I grew up on them. Our “second” car was a 61 beetle that didn’t have a gas gauge, it had a lever you moved to give another gallon or so of gas when the engine started to stall. My mother forgot to reset the handle once so I leave it to you to figure out what came after that.
We and my parents and siblings all had several VWs, I had a 56 sedan that I wrecked after owning it for 8 days and a 62 convertible that I wish I still had. Sold it for $600.00 in 1979 and today it’s worth around $25,000.00 if not more. They were common as hell back then and today they go for stupid amounts of money. No, I would not want to have one again but a Karmann Ghia convertible? Yeah, I’d take one.
Know why they were so common? they were almost indestructible and the main reason was, at 60 mph the engine is doing less than 2000 rpm while in a,say an English Ford or a Renault, the engine is screaming at over 4,000. They were built to be run on highways (and we all know which ones) whereas the others weren’t as the countries those cars came from didn’t have highways.
Once had an older lady-friend, a musician, with a Karmon Ghia VW. At the time I was driving a 54 Ford Mainline. We did lots of things together, and she preferred my driving her car, which I enjoyed doing. At the same time, Bolt Beranek and Newman, CAmbridge MA main office, had a VW Microbus as the company truck, and I got to drive that a lot also. '57-'63 Then got a Corvair Monza with Road-and-Track recommended suspension modifications to replace the Ford. (Koni shock-absorbers, front suspension stabilizer bar) Obvioiusly I was converted to rear-engine automobiles. My colleaagues were into Toyotas, except for one with an MG. Lady-friend called it “The White Cloud.”
Also, compared to any British car (other than a Rolls) they were reliable. The engine did not need weekly tinkering and the electrical system worked, unlike British Lucas systems. Not sure about Renaults but Peugeots were also very reliable.
The whole reason for the Lucas curse is that they used a pure copper wire that would corrode, swell up with green corrosion and burst the cloth insulation if moist. England is a pretty moist place as I understand and so is most of North America. But, if you rewire the car with modern plastic covered wire as I did with an English-made Citroen Light 15 about ten years ago, no trouble at all. I will say this, though. English car wiring systems sometimes makes no sense at all (junctions where there were no need for them, fuses for the stop lights and gas gauge and nothing for the headlights or horn, for example.) When I redid the Citroen, I made it all make sense by wiring it like a French made Citroen.
You’ve heard of Lucas vacuum cleaners? It’s the only thing Lucas made that doesn’t suck.
And yes, VWs were very reliable for the reason I stated, but if you don’t adjust the valves every time you change the oil, the number three exhaust valve will burn, break off and go through the piston. You can not ignore the maintenance. Ask me how I know.
Of course they’re more fun with twice as many cylinders … dual-carb hemi V-8 cylinders. Here’s the car that made a virtue out of terminal understeer… and some other decidedly interesting things (although it takes something pretty extreme to make Audrey cover her eyes…)
Who said Communists had no fun outrunning the police?
The 603 looks sort of like a 1951 Nash Airflyte. A couple of years ago I drove my friend’s Tatra T-87 and it was scary! You could feel that heavy rear V-8 pulling the car around curves like a pendulum. Like the 55 Beetle from hell. Funny thing about Tatra owners, every one I know also owns Citroens.
Well, I own two Citroen Tractions and they go around corners like they’re on rails. Not bad for a car that first came out in 1934! I sure feel safer in them that I did in the Tatra.