I had a '60 Beetle when I was in college up in Northern NY (Clarkson U. at Potsdam, Clarkson College back then).
My favorite memory is when the clutch cable broke one winter. I didn't have enough money to fix it so I drove it around for a few weeks with a broken clutch cable. Put it in 1st gear with the engine off, turned the key when I wanted to go and the engine started with the transmission in 1st gear. With some care, I could shift up and down with no clutch, except down into 1st. When I had to stop, I turned the engine off, put it in 1st gear, and waited for the light to change.
Even with rear wheel drive, you could go most anyplace because of the weight of the engine on the driving wheels. I remember one time I got pulled off the road into a ditch by the heavy slush. I put it in gear, let the wheels spin, got out and pushed in the door frame, hopped back in when I had some traction, and went on my way.
This was before radial tires and the bias ply tires got flat from sitting in the bitter cold. At first, it was bump-de-bump every time the wheels went around but after a turn or two, they got out of synch and it was brrrump, brrump, until they softened a bit.