Church of the Latter Day Amish

[Chuey]

BTW the bug was really bad. Reliable and cheap, but unsafe.

Mine has been very safe. So have my motorcycles and bicycles. It is other people who are unsafe. I'm still watching out for them any time I'm on the road.

Chuey

[Chuey]

Are they unsafer than a motorcycle?

Excellent point. Thing is, sometimes I feel safer on the motorcycle as far as my vulnerability to other vehicles/drivers. The narrowness, quick acceleration and nimbleness of the bike, in some situations, would be safer than a slow car.

Chuey

[richard t]

ZM, I don't know where YOU live but a LOT of my non-white fellow workers around here drive really OLD VWs and would probably take offence at your comment...maybe you ought to go back to the speakeasy.
Oh, back in 1969...the non-white guy who worked on my '61 190D had a brother who rode an R69s...it was the only one in Clemson at the time. I wish I knew what happened to it.

Clemson! do you have a pair of jeans with the tiger on the back pocket?

[Major Softie]

Are they unsafer than a motorcycle?

Depends on the age of the bug, and, I suppose, the age of the motorcycle. All the 4-wheel vehicles from the early years of the bug are ones you wouldn't want to be in a serious accident in, but that applies to all motorcycles too. To me, the only real consistent safety weakness in the early bugs is the brakes. On the other hand, the handling is far superior to most of its U.S. contemporaries.

In 64, my dad looked at buying a bug. His story was this: "Well, the Bug had 40 hp and cost $2000, and the Volvo 544 cost $2500 and had 100 hp. No contest."

Loved that Volvo, and it was one hell of a lot better car than the Bug, but today I'd much rather be trying to find parts for a Bug than a 544.

[Zombie Master]

BTW the bug was really bad. Reliable and cheap, but unsafe.

Mine has been very safe. So have my motorcycles and bicycles. It is other people who are unsafe. I'm still watching out for them any time I'm on the road.

Chuey

When I was bugged, I lived in Vancouver BC, getting the windshield clear of moisture was a real PIA. I was always 10 minutes to where I had to be, and could never see out that dam windshield! Armed with a rag I felt like a weeping cream pie! Gas heater (pop pop)? Forget about it. I guess those features aren't that important down in the barrios.

[Major Softie]

When I was bugged, I lived in Vancouver BC, getting the windshield clear of moisture was a real PIA. I was always 10 minutes to where I had to be, and could never see out that dam windshield! Armed with a rag I felt like a weeping cream pie! Gas heater (pop pop)? Forget about it. I guess those features aren't that important down in the barrios.

Okay, I'm tempted to add the crappy heater to the brakes, but, in my experience, the heaters are usually in need of heat exchanger/ducting repair. I'm not sure if I've ever experienced an early Bug with the heater in proper repair (at least, while old enough to remember it), so I'm not sure how well they might work when working correctly. Certainly they were a problem in my high school years in Tahoe (where having no defroster is a real problem), but that was mostly 10 - 15 year-old bugs driven on salty roads their whole lives now in the hands of high schoolers who hadn't the money or concern for such details as heater repair.

The Volvo had a GREAT heater/defroster.

[hal]

I allways had the de-icer spray ready. Feats, especially in the back was hot.. windscreen freezing. It was a '72 1302 S (1600cc).

Miss it greatly...

[dougie]

Had one with the optional gas heater. Awesome (and instant).

[Chuey]

My bug has a fabulous heater. All the parts are as they should be and were from the factory. The defroster is not so hotcha but that's not such a mucha down here. The front brakes are discs and the rears are drums from a type3, a much heavier car and hence, much wider drums. Stops pretty well. It's getting hit by others that concerns me.

I've driven that car up to Montana, 2,400mile round trip, with a 16' canoe on top. It never missed a beat.

I have to admit that mostly I drive that car alone and it gets kind of crowded with other people in it unless it's Gretchen. I took a trip to No. Cal once with a friend of mine who is a big guy and that was the last time I'll do that. It was too close for me. I love the lightness of the car.

Chuey

Edited for easier reading.