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I think 20 years of neglect shows a bit on some of those cars
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These were the old air-cooled jobs.
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They were reliable, and long-lasting too in 1200cc and 1300 cc form (less so with bigger capacities, bit too much for the bottom end). The point was they were essentially a 1930s design, albeit an advanced one, and needed traditional maintenance.
My guess is that a lot of youngish people buy them as 'practical and affordable classics' but don't understand traditional maintenance and adjustment, or put them in the hands of carp independents. I imagine some people spend quite a bit of money on their systematic neglect.
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Yup.
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A firmed had a 1200cc Beetle from new and managed to blow up the engine. He did drive hard tho' ....
madf
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We hired (proper) Beetles in Tenerife and the Netherlands. They showed little or no signs of being hired cars - and given twists, I left one Merc until SWMBO protested!
Some time before that, I was driven across a grass airfield, very bumpy, in one of the immediate post war examples. Comparing it with the family Austin 8 I knew even then we were in trouble - from a ten year old design!
They were all the proletariat needed, and far more than they deserve!
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As one who owned two examples of the 'proper' Beetle back in the seventies I can report that they were indeed very reliable, more so than most of their contemporaries, but did require servicing at correct intervals to keep tham that way. It was every 6000 miles if my memory serves correctly.
The examples you saw were of course pretty old machines and cannot be expected to live up to their previous reputation.
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Slightly off the topic but still Beetle (original type).
A car you either love or hate? I certainly hate and would not accept 1 if it was given to me, and I refuse to work on them too.
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The examples you saw were of course pretty old machines and cannot be expected to live up to their previous reputation.
They can, surely, but only if run by a certain sort of person.
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I was talking to someone today who had a classic Beetle as a fun car for just those reasons (she's 20) but sold it because it was too unreliable and it kept breaking down.
Its replacement? A very early 206cc...
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Horrid things.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Evidence of why the French hid the 2cv6 plans from the Germans in 1940 - It was a better car.
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"Its replacement? A very early 206cc..."
Even the first 2CV had more than 206cc - 375 I think!
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"Love them or hate them?"
Old ones - driven be people who want other people to think they're cool and into surfing, when the closest they get to it is buying/hiring their designer wetsuit in Rock, Cornwall, and then sitting on the beach ruining everyone else's afternoon/evening with their barbecuing and braying.
New ones - driven by girls whose daddies bought them for them, or by young men who want other people to think they're a little bit individual. Quite cool when they could only be had in left hand drive, but now on a fashion victim par with the new Mini.
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SWMBO hates them (the new ones) but she loves her MINI. Fashion statement or not it's been the most reliable motor we've ever owned.
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That's the strange thing PU - I'm guessing your SWMBO is over 30? MINI's become cool again when driven by older women... don't know why but we were talking about this very thing at work the other day (it was very Q) so it's not just in my head!
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MINIs ... Golf-floorpan fashion beetles ... for God's sake you two, what about real ones designed by Dr Porsche and Alec Issigonis?
Are you fashion victims?
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I can't remotely see the point of a New Beetle when you can have a Golf, but the MINI has always seemed to me like a good reincarnation of the original.
SWMBO (late 50's like me) would like a Cooper for her next car: being made by BMW, everything is extra and she could probably have the same amount of fun from a Suzuki Swift or a Fabia VRS for less money. Or a 1.3 Yaris like our elder daughter's.
Anyone know when the facelifted MINI is due?
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Oops - sorry moderators - this thread started off being about the original KdF-wagen....
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SWMBO had to of Issy's Mini - one on a C and one on an F plate. Concept was fine, the execution was very questionable, rust rust everywhere. The new MINI is a fine little motor and well made. Issy's Mini would have sucumbed to tin worm at five years old, her MINI has over 70k on it and not a spot of tarnish - drives like new.
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She's 43. She's a bean counter - doesn't do cool !
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She's 43. She's a bean counter - doesn't do cool !
Wdn't dream of arguing about relative quality of construction PU. Actually the Issigonis Mini had quite a few design flaws, most notably the gearbox-in-sump compromise which meant noisy gearboxes before the car was very old... But the thing was so chuckable and forgiving that it made up for a lot of faults, in its day.
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Agree wholeheartedly, The Mini changed the world, motoring wise, and the sound of that GIS gearchange when it was "straight cut" was unique and is still evocotive. I think the question is if Issigonis was alive now would he approve of the MINI ? The answer would proabably be a qualified Yes. The current MINI is what the old Mini would have become in evolutionary terms had BMC/BL/BAe/BMW had actually developed it. However the MINI just isn't cutting edge enough to appeal to the innovative mind but is beyond doubt more than qualified to carry the name. Question is is the current shape Beetle ?
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I understood Issigonis was always trying to get BMC to let him design a proper 5-bearing short-stroke OHC engine (like the Imp's little Coventry Climax screamer) with a separate gearbox, but they were too tight and just paid him a lot instead.
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There was also a "large" Mini, the Mini was brilliant but let's remember it was designed using 50s technology but was very Avant Garde for it's time........something like the difference between an Escort and a Focus but more. Anyway the Morris 1000 was far better car than the Beetle ever was.
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Old ones - driven be people who want other people to think they're cool and into surfing, when the closest they get to it is buying/hiring their designer wetsuit in Rock, Cornwall, and then sitting on the beach ruining everyone else's afternoon/evening with their barbecuing and braying.
Not necessarily ;-)
Definately a love or hate car though, bit like the 2CV. I'd take a yellow 2CV with GS engines and bullet holes!
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