• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

The Last VW Beetle Rolls Off The Assembly Line in Mexico This Week

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,462
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
It's been a pretty good run. Since 1948 or so. At various times, I've owned two of 'em. You?

Jim
 

mjm1

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
3,541
Reaction score
1,292
Points
548
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Resorts Owned
Marriott: Resorts and Destination Club Points;
Westin Kierland Villas;
HGVC Flamingo & Blvd;
Hyatt Pinon Pointe
I never owned a Beetle, but my first car was a 1969 Karmen Ghia, which was a sportier and flatter version of the Beetle. It had 100k miles on it when my dad gave it to me to use for college. I put another 90k on it before selling it once I moved to San Jose for my first full time job and needed air conditioning. I had fun with that car and get a kick whenever I see one on the road, which isn’t very often any more.

Best regards.

Mike
 
Last edited:

pedro47

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
22,072
Reaction score
8,534
Points
948
Location
East Coast
I owned a pale blue 68 VW Bug. That auto was good on gas and could flow on water when the streets of Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA would flood.
 

chapjim

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
6,161
Reaction score
3,804
Points
499
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Resorts Owned
Wyndham VIPF & PresRes, HVC/DRI (Gold), Quarter House (4), Resort on Cocoa Beach (2), HGVC Tuscany Village, HGVC South Beach-McAlpin, HGVC Parc Soleil
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.
 

Brett

Guest
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
9,257
Reaction score
4,897
Points
598
Location
Coastal Virginia
I once had a VW beetle in the 1960's - manual shift, battery under the back seat, air cooled
put a lot of miles on it until the engine seized up and ultimately went to the junk yard
 

OldGuy

Guest
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
1,564
Reaction score
576
Points
123
Resorts Owned
some
I'm chuckling because after 8 decades, the last of a classic German car is made in Mexico.
 

Kel

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
Messages
721
Reaction score
173
Points
403
Location
So. Calif
In 1976, I bought a 1969 VW bug. I had it for seven years and I loved that car!
 

CanuckTravlr

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
2,651
Points
324
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Resorts Owned
HGVC Ocean 22
I'm chuckling because after 8 decades, the last of a classic German car is made in Mexico.

It does seem funny, but the Beetle actually had a longer production run in Mexico than it did in Germany. In fact, after they stopped manufacturing them in Germany in the mid '70s, they actually shipped them from Mexico to Germany for awhile to meet the continuing demand. Talk about coming full circle! :ponder:

in the early 70s my younger brother bought a used '63, followed by a used '66 Beetle, to go to university. My car at the time was a full-size, automatic, small-block V8, '67 Ford Custom 500 that I had bought from my Dad as my first car when I went off to university. But those Beetles are where I learned to drive a stick shift.

I also remember the old Beetles, with their air-cooled engines, were very poor at providing heat to the passenger compartment in the middle of a cold Canadian winter. The old vertical windshields were very close to both the steering wheel and you; no deep dashes in those days before safety features such as collapsible bumpers and air bags.

So every time you exhaled on a really cold night, the condensation would freeze on the inside of the windshield. I smile now at the memory of having to hold a hand ice scraper in my mouth in order to be able to steer and shift with my hands. Every time I stopped or could take my hand off the shifter, I had to grab the ice scraper and scrape the ice off the inside of the windshield to be able to see out.

It is a fond memory now, but I did expend a few expletives at the time and was always happy to get back into my car. :p:cool:
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,462
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
I'm chuckling because after 8 decades, the last of a classic German car is made in Mexico.
Ram pickups, Toyota Tacoma's and Ford Rangers are built in Mexico too. And a bunch of others.
 

TheTimeTraveler

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
5,952
Reaction score
2,858
Points
648
Location
Florida
I also had a 1970 Bug Convertible and a 1969 Camper with the pop top; both of which were fine running vehicles considering how inexpensive they were at the time.

Today's VW's coming out of Mexico are not nearly as roadworthy or dependable as those VW's that were made in the sixties over in Germany; just look at consumer reports.....

If history repeats itself the VW Bug will reinvent itself over the next 10 years or so and be reintroduced as another one of those electric or hybrid vehicles. I don't think VW will ever come out again with another diesel engine.





.
 

OldGuy

Guest
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
1,564
Reaction score
576
Points
123
Resorts Owned
some
Ram pickups, Toyota Tacoma's and Ford Rangers are built in Mexico too. And a bunch of others.

of course

It makes me wonder why a certain somewhat badmouths Mexico, since Mexico seems to be pretty successful at manufacturing stuff for everyone.

:D

I made the comment about the VW because it is so distinctly German, and has been around for 8 decades.

And, in an aside, VW is fighting a messy public relations battle right now.
 
Top