volkswagon beetle

My First and Definitely Not My Last

At the time of buying my Beetle, the desire was only 2nd to buying a VW camper. Unfortunately cost determined the Beetle. After researching for weeks, I decided I'd had enough. It was time to buy one and live with my decision. As unwise as it sounds I paid a visit to Ebay and won my now beloved 1971 VW Beetle 1300.

Ok so think about this for a minute, I'm in a 36 year old car that plods along at a maximum speed of 83mph and I'm on a driving day out with some friends - trying to keep up with a Jaguar XJ220, a Ferrari 380GTS and a Porsche 964. No chance I hear you say! True, I almost died that day, let alone how the car felt!! One thing I discovered is that overtaking in a Beetle is a bad idea.

Now an official V-Dubber I visit shows throughout the summer, although I refuse to camp after visiting the toilets at BugJam.

One thing I particularly like when I drive is that people are always happy to see a Beetle. Kids love it because it reminds them off Herbie and there's always someone who has owned one in the past and likes to share their fondness with you.

Typically owning a 1971 car is not without it's problems. I have never properly broken down, but carb icing has caused me to stop several times and headlight eyelids falling off then flying past the window can be scary.

One of the biggest expectations I had was to completely change whichever VW I bought and personalise to my taste. Such extreme measures as chopping the roof or giving some weird and wacky colour scheme were thought about, but once I became the owner I just wanted to keep it as it is. I still dream of buying a clapped out Beetle and sticking a Porsche engine in.

Overall my Beetle is cheap to buy and run, it is loads of fun to drive and truly is a People car.

Nick Brearley
October 2006