VW things I wish Porsche would have kept!

[Nick Triesch]

Some things on an ordinary 66 bug were great. I wish my 85 3,2 would have them. How about the front wing windows? Fantastic. I remember going on long hot summer trips and you could just adjust the vent at your face. Terrific. Then there is the clutch adjustment. All you did was get under the car and turn a giant wing nut. And it would click into place. Very smart. Moving on to the heater. Old bugs used forced air heating that would heat your socks off in a larger cabin than a 911. Worked on the windows too. My 3.2 has like 8 blowers with a ventilation system that I still have not figured out after 5 years. How about the bottom valve covers. On my bug you just used a large screw driver and popped the spring wire off to do a valve adjustment. A new cork oiled gasket when done snapped it back on never leaked. I know you cannot have an oil bath on a 911 but it sure was easy to clean! I love my car, but I miss not having a bunch of blowers. All in fun folks...

[scarceller]

The front wing windows I had in my 75 911. I think you could easily retrofit these into the 84-89 cars.

[Trackrash]

Reverse lock out on the shifter!

[Nick Triesch]

I had that on my 356!!! Great idea!!!!Reverse lockout!!! Only one gauge to worry about! Didn't the spare tire air help on some equipment? I can't remember. Maybe the window washers? Oh! Here is a great one!!!! On my 1959 bug it had a lever on the floor that you would turn to give you a reserve gallon or more gas!!! Terrific idea! scarceller, I understand about the wing windows, I'm just saying they should have kept them.

[ganun]

Vent wings that open, not only for fresh air when you want it BUT deflect air flow and get rid of the buffeting with the windows down.
Backdate the heater, bug style.
AND, gas fill from the passenger side, where 356 had it and it took the factory what 30 years to realize their mistake and put it back .
Enough rant!

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

I had that on my 356!!! Great idea!!!!Reverse lockout!!! Only one gauge to worry about! Didn't the spare tire air help on some equipment? I can't remember. Maybe the window washers? Oh! Here is a great one!!!! On my 1959 bug it had a lever on the floor that you would turn to give you a reserve gallon or more gas!!! Terrific idea! scarceller, I understand about the wing windows, I'm just saying they should have kept them.

Yep, the spare tire pressure was used for the windshield washers squirters.

[JT912]

You have pretty much described a 912.

[Speed metal]

Ha! I wish I was 16 and load my 911 up with 4 other buddies and skip out of school and pick mushrooms and smoke some Thai! My old bug never let us down. Slower than u know what, but reliable as heck.
And yes X100 on the vent windows! Those were a nice feature,

[suckho]

Opening front wing windows is something I also miss from my 1972 VW Type-1 Beetle.. Very cool (HEHE!) feature!

[NICE 69 S]

Well, one thing that they kept was the ability to plug just about any engine into the back of the car. In '65, I installed a 1600N porsche in the back of our 1957 bug which doubled the horsepower. Within a couple years it was a 1700S (maybe 100HP) with 356 brakes, wheels and Koni shocks. Only met one 356 that was faster (to be fair, I had 3 people in my car and he only had 2 in his speedster). There weren't a lot of fast cars back in the late 60's (except my 69S, but I didn't get that till '75).
Bob B

[billybek]

I wish I kept my VW Thing....

It was a 74, orange with a black roof and interior.

Fun car....

[74-911]

Originally Posted by billybek

I wish I kept my VW Thing....

It was a 74, orange with a black roof and interior.

Fun car....

and I wish i had kept my '65 beetle and my '73 Canary Yellow Thing...

When I had the '65 beetle I coached a pony league baseball team. On more than one occasion I would hitch the infield rake to the back of the beetle and use it to rake the infield. With the very light weight and tight turning radius of the beetle it actually did a pretty good job.

[wildthing]

Battery under the back seat... Just kidding.

For some reason, my dad's 69 had somewhat short throw shifter.

I wish I had the means to bring it here and resto-mod it.

[Nick Triesch]

I loved the mid 60's Bug. To me, it had the looks and was simple to work on. Loved the chrome bumpers. All the trim on my 3.2 is black. Porsche could have kept the wing windows. It was like A/C on a trip. So Porsche replaced the wings with an A/C system cools a 89 degree car down to 85!!! All in fun. I will take it out on old Hwy 94 for a ride today! You can go 50 miles all the way to Campo. Most of it is winding road!!!! I am surprised more people do not drive it.

[NYNick]

The defrosters on those old Beetles (and 912's BTW), didn't work worth a ****. Many a winters day was spent squinting through a narrow slit at the bottom of the windshields. Other than the rust, it was worst part of these cars.

[GothingNC]

Originally Posted by billybek

I wish I kept my VW Thing....

It was a 74, orange with a black roof and interior.

Fun car....

I miss my 73 Thing too:-(

[grizzfan]

I bought my first VW Bug in 1963; it was a black 1960 model with some problems that became obvious. After a extended run the car would stop; looking at the engine the carburetor was total covered in ice, I suppose inside the venture too!! After it thawed out, it would run fine a while. We put up with this until I bought a brand new 1965 model Bug.

Then came the '68 Squareback (great car really that had some off-road capability), a '65 356SC, (which I traded along with the Squareback for a '72 Audi 100 (bad, bad move!) a '77 Diesel Rabbit; a new '03 New Beetle Convertible for the wife, an '04 Toureg and finally the '73 911T which I still have. The rest are all gone now, including the wife lost to cancer 4 years ago. Bought a Bug for our son in college and he promptly wrecked it!!

Tom

[SpyderMike]

Just drove my 66 beetle yesterday. What a hoot. I miss the days when cars were simple. That is why I hang on to the old ones.

[Nick Triesch]

Yup Nick, the defrosters were bad on the old bugs. But not in Southern Cal!!! What is bad are the A/C systems in air cooled 911's. Along with the terrible ventilation. Even a Yugo would blow cool air on your face.

[NYNick]

Nick,
Don't mention the word 'blow' when talking about the old days and old cars. Brings back too many bygone days.