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Are Veedubbers the Ricers of the past?

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1500S Custom Title Time!

1,418 posts · joined Mar 2005 ·

#745728
ryana89 wrote:An interesting thought but think this, a VW from the 60's/70's can do infinite Kilometres and still keep going, i think youd be lucky to get 200,000km out of a Hyundai or anything of similar quality. Kinda hard to compare them when VW's are in a completly (higher) different league. Also VW's can be made to handle better and perform better, ricers today are only good for ugly body kits and farty exhaust notes🙅

Ryan😀
You mustn't have been around in the 60s and 70s!! If you got to 160,000 km (100,000 miles) on the clock the average VW engine was stuffed along with the rusted body if it was built here and about 5 years old. In the case of the earlier Type 3s, at around 30,000 miles you could expect to be looking at a valve problem as well. Those early heads on both 1200 and 1500 engines continually popped original rocker studs and you were lucky to get home at times.

No! I've never owned any of the Jap etc rice burners but up around 300 to 400,000 km seems quite common with few problems. Not to say there aren't ones which turn out crapp in much lower use but in general, we must admit that most cars have come a long way since the 60s in both reliability and comfort. I've rowed enough VWs from Sydney to Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide on the long runs and all over NSW from mid 60s to 1984 so I have some idea what they are like to drive and look after.

Sometimes we do have to look outside the paddock!! Aircooled VWs are great toys to play with but don't ask me to back up an argument that they are better than most modern day units. 🙅

DH

t_tuffnut Wolfsburg Wizard

425 posts · joined Jun 2009 ·

#745760
Interesting thread. I wish I could compare my previous vehicles to my dub, but seeing that it is on blocks in the garage I cant compare them completely.

What I can do it compare it on longevity to some degree.

Over the years I've had a 1990 ford corsair (Nissan Pintara) which needed repairs weekly with 200K on the clock. I've had a 1994 Falcon which needed 2 new computers within the space of a year. I then bought a 2005 ford focus which, at 4 years old with 90K on the clock, needed a complete transmission rebuild, new shock absorbers, new fuel pump and a new radiator.

Then I bought a 1963 beetle, which had sat for 4 years in a car lot, which turned over on the 2nd turn of the key with a new battery in it. Admittedly the brakes are stuffed and it is leaking oil, but I know that the last 3 cars would not be able to do such a thing after sitting for 4 years.

As far as image goes, wouldn't they have been seen more as quirky that sexy sports machines? Quirky with balls once hotted up type of thing? Now they have a classic feel, but for various stories and articles, as well as the advertising, it looks like they were aiming for an off beat persona for them.
1966 Bug

1973 L Bug

type3vw Officially Full-On Dubber

343 posts · joined Dec 2005 ·

#745793
very interesting topic. there is a guy near me who has
turbo charged his excel, all up he spent close to $10,000 on running gear, and it has done a 13sec pass with lots
of wheel spin. the car looks very stockish. no spoilers or
wing, just a set of fatter tyres. true sleeper style.
i would say that an excel owner is looked upon as (why
would you bother) but 10 to 15 years ago i was looked
upon the same in my vw bug. then after tinkering with
them alot and building an 1835 and running a 13 sec pass
my friends were like far out they do go. but back to the
ricers. if a few people hotted up the engine or took a
2 litre from an elantra and put it in an excel and hotted
them up, a craze for hotting up hyundai's could just
happen. parts are cheap there is lots of them available
it be the next best craze for young guys wanting to hot
up cars. you just never know.

1500S Custom Title Time!

1,418 posts · joined Mar 2005 ·

#745839
Mick058 wrote:i think its fair to say that im a 'new generation' dubber, but i wonder, as i see some of the 'ricers' around town and at times laugh at them and think 'why would you bother' - would this have been the reaction of those 'hotting up' their Veedubs in the 70s and 80s.

Are the Excels of today, with their body kits, spoilers and added weight with standard engines, equivalent to the veedubs of the 70s and 80s.

In what light were they seen?

I assume the V8 boys would have laughed at the humble Veedub the same way they still do now at any 4 cylinder.

keen to hear some thoughts.
Mick, that was the case even in the 60s!! I spent years of my VWs being referred to as "Ghasping jam cans" and to the general public who drove Holdens and Fords of the day and many other more powerfull 4 cylinder cars, they were seen as hold-ups on the road at every slight hill especially the transporter range. Remember there were still plenty of 36 HP engines around as well as the 1200 intermediates in the transporters so it didn't take much to have a snail overtake them. It wasn't until the 1500 engines came on the scene that all VWs could zip along a bit quicker.

By then, the novelty of the funny shaped aircooled car from the 50s was wearing off as the Dato Bluebirds and Mitzu whatever Colts etc started to come on the market in the mid 60s. In many cases, us diehards kept the Aircooled engine VWs alive into the late 70s but then as families grew, reality set in and the larger, dare I say, Holdens, Fords, Cryslers and Leyland P38s did seem to have a place in many of the VW owners lives.

DH

donn Wolfsburg Elder

3,515 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#745938
Leyland P38s did seem to have a place in many of the VW owners lives.

DH

So would you need 2 of those if you wanted a P76?😂
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!

greasykitchen Officially Full-On Dubber

375 posts · joined Dec 2007 ·

#745961
Well Hyundais etc may well be reliable and cheap to run, but they're boring compared to old VWs, and that's probably what makes them good daily drivers.
'76 Golf

1500S Custom Title Time!

1,418 posts · joined Mar 2005 ·

#745977
donn wrote:
Leyland P38s did seem to have a place in many of the VW owners lives.

DH

So would you need 2 of those if you wanted a P76?😂


👍

DH

spdterence Seriously Crusin Dubber

143 posts · joined May 2008 ·

#745997
I still like Mick's original question though.
How did the original VW boys's get treated generally? I imagine that that the knuckle dragging V8 boys of the 60's 70's would have considered the quirky little 'Hitlers Revenge' in a unique sort of way.
After all, back then plenty of people were still pretty vocal about anything "gerry built" as they used to say - the emotional wounds of WW2 were still alive and well.

Would be interested to see some more discussion on this thread.
Smile - It confuses people😀

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