My neighbor had a 5 cylinder Beetle. I told him not to buy it. It was at the dealership literally every week: suspension problems, electrical problems, transmission problems. I told him to stick VW with it under the lemon law (they fixed some things over a a dozen times under warranty) but his wife wouldn't let him. I told him to dump it before it was out of warranty but he didn't listen. For almost two years he dumped thousands of $$$$$$$$ into it and it never ran right. He almost never had it to drive; it stayed at the dealership. Then he got sick of it and got $300 for it on a trade in for a Nissan. Seven years old 50K miles and he got $300. He paid for that car at least three times and hardly ever drove it; it had barely 50,000 miles on it.
I just don't get it. What a flaming piece of crap. So much for Volkswagen.
I just don't get it. What a flaming piece of crap. So much for Volkswagen.
I had heard rumours that the New Beetle was hastily fabricated , of course using the Golf platform for the undersides...issues of access, clearances, kept cropping up.
I found out what they were talking about when I had to change out a burned out taillight, Access was at their bottom of their list it seemed.
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I found out what they were talking about when I had to change out a burned out taillight, Access was at their bottom of their list it seemed.
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Yes, the Golf was a good car as far as I know. The New Beetle was about style and appealing to nostalgia. It was not the old Beetle at all. No sale in my book.
The original Beetle was a masterpiece of modern industrialism. It really stood the test of time. And let's not forget it was the platform (and inspiration) for the original Porsche.
I would kill to have one of its "modern" scions, the Porsche 912.
The original Beetle was a masterpiece of modern industrialism. It really stood the test of time. And let's not forget it was the platform (and inspiration) for the original Porsche.
I would kill to have one of its "modern" scions, the Porsche 912.
I gave up on them after a couple of my gen 3 Jettas sent their final drives out onto the pavement. Seems that rivets were an acceptable fastener by them.
My daughter insisted on one of three cars; BMW Mini, Fiat 500, or new VW Beetle.
The latter was the most acceptable by the mechanic (me). Fortunately we found one of the last generation, so it doesn’t have most of the issues the earlier ones had.
Have been repairing broken interior latches, knobs, resealing headlights etc with baling wire, and whatever works. Am amazed at how the owners are so compartmentalized and fail to use common sense. Everything has to be from a source that sounds German, while the car is in reality closest to a Chrysler built in Mexico.
Bizarre…
So far so good with a minimum of monetary investment, as long as you have some time to fiddle around.
Brings me back to my days of working on cars to be able to sell/trade up, before I had my license.
Have driven it daily for a while now, and no problems.
The 912 ?? As the saying goes, Don't meet your heroes, the disappointment will be crushing. With only 90 HP & 98 ft.lbs to push around 2100+ lbs , it is aching slow & cumbersome. Zero to sixty seconds of 11.3 will have you being passed up by everything else on the road. Even the gas mileage was mediocre at 23 MPG.
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912 was a same year 911 but with the old 356 motor (1.6l air cooled boxer 4 cyl) it was significantly lighter and had a much better f/r balance (not so tail happy) way better on the twisty stuff. A few go fast mods like a stroker crank (2.2l) and higher lift cam, better carburetor/exhaust yielded as much or more h.p. than its stock trim 911 big brother, its $5,000 less price tag in the mid/late 1960’s more than made up for the upgrade costs, and you ended up with a better handling car…….so yah 912 was a no brainer if you like the back roads. 
The vastly better one was the 912E of the mid-seventies. The original 912 was dropped, but was brought back amidst the fuel crisis of the seventies, the engine was a whole new creation, fuel injection added, the interiors modernized as were the exteriors...fuel injection made for giant leaps in fuel economy...All the things that made the original 912 attractive were enhanced by orders.
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The 912E had the same aircooled VW engine as the 914 and late VW aircooled Type 2/4, and was a pretty neat car, I've worked on one for an acquaintance. Ironically with so few of them still around they can fetch more than a 911 now. The one I worked on is owned by a Google exec in Sunnyvale.
Having driven a 912 they feel like a fancy VW more than a Porsche. you'll get 95% of the handling that a 912 would give you by buying the late VW "super" beetle with the strut front suspension, doing some suspension work like shocks, sway bars, all without the "P" word tax on all the parts.
Personally, one car I wish I still had was my Porsche 944- a very predictable car, if a little slow. The big mod for those now is to swap the inline 5 out of the newer VWs into them and then turbocharge them. Funny thing is the entire suspension setup on the 944- is modified VW Super beetle up front, traditional IRS VW setup in the rear. Lots of us Super beetle guys hunt them down to swap in the parts. to get brake calipers, sway bars, rear aluminum trailing arms, etc. Funny how much can swap right over.
Having driven a 912 they feel like a fancy VW more than a Porsche. you'll get 95% of the handling that a 912 would give you by buying the late VW "super" beetle with the strut front suspension, doing some suspension work like shocks, sway bars, all without the "P" word tax on all the parts.
Personally, one car I wish I still had was my Porsche 944- a very predictable car, if a little slow. The big mod for those now is to swap the inline 5 out of the newer VWs into them and then turbocharge them. Funny thing is the entire suspension setup on the 944- is modified VW Super beetle up front, traditional IRS VW setup in the rear. Lots of us Super beetle guys hunt them down to swap in the parts. to get brake calipers, sway bars, rear aluminum trailing arms, etc. Funny how much can swap right over.
@jamesfeline , nice to see another F-Type
just stumbled on this thread - I put winter wheels on mine getting ready for the snow
this is a 2018 V6 400 sport
..dB
just stumbled on this thread - I put winter wheels on mine getting ready for the snow
this is a 2018 V6 400 sport
..dB
Back when my sons were learning to drive, we had a VW Cabrio. Fun car! It was a good thing it had a universal warranty on the transmission as 3 boys learned how to drive a stick with that car.
Unfortunately, late in the car's life disastrous things happened, most notably the shifter becoming dis-engaged (completely) from the gearbox. I was able to gently roll it downhill to a parking spot, and the VW dealer picked it up and gave us some cash for the vehicle. In it's life it had 3 clutches replaced courtesy of VW!
It was a great car for the boys to take their drivers license tests, they just got passed as no one wanted to deal with a stick.
Unfortunately, late in the car's life disastrous things happened, most notably the shifter becoming dis-engaged (completely) from the gearbox. I was able to gently roll it downhill to a parking spot, and the VW dealer picked it up and gave us some cash for the vehicle. In it's life it had 3 clutches replaced courtesy of VW!
It was a great car for the boys to take their drivers license tests, they just got passed as no one wanted to deal with a stick.
I have had two 126 MB's -- and drove both into the ground! The first was a 1987 560SEL which I got after the stock market crash of that year, picking it up from a guy who got busted in October 1987. The only disappointment was the AC which never worked well. Otherwise wonderful and we put over 100k miles on it.
The second was a 1987 420SEL which I bought for about $7.6k in the early 2000's. My son flew me down to Palm Beach to pick it up, and a guy pulled into the general aviation hanger in a Corvette with a bottle of Chivas to greet me! The car had no radio, but otherwise perfect. We put over 150k miles on it, but in that period we had to replace the radiator and wiper motors. The finish was white with red interior and had clearly baked in the south Florida sun.
Getting parts for MB 126 chassis is remarkably easy.
Now I drive a Ford Expedition with a turbo and Blizzak snow tires.
The second was a 1987 420SEL which I bought for about $7.6k in the early 2000's. My son flew me down to Palm Beach to pick it up, and a guy pulled into the general aviation hanger in a Corvette with a bottle of Chivas to greet me! The car had no radio, but otherwise perfect. We put over 150k miles on it, but in that period we had to replace the radiator and wiper motors. The finish was white with red interior and had clearly baked in the south Florida sun.
Getting parts for MB 126 chassis is remarkably easy.
Now I drive a Ford Expedition with a turbo and Blizzak snow tires.
I have owned a 2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante for the past eight years and I love it dearly. It's one of the most affordable and reliable "exotics" out there, and was famous for having its own hallowed spot on Top Gear's Cool Wall. Back 16 years or so ago, its 450 bhp and 420 lb-ft of torque were impressive, and it's no slouch today, but - in addition to its timeless looks - one of my favorite things about it is that any enthusiast owner can do 90+% of his or her own maintenance and repairs. Mine has only made one half-hour trip to the dealer, to flash program a new convertible roof module.
One area where some owners have had some challenges is the upgraded Linn 950 watt audio system featuring 10 independent channels of amplification into full-range drivers, plus a 200W subwoofer. Part of the difficulty is that "all of the audio systems operate in conjunction with the navigation system and connect in a closed loop of a fiberoptic MOST (Media Orientated System Transport) bus." Mine is still working well, and the car fortunately contains plenty of real wood to knock on...
One area where some owners have had some challenges is the upgraded Linn 950 watt audio system featuring 10 independent channels of amplification into full-range drivers, plus a 200W subwoofer. Part of the difficulty is that "all of the audio systems operate in conjunction with the navigation system and connect in a closed loop of a fiberoptic MOST (Media Orientated System Transport) bus." Mine is still working well, and the car fortunately contains plenty of real wood to knock on...
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Post any automobilia as long as its auto related. Here is a fresh roller-ized big block chev 468ci, huge cam and 13:1 compression, but runs happily on high test at the pump. Adding an octane boost in a bottle is not necessary, but advisable if you like to scare your passenger better.
Here is a money shot of the anodize in the heads, the entire engine was freshly rebuilt buy a master engine builder.
Here is a money shot of the anodize in the heads, the entire engine was freshly rebuilt buy a master engine builder.
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![20230527_121302[7017].jpg](/community/data/attachments/1090/1090282-b2527670142604c12a3c180d506356f3.jpg)
![20230527_132100[7018].jpg](/community/data/attachments/1090/1090283-ee0fdc3c8713d5045d72cfb1b1b56e03.jpg)
There's already a thread for this, but of course this is the Lounge so people do whatever they want:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-car-thread.314221/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-car-thread.314221/