[67Bug]

Searched through my "Beetle Archives" and found this most amusing picture of VW Beetle and Ford Model-T. I have scanned this from an original one which was gifted to me by the "Stiftung Auto Museum" guys in Germany. This picture made Auto headlines in most of the leading newspapers around the world. Pictured in February 1972 it marked an automobile history when VW Beetle overtook the legendary Model-T Ford when the 15,007,034th Beetle was built. Enjoy this very interesting piece of history.

[anjan_c2007]

Some media matter from yester-years:



The Hitavada, Nagpur



Times of India, Mumbai

[anjan_c2007]

Another media matter related to a Volkswagen Beetle

[josejoseph]

Few pictures from Detroit comparing their heydays and current state -

http://www.businessinsider.com/detro...-photos-2014-4

[vinay kamath]

Deccan herald June 16,2014 :

A wire-bodied Orion VW (Volkswagen) Beetle is pictured at the 'Legendy' Motoring Festival in Prague on June 14, 2014.

[KartikeyaL]

Internet (Media) Matter, in the long debate on Austin Sevens and Morris Minor of 1928-1934, a Test has been scheduled for today in UK with the help of the automobile magazine and the Pre war Minor network.



I will update the results here soon.

Kartik

[anjan_c2007]

Studebaker is the brand that Americans like the most, amongst the now defunct car companies. In a recent poll by ClassicCars.com, Americans polled for Studebaker as the car company among the now defunct companies that they would like the most to stage a comeback.


http://blog.classiccars.com/poll-res...like-come-back

[KartikeyaL]

Around 4000 plus Old cars could be crushed by this winter in USA, read about this heart breaking story here.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/blogs/u...ed-winter-2014

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

Around 4000 plus Old cars could be crushed by this winter in USA, read about this heart breaking story here.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/blogs/u...ed-winter-2014

A real shame - but it gives us a sense of perspective just how big a car scene there is in the states, ultimately most will be scrapped and it wouldn't make much of a difference. If even 3 or 4 of those junks make it to our shores, we will be talking about them till kingdom come.

[manishalive]

Originally Posted by KartikeyaL

Around 4000 plus Old cars could be crushed by this winter in USA, read about this heart breaking story here.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/blogs/u...ed-winter-2014

Some guys Junk is some ones gold. I see many TV programs in which a run down but restorable car is many times better than what we deal with in India. Scarcity of these has led to resurrection of pieces apt for smelting furnace in to delectable collectibles.

[KartikeyaL]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

A real shame - but it gives us a sense of perspective just how big a car scene there is in the states, ultimately most will be scrapped and it wouldn't make much of a difference. If even 3 or 4 of those junks make it to our shores, we will be talking about them till kingdom come.

The scene is massive in the US, read about another such junkyard here
http://sometimes-interesting.com/201...ar-city-u-s-a/

Surely a must visit !!

[vinay kamath]

the link:
http://autoweek.com/article/car-life...-million-sales

2015 Amelia Island classic car auctions top $101 million in sales
MARCH 16, 2015

Proceeds from the sale of this 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet went to charity.

The 2015 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is over, but before any of the cars took to the show field on Sunday morning, bidders revved up for a trio of collector car auctions. The results were impressive, with total sales sitting at a record-smashing $101 million. Chalk a chunk of that up to newcomer Bonhams -- but the fact that Amelia Island can support an additional auction should tell you everything you need to know about the state of things.

We've had a chance to glance at the results, and if there's an imminent collapse of the collector-car market on the horizon, we're not seeing it in the tea leaves here. There seems to be interest in a wider range of cars than ever before, with enough buyers out there to sustain values across the board. Prewar cars aren't shooting up in price like postwar sports cars, but they're not exactly having trouble keeping up with inflation. And sports cars and exotics from the 1980s continue to gain traction as a new generation of collectors starts to chase down their childhood dreams.

Here's a look at how RM Sotheby's, Gooding & Co. and Bonhams fared over the weekend, and a few notable cars from each of the auction

In addition to dwarfing the other houses’ totals with $60,360,050 in sales, RM Sotheby’s claimed the biggest single-car result of the weekend: the stunning green 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet by Pinin Farina. Proceeds from its $6,380,000 sale price will benefit its seller’s foundation for the education of children.

Of course, that wasn’t the only interesting car at the sale: A very, very beige 1932 Marmon HCM V12 prototype saw $429,000, a rakish 1928 Stutz Vertical Eight Custom Black Hawk speedster by Robbins sold for $429,000 and the 1956 BMW 502 Cabriolet by Baur sold for $341,000. Newer Ferraris also brought consistently healthy amounts: a 1980 512 BB sold for $418,000, and a 1995 Ferrari F512M sold for $462,000

Two notable Japanese collector cars appeared at the sale: A 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z 432 -- like the Datsun Z-cars we got stateside, but with a first-generation GT-R drivetrain -- beat estimates with a $253,000 sale price; a left-hand drive 1968 Toyota 2000GT, however, couldn’t quite top low estimate with a sale price of $880,000.

Gooding & Co. brought a healthy mix of vehicles to their Amelia Island event and reaped $26,967,150 in total sales. The big money went to a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4. Offered for sale after four decades of single-family ownership, it sold for $3,300,000. A very clean 1932 Lincoln KB Custom Stationary Coupe brought $836,000, while a 1965 Maserati Sebring Series I took $319,000.

A racing-liveried 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR with 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring racing records sold for $1,237,500 -- and lest you think all the attention is on 911s, a 1957 Porsche 356A Speedster brought $352,000. A 1976 Alpine A110 didn’t quite meet low estimate, but it’s a very cool car for $88,000. A 1976 Ford Bronco in a very similar shade of blue, on the other hand, beat estimates with a $55,000 sale price.

This marked Bonhams’ first year at Amelia Island, and as far as inaugural efforts go, they could have done far worse than their reported $13.95 million in sales. Prewar cars, not always appreciated in today’s market (or on the show field), were well-represented: A very dramatic 1930 Cord Model L-29 sold for $1,760,000, A 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformal Phaeton by Hibbard & Darrin, once owned by Marlene Dietrich sold for $742,500 and a 1908 American Underslung 50HP Roadster sold for $1,730,000.

Bonhams’ sale was yet another indicator that the market for 1980s cars continues to fire on all cylinders: A minty 1981 BMW M1 coupe (with fewer than 7,600 miles on the odometer) sold for $605,000, and another 1980 Ferrari 512 BB saw a $359,700 sale price.

Far more cars exchanged hands over the weekend than we could ever list.

[vinay kamath]

"In Mexico City, once beloved VW Beetle is nearly extinct"

Mexico City (AFP) - It was a symbol of the Mexico City landscape, zooming, honking and fuming in the mega-capital's infamously dense traffic. But the beloved Volkswagen Beetle is nearly extinct, a victim of anti-pollution campaigns.

A few "vochos," as the curvy car is known in Mexico, can still be spotted occasionally in the city's chaotic streets while so-called "Vochomania" clubs of collectors try to keep it alive.

But the once ubiquitous white and green -- and later red and gold -- Beetle taxis that clogged boulevards are gone from the metropolis, home to 20 million people and four million cars.

"We could have thought about keeping a few in the historic center to preserve the symbol. But it wasn't meant to be," said Rodrigo Diaz, an urban planning consultant who writes a blog on transport issues.

The unceremonious demise of the vocho is surprising for a country that has had a long love affair with the Beetle.

The "people's car" born in Germany in the politically charged 1930s arrived in Mexico in 1954, where it became an instant hit.

View galleryThe once ubiquitous white and green -- and later red …
The once ubiquitous white and green -- and later red and gold -- Beetle taxis that clogged boulevard …
Seen as affordable, easy to fix and a fun ride, Mexicans scooped up 50,000 Beetles in just one year. It was quickly adopted by taxi drivers and the Volkswagen was given the diminutive nickname, vocho.

"In case of a breakdown, you could replace the fan belt with panty hose," recalled Ricardo, a nostalgic taxi driver.

The car's success prompted Volkswagen to build a plant in the central state of Puebla in 1964. By 1973, a third of cars sold in Mexico were vochos.

During that era, the Beetle became the most produced single model car in history with 15 million vehicles made, overtaking Ford's Model T.

Beetle fever spread across the region. In Brazil, where it was also built, people called it "Fusca."

View galleryBeetle aficionados can still find a few Beetle taxis …
Beetle aficionados can still find a few Beetle taxis but they have to venture into tourist towns suc …
In Uruguay, former president Jose Mujica declared only one asset in 2010: His 1987 Beetle.

- Queen of Hollywood -

While the bug was adored in Mexico, its charm won over Hollywood, where it was immortalized as "Herbie" in a Disney film series about the Number 53 race car with a big heart.

In 1980, the production took the Beetle to Mexico in "Herbie Goes Bananas," in which the intelligent car faces off with a bull in an arena, dismantles a network of smugglers of Aztec artifacts and accelerates like a Formula 1 race car.

The films contributed to the Beetle's worldwide popularity.

View galleryThe Beetle's demise came as passengers preferred …
The Beetle's demise came as passengers preferred newer, safer and more comfortable rides and the …
But after the era of the oil crisis, the Beetle began to lose its charm. It was suddenly seen as too polluting, too noisy and too uncomfortable.

Its backseat was too hard compared to newer vehicles. The passenger seat was often removed by taxi drivers. When the driver hit the brakes too hard, the passenger risked flying through the windshield.

Worse, in the late 1990s, criminals turned the Beetle into a trap for "express" kidnappings and robberies, transforming the "Love Bug" into a villainous vocho.

"The two-door system kept you blocked in the back of the vehicle," said Sofia, a Mexico City resident who was the victim of one of these wild rides in 1994. "The driver would let his accomplices get in and they would take your money."

- End of a myth -

View gallerySome old Beetles can still be found on Mexican streets, …
Some old Beetles can still be found on Mexican streets, such as this modified model in Buenavista de …
The Beetle taxis were repainted in white and green in an attempt to refurbish their tarnished image. The colors were later changed to red and gold.

But the new body paint was not enough as passengers preferred newer, safer and more comfortable rides.

The last vocho was built in 2003 in Puebla, at the world's last Beetle assembly plant.

Taxi drivers were offered $1,000 to get rid of them. In 2012, there were still 3,500 Beetle taxis, but they were gradually sent to junkyards.

The capital's taxis are now four-door vehicles with a rear trunk, like in most major world cities.

Beetle aficionados can still find a few taxi-vochos but they have to venture into tourist towns such as Taxco, where they are painted red, or Acapulco, where they are white and blue.

"Unlike London with its double-decker buses, San Francisco and Lisbon with their cable cars, or Valparaiso with its funicular, Mexico didn't declare this vehicle a part of its historic heritage," Diaz, the blogger, lamented. "It's a shame."

At least one white and green taxi can still be seen: in a museum in Berlin. It was sent by Mexico City in 2008 as a gift, in a sort of return-to-sender gesture after a 50-year love affair.

http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-city-on...064624228.html

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by vinay kamath

"In Mexico City, once beloved VW Beetle is nearly extinct"

Mexico City (AFP) - It was a symbol of the Mexico City landscape, zooming, honking and fuming in the mega-capital's infamously dense traffic. .......
...........At least one white and green taxi can still be seen: in a museum in Berlin. It was sent by Mexico City in 2008 as a gift, in a sort of return-to-sender gesture after a 50-year love affair.

http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-city-on...064624228.html

There's even a piece I read a while back in one of the innumerable eulogies to this enduring classic where a Sub-Saharan expedition in the sixties came upon one buried neck deep in sand. After pulling it out, the expedition members gave it a once over - the battery was obviously dead. It was replaced a couple of days later and on trying, it fired at the first attempt and remained ticking over - with the same oil in the crank-case!

At the time that the air-cooled model was being taken off the assembly lines there was a large stock of engine castings which needed disposing off.
The air compressor manufacturer, Hatlapa, head-quartered in Hamburg acquired one lot of these flat-4 air-cooled castings and converted them to air compressors. They still had the VW logo proudly embossed on the casting.
I know, because I worked on them on board the "Marine Ranger" - a panamax bulker - as 2nd Engr with Egon Oldendorff in the early nineties.

[Elegant Pig]

Strange victims of the improved relations between the USA and Cuba - vintage cars!

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/13/tr...ars/index.html