hi
I am a massive car enthusiast from UK and sell motoring memorabilia. I had an Aussi friend who suggested that the following book was really hard to get hold off in Australia and to sell there.
http://cgi5.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll
ITEM NUMBER:350503004846
In the book there is a chapter on Amphibious cars. I like to know did any survive. It seems a very unlikely car to float. There are pictures of the car in Sydney harbour!
Motoring-Man
I bought one of those from a bookshop in London.
I read it on samba, so it must be correct.
Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!😂
I bought mine of Ebay and its signed by one of the authors
No none of the original 1960s amphibious VWs still exist. They were floated in salt water and rusted out in next to no time. The seawater also ruined the gearboxes.
Paul Greene, owner of the Sea Bug, still owns the car but it has been extensively rebuilt and redesigned since his Bass Strait attempts. Many of us saw the Sea Bug on Sydney Harbour, and also at the VW Spectacular at Valla Park in the late '80s. We have a DVD of the Seabug in the club library. He isn't active in the VW scene any more but as far as I know he still has it in storage.
Beetles floating was a very common promotional trick in the '60s and '70s, not only in Australia but all around the world. Safer Motoring magazine documented a Beetle that crossed the English Channel in the '60s, while another crossed the Irish Sea. Floating VWs appeared in official VW ads in America - one featuring Charlton Heston - and in movies such as What's Up Doc and Herbie Rides Again. Back in the day, numerous owners found their Beetles floating when they tried crossing flooded streams or deep pools of water. One owner wrote a story in our club magazine of accidentally reversing off the Lugarno punt in the '60s and floating slowly downstream. Why would you think a Beetle is 'unlikely' to float?
I remember...
" the First car to drive UNDER the SYDNEY harbour Bridge"
headlines... lol
I saw on some old " top gear " TV shows.. them driving cars on the waters edge in the salt water
YIKES.... its seems to be the most stupid thing You can do to a car...
and it's hard to get all the salt off...
only one spot of bare metal.... YIKES...
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
I have a big pile of Safer Motoring from the 60S in my Office I have a feeling the Cross Channel one is on the cover of an issue.
There couldn`t have been a much worse car to put in salt water!!!!
Can't say I agree with that - try putting the equivalent Morris Minor, Simca, Vauxhaul Viva or Mini etc of the time into the ocean and they would have A. Sunk ; or if not B. Rusted out twice as fast afterwards as a Volkswagen.
Australian-manufactured VWs were the quality equivalent of German-built VWs and used the same fully-dipped 4-coat baked enamel finish. The other Australian manufacturers of the time - Holden, Ford, BMC, Chrysler - all used acrylic laquer. That is why there are more 1960s VWs still around today than these others, even though they sold far more at the time. VW's high quality production process allowed them to stand the test of time; there are probably still 5,000 air-cooled VWs on Australian roads today (of the 350,000 sold). I couldn't remember the last time I saw a 1960s Holden, Ford or BMC in the morning traffic.
Of course this didn't protect them from total immersion in seawater. The Lanock Motors one (the one that putted around Kogarah Bay, and later Middle Harbour in 1960) was thoroughly hosed out afterwards but soon turned into a pile of rust. Paul Greene's Seabug was sealed with fibreglass and had extra bulkeads fitted, but I bet the bodyshell today is rusted out - one reason he doesn't show it any more.
Back in the day the Beetle made an excellent floating car for seveal reasons. The flat sheet bottom and sealed body was already basically water tight (the Lanocks Boatswagen only needed grease and masking tape on the door rubbers). It had good front-rear weight distribution. The rear engine allowed an easy prop takeoff from the engine pulley, and only needed a snorkel on the carb and exhausts, and a long distributor standoff. The airtight body gave good buoyancy, aided by the air in the four tyres plus the spare in the front. No rudder was needed; turning the front wheels was all that was needed. The only disadvantage was that seawater attacked bare metal (iron cylinders, magnesium block/gearbox) and got inside the gearbox, wheel bearings and brakes. You wouldn't try it today.
A little bit more than "grease and masking tape", Phil!
When I worked for John Owen Motors [VW dealers], in 1960-61, a few ex-Lanock Motors people were there. They told me of hours of work done on the 'Boatswagen', plugging drain holes and any possible water entry points in the body.
One night, in 1961 I decided [foolishly] to cross the FLOODED Audley Weir, in my brand-new 40hp Beetle. The water was deeper than I thought, and about half-way across the Beetle started to float towards the edge of the weir. Luckily all the drain holes were clear, and the water rushed into the car, allowing the rear tyres a bit of grip. The water came over the top of the tunnel. About 38 of the 40 hp was being used up pushing the water out of the exhaust, but by holding the accelerator to the floor, and slipping the clutch in 1st gear, I managed to get to the other side, much to the amazement of the on-lookers standing there. When the door was opened, water poured from inside the car! If that water didn't leak into the Beetle, I would have, no doubt, ended up at Cronulla, or thereabouts, The silly things you do when young......or old, for that matter.🙄
Cheers, Greg
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
Falcons Valiants and holdens and others didn't paint inside the doors etc
so they rusted out while You drove them...
the biggest reason so many old holdens etc were put off the road back in the 50-60-70s was rusted out doors , boot, bonnet, guards and chassis etc..
A local vw trained mechanic who went thru the factory in Clayton saw Datsuns, Volvos VWs and trucks [I think Mercedes}
being assembled...
ONLY VWs were dipped into the paint bath...
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
