The New VW Beetle

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dinners

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I used to love Beetles (old Beetles) but the 1999 'new' Beetle was a huge let down for me.

The new 'new' Beetle though :love:

Anybody have one ?

I know there's 911 and Audi TT in there but they're all chips off the old block anyway.

http://www.werd.com/9614/2012-vw-beetle/
 
Seems to me to be harking back to the very very early days of the beetle with the body shape.
 
looks a little like a porsche from the side. well sort of.
 
I wanted one of the original beetles for years, finally bought one and.................................sold it a couple of weeks later, don't like them at all
 
its not a beetle just like the mini isnt a mini. icons should be left alone
 
pepi1967 said:
looks a little like a porsche from the side. well sort of.
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Both were desiged by Ferdinand Porsche and, indeed, the Porsche Type 12 strongly resembles the Volkswagen Type 1 (the official model designation of the original Beetle). Info from Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle .

pepi1967 said:
its not a beetle just like the mini isnt a mini. icons should be left alone
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It's basically a rebodied Golf. The new Mini isn't exactly mini - IIRC, the footprint is almost the same as the original Range Rover! Add to the list the new Fiat 500, the name of the original refers to the engine size (3 were avaiable over the years of production (1957-1975, I can remember seeing them brand new), 479cc, 499cc and 594cc, with the current model having a choice between 0.9 litres and 1.4 litres.
I'm sure all 3 cars are very good but they're just cashing in on the originals' iconic status IMO and shouldn't really be using the names they are (again, IMO).
 
pepi1967 said:
its not a beetle just like the mini isnt a mini. icons should be left alone
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I know what you mean.

The mini was the 'people's car' - small & cheap. The new mini was anything but and the market was already producing many economy driven models that were more akin to the ethos of the original mini. I guess it should have been called the 'Maxi' however I suspect that wouldn't have been the smartest move from a marketing point of view.
 
the new Beetles are :cool: but totaly impractical for my needs.
I had a 66 beetle it was fantastic. lovely gearbox.
the 6v electrics let it down a bit, oh & the rust ;)

I still dont know how I got all my fishing tackle into it though.
mind you the bruce & walker 1.1/2 lb test curve 10' rods didnt take up too much room over the passenger seat :lol:
 
Don't forget that Clarkson's GT was so thirsty that he had to stop for fuel on his way to AND from work - not good for range! Possibly better off with a smaller engined replice, some of which are as convincing (if not more so) than Ford's effort.
 
Nod said:
Don't forget that Clarkson's GT was so thirsty that he had to stop for fuel on his way to AND from work - not good for range! Possibly better off with a smaller engined replice, some of which are as convincing (if not more so) than Ford's effort.
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Are you mad?:cuckoo: You don't go smaller engine on a Ford GT. You don't buy a Ford GT and worry about petrol. Get down to Mountune for a bigger supercharger. 810bhp and 950Nm of torque. Or better still a Hennessey Twin Turbo installation for 1000bhp. :thumbs:
 
No, very sane now! What's the point of having a car capable of close to 200mph when you have to stop to fill it up, wasting all the time you've saved by travelling at high speeds (where that's even legal!). I would agree on many levels but I'm almost 50 and now have practicallity as a main consideration. I would love a GT40, either a good kit/replica, original or even the GT but can't justify it, in this real world, my wife's MX-5 Mazda is quite possibly the best sports car made. :)
 
I bought my daughter one of the new beatles (well a Y reg). It's basically a golf with a different body. Feels really big and safe inside, good car for her.
 
Nod said:
No, very sane now! What's the point of having a car capable of close to 200mph when you have to stop to fill it up, wasting all the time you've saved by travelling at high speeds (where that's even legal!). I would agree on many levels but I'm almost 50 and now have practicallity as a main consideration. I would love a GT40, either a good kit/replica, original or even the GT but can't justify it, in this real world, my wife's MX-5 Mazda is quite possibly the best sports car made. :)
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Alan "Bongo Bongo Land" Clark found he could get from London to The Highlands faster in a diesel Discovery than in his Bentley Continental Turbo R because he needed one fewer fuel stop.

Then again, Willie Green would hit 200mph in his pukka GT40 driving from London to Silverstone up the A5 - and his GT40 only had 5 squitty litres and only 400 squitty horsepower!

But there you are, you see, it's only slow drivers who need/want/boast about fast cars! :p
 
pepi1967 said:
its not a beetle just like the mini isnt a mini. icons should be left alone
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The R50 MINI,when released back in 2001 was a Mini.The remit for the new car (when Rover were developing it) was that it should represent where the car would be had it received an update every 8 years or do, the way most other cars do. The argument that it was (even more so now with the later cars) much bigger than the original doesn't stand up to scrutiny, every other car has grown in size over the years too.

Is a Golf not a Golf because the current version is much bigger than the original? The current Polo is bigger than a MK2 Golf, the current Vauxhall Corsa is bigger and heavier than a 90s Astra, yet you don't hear owners of those cars saying the new ones aren't Golfs or Corsas because of it.

The only cars I have issue with is the MINI Countryman, seriously the thing is nearly the same size as a London taxi :lol:
 
Yves Geza said:
Alan "Bongo Bongo Land" Clark found he could get from London to The Highlands faster in a diesel Discovery than in his Bentley Continental Turbo R because he needed one fewer fuel stop.
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I could do that with no fuel stops and about 3 gallons to spare.:thumbs:
 
Much better than the last one, which just looked like a child's drawing of a cloud with wheels.
 
Yves Geza said:
Alan "Bongo Bongo Land" Clark found he could get from London to The Highlands faster in a diesel Discovery than in his Bentley Continental Turbo R because he needed one fewer fuel stop.

Then again, Willie Green would hit 200mph in his pukka GT40 driving from London to Silverstone up the A5 - and his GT40 only had 5 squitty litres and only 400 squitty horsepower!

But there you are, you see, it's only slow drivers who need/want/boast about fast cars! :p
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I know very well from the days when I would thrash up the A303 , M25 etc to Colney Heath that if I gave it some wrist, it was no faster than keeping it legal once the refueling stop had been taken into account. I did once make it all the way home on a tankfull but had to switch to reserve at about Honiton. Festina lente.:nono:

Wasn't it James Hunt who drove an old Austin A30 or 35 and reckoned it was as much fun as far faster wheels?
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The only cars I have issue with is the MINI Countryman, seriously the thing is nearly the same size as a London taxi :lol:
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You're contradicting your own first paragraph!:lol:
 
Nod said:
You're contradicting your own first paragraph!:lol:
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No I'm not, the only MINI I have an issue with is the Countryman as it doesn't fit in with the "evolutionary" ideal that Rover laid out for the MINI....
 
Nod said:
Wasn't it James Hunt who drove an old Austin A30 or 35 and reckoned it was as much fun as far faster wheels?
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I learnt from that! Hunt's idea was that he could be on the absolute limits of adhesion and limits of his ability in his A35 Countryman ... and no-one would know it! :lol:



Flash In The Pan said:
... it doesn't fit in with the "evolutionary" ideal that Rover laid out for the MINI....
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"Evolutionary ideal"!? Not even Alec Issigonis at his very weird weirdest could have dreamt of devising a water pump that could catch fire! :p
 
Sorry, but like the Chrysler Crossfire...it looks like a dog taking a dump :)
 
Yves Geza said:
I learnt from that! Hunt's idea was that he could be on the absolute limits of adhesion and limits of his ability in his A35 Countryman ... and no-one would know it! :lol:

"Evolutionary ideal"!? Not even Alec Issigonis at his very weird weirdest could have dreamt of devising a water pump that could catch fire! :p
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Or even a ship, Theseus :naughty:
 
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