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Semi-Auto Beetle
beetlecab - August 21st, 2014 at 08:40 PM

I am a recent owner of a 72 model. i had a 68 years ago and just really think they are great. Thoughts?


pfillery - August 21st, 2014 at 08:56 PM

I loved my 68 auto. Had it for a year and it never missed a beat.


beetlecab - August 21st, 2014 at 08:59 PM

what colour was it? Not VW Blue?


thebugnut - August 22nd, 2014 at 09:06 AM

I found a an Automatic-Stickshift Karmann Ghia for my daughter.
It had been sitting for over 15 years.
We paid $200 for it and all it needed was repair of the solenoid grounding wire in the shifter.
She has been driving it for a year and a half now and she LOVES it.
I have driven it quite a few times and I gotta say that it really is a lot of fun, mostly because it is unique and different to drive.


DakDak67 - August 22nd, 2014 at 10:27 AM

I've just put a 68 on the road after many years sitting under a tree, I don't mind it , okay I guess.. Nothing special.


pfillery - August 22nd, 2014 at 12:20 PM

I was about to say "what the?" when I saw the price, then I saw USA, that makes it about normal.

You guys are soooo lucky.

Quote:
Originally posted by thebugnut
I found a an Automatic-Stickshift Karmann Ghia for my daughter.
It had been sitting for over 15 years.
We paid $200 for it and all it needed was repair of the solenoid grounding wire in the shifter.
She has been driving it for a year and a half now and she LOVES it.
I have driven it quite a few times and I gotta say that it really is a lot of fun, mostly because it is unique and different to drive.


pfillery - August 22nd, 2014 at 12:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by beetlecab
what colour was it? Not VW Blue?


No it was white. Awesome car, could tow a decent sized box trailer, was fun to drive and apart from replacing the $6 gear shift front bushing (I was told it was likely the original since you don't run through gears like a manual), I didn't need to do anything to her in the year I had her.


Joel - August 22nd, 2014 at 02:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by beetlecab
what colour was it? Not VW Blue?


Beetlecab, a good mate of mine has a soft spot for them and owned a few, one was VW blue 68.
It was a real gem, low mileage unmolested car from a little old Italian lady.
Andrew Dodd ended up snapping it up from him at Valla one year.
Poor thing popped back up on ebay last year pretty beat up though.

They are great when everything is working right but they are a nightmare on wheels when stuff starts going wrong.
Many parts are not available new and they changed the design a few times over the years so a few parts dont interchange.

If you come from a manual Beetle the acceleration and fuel economy is terrible with semi autos but they are fun in their own way.


beetlecab - August 22nd, 2014 at 07:17 PM

Thanks Guys. I have fond memories of my 68. It was sick when i bought it but given a 1600 motor it turned out to be fantastic. The 72 15 million i have bought will i hope re live the memories. Its at the mechanics now. I haven't driven it yet. I hear all the horror stories of problems but we will wait and see.
Any semi auto owners in Melbourne? thanks Rob


pfillery - August 24th, 2014 at 10:07 AM

You missed out on my stash of rare and nos parts I had with my semi auto. Sold most of the early this year when I went back to a kombi. Had things like the factory mudflaps with wheel spats to protect the tanks under the rear guards, shifter boots (rocking horse poo), adverts and manuals etc, spare gearboxes, control units, even a nos clutch actuator mechanism.

Just don't change stuff round on them. Even a slight tweak like re routing an oil line means no go. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Talk to Lee (68autobug) on this forum. He is a wealth of information on the autos. There is also a specialist site vwar.org which is very good. Also there are some of the Bentleys manuals that cover the semi autos very well. Good thing to have.

A lot of people are down on the autos but they are great. Many get ransacked due to the IRS rear/beam front combo, great for buggies etc. and apparently the gearbox ratio is very strong with very low first gear which is good for sand rail buggies etc. if you have the know how to convert the gearbox to manual - it is essentially a manual running through a torque convertor so not hard to do.


DakDak67 - August 24th, 2014 at 10:45 AM

I've just picked up a bunch of good parts including a gearbox for mine, I'll rebuild the lot and see how it goes. The car was paddock bashed and left to die for many years but everything still works , tough little buggers. My shifter boot is like new , most likely worth more than the car .


matberry - August 24th, 2014 at 10:53 AM

I have just completed getting one back on the road. It was the guy
s Nan's car owned from new. Came to Qld from Tassie and is VERY complete. A joy to drive and engine/tranny were in perfect order. Keep your eye out for a red '69 cruising Brissy southside, fyi. complete shifter boot, flaps etc etc.... :)


DakDak67 - August 24th, 2014 at 02:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by matberry
I have just completed getting one back on the road. It was the guy
s Nan's car owned from new. Came to Qld from Tassie and is VERY complete. A joy to drive and engine/tranny were in perfect order. Keep your eye out for a red '69 cruising Brissy southside, fyi. complete shifter boot, flaps etc etc.... :)
YAY ,you can get my shitter working then !! :lol::crazy:


matberry - August 24th, 2014 at 03:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DakDak67
Quote:
Originally posted by matberry
I have just completed getting one back on the road. It was the guy
s Nan's car owned from new. Came to Qld from Tassie and is VERY complete. A joy to drive and engine/tranny were in perfect order. Keep your eye out for a red '69 cruising Brissy southside, fyi. complete shifter boot, flaps etc etc.... :)
YAY ,you can get my shitter working then !! :lol::crazy:


You know where I am mate


beetlecab - September 1st, 2014 at 01:07 PM

great responses. Glad there are some fans! Really looking foward to driving the car......Still looking for 15th million commerative key ring. Surely someone has one for sale//// Thanks Rob


EgeWorks - September 2nd, 2014 at 06:49 PM

Here's a plug for a semi auto that I've got for sale if you've got a itch to own one of these unusual beasts:

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=107064&page=1#pid999397 


ctefeh - September 5th, 2014 at 11:53 PM

Gadzooks...PBB's car!...

There are a few S-A bug owners on here, and myself (Volkenstein over there) and Lee (68Autobug) are mods over on VWAR. We have created a topic (funnily enough) about where to score parts from. EVW in the US "does us proud, guvnor" for actually stocking parts. The rest of the time - wherever you can find them. That's Semi-Auto specific stuff anyway.

Traffic can be a little slow over on VWAR, but to find out more about the beasties, probably worth trolling that board, and also "the old forum" link.


HTH
Ctefeh aka Vlkenstein