but the bug certainly fit the "sleeper" cl*** the best.
Ford GT40 parts in a VW! Well worth the read, super restoration. Wonder if he had that car at his Westport, Ct. home? I'll always kick myself for not buying a Moped that was his at a local tag sale.
A good friend of mine, Kay Kimes, who was a member of the old SCTA WHEELERS club and ran the dry lakes and Bonneville in the 1949-1956 era, was the lead builder on Paul Newman's FORD powered bug.........here's Kay's bio from HotRodHotline where he talks about it: http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/guestcolumnists/richardscorner/09kaykimes/index.php And here's the full story of the car: http://home.earthlink.net/~roygmisc1/newmanbug1/newmanbug1.html Enjoy! CB
I certainly did. Many thanx for posting these links. We sure need to know more about folks like Kay Kimes, eh? Most of the new automotive "heros" can't come close to matching guys like him. Gary
I had a kit in a VW Bus but it ran a Corvair motor. I had to remove the reduction gears to get the bus to cruse at a reasonable speed but it was fun to drive. I lived in San Anselmo in Marin County and commuted to SF over the waldo grade. Mine was the only VW in the fast lane.
With all the money spent restoring that bug to Newman era its too bad someone didn't fab up a pair of license plates (cal yellow on black) the new ones are a distraction to my eyes.Specially since the original ones are well do***ented.
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