Is This The Real Bug?

[Jim Koepke]

I was going to ask "Thing," but I think VW made a vehicle called a Thing.

515541

jtk

[Lee Schierer]

This is a VW Thing:
515542

[Dave Anderson NH]

"The thing" as pictured by Lee was a civilian version of a German WWII Wehrmacht "jeep" known as a Kubelwagen. VW didn't make and sell it for very long, maybe 5 years at the most. I suspect sales were lousy.

[mike stenson]

"The thing" as pictured by Lee was a civilian version of a German WWII Wehrmacht "jeep" known as a Kubelwagen. VW didn't make and sell it for very long, maybe 5 years at the most. I suspect sales were lousy.

They were sold from '68 until '83. The US market was, indeed, a short span but due to safety standards. They're also not quite a typ82 (Kubelwagen)

[Maurice Mcmurry]

What a neat old van. Is it a Transporter?

[Keith Outten]

I was going to ask "Thing," but I think VW made a vehicle called a Thing.

515541

jtk

This looks to me to be custom modification that someone created from a Beetle. I have seen this kind of work before, there must be thousands of pictures on the Net of modified VW Beetles and Busses, people are insanely creative.

[Dan Barber]

I honestly think that might be an AI created picture. It's scary what can be done these days.

[Jim Becker]

I honestly think that might be an AI created picture. It's scary what can be done these days.
That was my immediate thought...

[Maurice Mcmurry]

It fools me. I did a search by image and did not learn much.

515558

[Keith Outten]

Custom VW's
There are literally thousands of pictures on the Net of some of the most extreme custom Volkswagen's you could ever dream of.
We have four VW's in the yard these days. My wife has a 2020 Tiguan and I have a 1967 Dune Buggy, a 2003 Beetle convertible and a 1976 Beetle that the floor is rusted out completely. I will most likely be ordering new floor pans for the 1976 Beetle next year. I have just about got my Dune Buggy ready to put on the road and will then sell the convertible. In 1971 I owned a 1966 Beetle and my Dad had a 1964 Karmann Ghia he drove to work. I blew the engine in my 1966 two weeks before I had to report to Boot Camp. :)

515585 515586 515587 515588 515589

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This looks to me to be custom modification that someone created from a Beetle. I have seen this kind of work before, there must be thousands of pictures on the Net of modified VW Beetles and Busses, people are insanely creative.

For sure this, or it is AI generated. I am a bug guy- I’ve had many of them. You can see where this has a bug front end, but they raised it up, and tilted the hood. They sectioned the center of the roof and added more metal to make it longer. Looks like a modified early 50’s rear fender and skirt. OR- it’s AI. If it is- someone please make this because I love it.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Mr. Outten, How is your buggy project coming along? I seem to have lost track of that thread.

[Keith Outten]

My health problems the last year and a half prevented me from doing very much work on the dune buggy. I finished the work on the brake system just need to install a new master cylinder. I should be ready for state inspection as soon as I fabricate new windshield wiper arms that fit. I still have to fabricate new floor mounts for the new bucket seats but that can wait until I have it on the road. I have state tags and insurance already and I will be ready when the warmer weather gets here :)

I am currently fabricating new solid surface counter tops for our kitchen, should have them competed in a couple of weeks as I have to work around other chores.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

That will be fun! If you are working on counter tops you must be feeling fairly strong. Best wishes on all fronts!
-Maurice

[Bill Dufour]

Believe it or not but Porsche was the number one tractor maker in Europe for several decades.
BilL D

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have heard that Mr. Lamborghini started as a tractor mechanic. My brother the car guy and my other brother the farmer talk about Mr. Lamborghini and Mr. Porsche.

[Keith Outten]

Maurice, I am feeling really good now. A couple of weeks ago I re-started my exercise routine and my muscle tone is getting better each day now. I can't go the full distance and time but I am getting closer every day.
I had to move the Dune Buggy out of my shop and store it in my cargo trailer recently to make space for the counter top material. I have one of the seven foot long air lift tables that supports the counter top material while I am fabricating. The Dune Buggy will return as soon as the counter tops are installed, at the same time I have some CNC and laser engraving work to do for a sign customer.

Dr. Porsche had a big part of the design of VW automobiles but I read recently that he had a number of other designers that helped with the projects. He also is supposed to have taken some designs from other manufacturers in order to keep the manufacturing pace on time. I doubt anyone knows all of the facts as its been a long time and WWII had an impact but in the end VW produced more then 80 million Beetles and that is a very impressive number. Honestly I am not a fan of the Beetles designed in California and built in Mexico. My 2003 Beetle is one of them and I will be glad to see it go.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Stay well Mr. Outten you have a big flock to look after!
Volkswagen certainly has endeared its self to many. We had Karmann Ghias and a Beetle.
The In-Laws had square backs. Mom always put the top down on the Karman Ghia when we got to Grandmas country road, including during a snow storm.

Quite a bit about Volkswagen is written in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

515650
The In-Laws rig, departing New Hampshire, California bound

[Jim Koepke]

One of the funny things learned about VW wiring was if you kept your foot on the brake with the headlights on, then turned off the ignition and the engine kept running until the headlights were turned off or one took their foot off the brake, the engine would keep running. This usually meant the ground on the tail lights wasn't working. This was usually due to oxidation on the aluminum of light socket.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

It’s a lot like the VW Camp-mo- bile. I had one . Rolled it twice, but somebody bought it. Zero to 60 in …a long time.

[Keith Outten]

"Zero to 60 in …a long time"

515766

[Warren Lake]

not the one built by Richard at Electric Classic cars think he said with good tires it was 2 seconds zero to 60 which blows away most very high end stuff. 600 HP think two Tesla motors.

Raced a higher level porsche several times straight line and the porsche lost every time. batteries placed about the car made the balance better and other stuff done handled great as well.

I had a past lady friend whos father interacted with Porsche at the factory. He was an engineer at VW in Wolfsburg.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Any time I get a hand held school bell in my hand I ring it and shout out "Two Pennys A Mile"


https://youtu.be/684937sSN1E?si=A-P3ryMW89dY3tF6

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have heard that Mr. Lamborghini started as a tractor mechanic. My brother the car guy and my other brother the farmer talk about Mr. Lamborghini and Mr. Porsche.

Lamborghini made tractors. I actually bid on one a few years ago at an auction but couldn’t bid high enough to win. The story goes that Lamborghini went to buy a Ferrari, and Ferrari wouldn’t sell him one, stating that he didn’t want a tractor guy driving his car. Lamborghini said, “Fine, I will make my own car,” and that’s how it began.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

My brothers version of the story is that Mr. Lamborghini's tractor clutch burned out and while repairing it discovered it was made by Ferrari. So he set out to make his own.

[Keith Outten]

Maurice, thanks for the video :)

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Maurice, thanks for the video :)

That was fun to find! It is not exactly the way I remember it. My mental image from childhood is
Paul R. from Jersey ringing a bell and proclaiming "Two Pennys A Mile" I think that may have been in one of my brothers car magazines.

The German Import car shop close by our neighborhood recently changed hands. All of the relics have been lifted up out of the mud and the lot cleaned up. The previous owner of the German Import shop has a son who is a local hero. He had an Impressive career as a Nascar driver.

[Keith Outten]

Any of you guys ride a buggy out west?

515815

I ride a Polaris RZR in West Virginia on the Hatfield McCoy Trail system when I can, it sure would be great to take an extended vacation to ride in one of the western states.

515816

[George Yetka]

Even to this day Ferrari is a pain with all their gimmicks and Clubs. You cant walk in and buy the car you want with cash. You must buy 1-2 entry levels and put your name down in a lottery to get what you really want. Even then your name doesnt get pulled unless you pay off a salesman with 30-50k.

Mclaran from what I read is the way to go. If sticker says 250k its 250k and if you walk in with that cash you walk out with that car. Jay Leno says they will even perform free upgrades if there is a software update or an issue that comes up. And maintenance can be performed by more than just the factory authorized techs. So no $20,000 oil changes.

Not that any of this matters, I cant afford any of them.

[Ronald Blue]

Any of you guys ride a buggy out west?

515815

I ride a Polaris RZR in West Virginia on the Hatfield McCoy Trail system when I can, it sure would be great to take an extended vacation to ride in one of the western states.

515816


Keith I follow some YTubers and one is Trailmater based in Moab Utah, Matt's Offroad Recovery in Hurricane Utah, and Fab Rats and I can't remember their town off hand. Trailmater will take you on some pucker worthy trails doing recovery's. Sometimes they will say what they are rated but 9 difficulty isn't unusual. Rory is truly an expert on the trails and you will soon figure that out. His old square body C30 Chevy he's modified looks battered but it is tough as nails. It's often head scratching when people take stock vehicles into places and then become stranded. There are many rental places out there to rent SXS and there are excursions that will take you on the trails. Some beautiful views certainly and many places that you have a vertical drop of hundreds of feet on one side and a rock wall on the other side. If you have time check there videos out. While some YTubers are a big production and drama these guys are pretty genuine.

[Keith Outten]

Ronald, I am a fan of both Matt's Recovery and Fab Rats videos.

Anyone here seen the new full length VW television commercial that starts with video of a very old Beetle, probably a 1940's model split window?
It's pretty interesting for anyone who is a VW fan.

Another crazy VW Mod.

515844

[Rick Potter]

Yup, Keith

I had my first fiberglass buggy (Manx clone) with a 40 horse in 1968. A guy at work built it, and I bought it from him. Kept it about 8 years and used it as an almost daily driver. We have a little cabin in the rocky areas of the high (5000') desert and went out there a lot when the kids were little.

Sold it because the three kids were getting bigger, and bought a brand new 1973 VW Thing. Put a complete roll cage on it, and kept it a couple years but it was almost useless compared to the buggy, so we sold it and bought a '71 International Scout II 4WD. It was almost useless, way too heavy and it got stuck in dry riverbed sand. One time we were trying to climb up a 34' berm out of the sand and it ran the fan into the radiator. Fixed it and got rid of it.

That was briefly replaced by a Baja Bug (Bobbed and cut down bug) which was pretty useless off road too and we only kept it a week or so. Then, another guy I worked with sold me his home made buggy, which was a shortened platform, like the Manx type, with a superstructure of tubing with simple pop riveted aluminum panels. It was a four seater, dual port 1600 with a VW Bus transaxle. Super ugly, but it had 11" of ground clearance and the lower bus gearing worked out perfectly on the steep stuff. That would go almost anywhere climbing hills in second gear that the other ones couldn't make in first, and the ground clearance was perfect in the rocks. That buggy was fantastic.

I would still have it, but it caught fire while I was towing it to the cabin. We loaded stuff into the buggy including food clothes and two fivers of gasoline. While towing it with our Buick station wagon our young son who always rode in the rear facing back/back seat yelled that the buggy was on fire. A good one too. The buggy had original front seats which had the original adjusters on them. I had never even noticed that, as they were always at the far back position. The two gas cans were on the back seat jammed in by sleeping bags, like we had done many times. Apparently, the jiggling cans somehow made the passenger seat slide forward, allowing the metal can to slip to the floor, which happened to be where the car battery was located. The metal can shorted across the terminals and welded a hole in the gas can, which started the fire.

We were going 65 or so on the freeway and here I am with the whole family, including the dog, in the car towing a gasoline fire with a tow bar. I got it stopped on the side of the road, and I broke a record unhooking the buggy then getting back in and moving the car forward 20'. During all this, the second fiver of gas split a seam and lit off making quite a spectacle. No injuries except to my ego. I was a fireman for L. A. County at the time, and the Ontario FD which responded was my former employer, and there were a couple guys at the scene that I had worked with. I guess you could say I took a lot of 'heat' from them. It was total loss. I still miss it, because the only thing that could stop it was big rocks. It took us down (and UP) places like suicide hill in Anza Borrego, the slot, where it is so narrow your car is riding on the sidewalls of the tires, narrow riverbeds where the narrow walls are 30' high, to pictographs near our cabin, sand dunes in Oregon, etc., and I could still drive it to work 100 miles from the cabin while the family stayed a week at a time.

A few years later my 15 year old son and I built our last buggy, another fiberglass Manx type, using one of the last bodies a local company made. It made a great father/son project, and we enjoyed it for several years. In later years we bought a 2006 Jeep Rubicon, to go along with the one the son had, and used it for 10 years before selling it to our daughter and her hubby. We used it heavily going to many places in SoCal, until my back could not handle the severe bumping on rocky trails.

So, yes we have had some experience in the South West.