The VW Bus: It's Back!
Old model:
New model:
Marketplace: "The 81st Gevena International Motor Show kicks off this week, and motorheads are already buzzing about big news from Volkswagen. The New York Times Wheels blog is reporting that VW will introduce the Volkswagen Bulli concept car today (bottom picture above). The Bulli concept derives its name from the original 1950 Microbus of the same name, and was first seen by car enthusiasts in 2001. For various reasons, production of the new Bulli was put on hold, but now VW fans everywhere have reason to celebrate. Volkswagen says the new concept is more compact, affordable, and is equipped with more sustainable technologies."
14 Comments:
wow is that ugly.
the beauty of the (also ugly, but at least distinct as opposed to the new one which is generic) old one was that it was so simple that it ran forever.
a 4 cylinder air cooled engine is essentially indestructible. you can put 200-400k miles on one easy.
why do a doubt that this new beacon of sustainability will have such durability and that, unlike the original, none will be on the road 40+ years after launch.
I ended at this blog as I googled: "Carpe diem". I wonder why people writing about time-management or under tittle like this (Seize the day) are usually in the field of economy.
People like me are usually willing to downshift their lifes instead of increasing their "economical activity". And by doing so, they end up reading thoughts of business people.
This is not against blogger. I read some articles and may return, because they are interesting.
Ugly. What made the original unique and a symbol was its "roundness", and they go and make it boxy.
if an aztec bred with an element, this would be the offspring.
the new beetle is so cool that i'm surprised to see them blow it like this.
Jesus, I never that kind of mileag out of my beetle. It ran from 1960 until 1983, at which time I sold it for the same price I bought it.
However, in the meantime, I had replaced every part in it several times. At one point I took the entire body off it and just bolted it on to a new chassis, on which the body had been wrecked.
I thought the beetle was a perfectly terrible car, underpowered, bad defrosters, vicious oversteer, prone to swallow valves, lousy mileage, etc etc.
It broke down constantly, but its main advantage was that it was eminently recycleable: was easy to repair and parts always available.
I rebuilt engines in that thing several times, but it never saw 400K miles. at one point the whloe steering gear came adrift from the fram and the battery box rusted through, till the battery fell on the street. (Thats when I put the old body on a new cahssis.)
Compare that to my seven year old prius which has had as yet not one single repair, except the cd player. More miles, better mileage, no repairs. Of course when it does need repairs, it is way over my head: I wouldn't think of touching it.
Oh yeah, I just sold my Jetta which was also a hangar queen. Sorry Morganovich, I'm probably done with VW.
hydra-
oh, i wasn't recommending them, nor have i ever owned one.
if you want to get a zillion miles from an engine, the best bet is the old air cooled flat 6 in the porsche 911sc.
i have a friend who has 350k+ miles on one, never rebuilt. the thing just runs.
Morgan:
You are badly misled if you think cars of yesteryear are better than today's cars.
This comment has been removed by the author.
benji-
if you think that's what i said, then you are poorly served by your reading comprehension.
i have made no such claim, merely pointed out that certain engine designs are very durable and expressed skepticism about the durability of the new "cleantech" technologies.
if you use straw men arguments couched in subjunctive clauses, it makes you appear to lack comprehension and desirous of arguing with yourself.
My impression is that air cooled engines are simpler but less reliable and less efficient overall.
My vote goes to the Dodge slant six. You couldn't kill that thing.
Air cooled engines ha e bigger tolerances to allow for expansion as they get hot.
"wow is that ugly."
My first thought exactly. To successfully emulate the original, VW will need to take care not to include any safety features of any kind, so the car may not be available in the US.
As I recall, in the original, other than a thin sheet metal panel, the first point of impact in an accident, was the driver's knees.
We can't see the back of the original bus pictured above, but IIRC, there's a sign on the back that reads:
"Hey Mr. policeman! You should consider pulling this vehicle over, as we are all in here smoking doobs."
The Autoblog has about dozen or so exterior and interior shots of the Bulli...
I'm with morganovich, that's a ugly bit of automobile...
Off topic, but I have to compliment you guys.
Rude and opinionated you may be, but at least I have not been uniformly censored and deleted as I have been at a notorious left wing blog I argue on.
"Off topic, but I have to compliment you guys.
Rude and opinionated you may be, but at least I have not been uniformly censored and deleted as I have been at a notorious left wing blog I argue on.
Here is yet another subject you don't appear to understand. We who are rude and opinionated have no control over comments other than our own. This is Prof. Perry's blog, and only he, or a moderator he might delegate, has the ability to censor or delete comments. As a fair, and open minded person, he doesn't do that. He allows all comments, even rude, opinionated, or off-topic ones.
Your experience at a left wing blog should tell you something about the collectivist mindset, which is that it doesn't tolerate dissent. Everyone must agree. Learning is impossible in such an echo chamber.
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