Sorry but I think this is worth a rant. I was reading the classified sections of Ultra VW (which BTW I think is the best VW mag at the mo), and I came across an ad for a westfalia camper. It described the said vehicle as "rare". Then I scanned a few more ads. The same word seemed to miraclulously appear everywhere. Every second ebay ad seems to be the same.

I've had enough.

There is nothing rare about a VW. They are by definition common and cheap. There were over 2 million beetles made and at least half that figure of kombis made. Heck, they are still making bay window kombis as we speak. Another webpage I read today told me there were 203,000 early model type 3 made. Read that again, 203,000. And they are just the pre 69 models. THINGS THAT ARE RARE ARE NOT MADE IN THOUSANDS. I don't think you could even call hebmullers rare, there were a few hundred of them made. Every time someone sneezes another split window beetle is dragged out of a barn in Norway. Fridolins are all over the place, there is even one here in Australia now, thousands of miles away from Austria (I'm sure there'll be another one here next year too).

There are NOS parts coming out people's back pockets, new panels being made all over the place, more aircooled performance parts than ever, need I go on? :blah

I don't think I'm the only one who feels this either. You can still buy almost every model of VW ever sold in Oz in reasonable condition for under $10k. THEY ARE NOT RARE. This especially applies to all the freakin split window kombi and notch back owners. Stop advertising them as RARE.
You might not see them on the freeway every day, but they're like cockroaches, they are everywhere!:cussing

Ok, I feel better now.

try closer to about 20 millon bugs but i agree mate

what about country buggies?:P

hadnt thought of it that way but you make a valid point pete. vws are like arseholes, everyones got one.

does that mean because I own a VW I have two arseholes? My friends always say I talk shit:thumb

nice rant , I like it !:repuke

You need to take into account of the chemicals and salt used on icy roads in North America and most of Europe..

One stone chip and You have a major rust problem...

Most people with restored Volkswagens in North America and Europe only drive when the chemicals are removed from the roads....

This means that all the people in those countries who drove their VWs in the winter, no longer have their cars as the corrosion virtually ate the cars away... there are very few type 4 VWs left anywhere in the world... ie 411s & 412s.... and not so many early beetles or type 2s or 3s..
as the chemicals also ate those....
Many of those VWs shown in ULTRA VW have had Major reconstruction done.... and I mean Major.....
the average Beetle etc in Europe is either very rusted or had extensive rebuild work done..... Major Work....

As One fellow in the UK said to Me....
Our cars rust away, but our Window /door rubbers nearly last forever... as they don't have the hole in the ozone layer.... problem....

There are many VWs still going in southern parts of the US
where they don't use chemicals on the roads...
but then again, many end up at the wreckers...
as Americians change their cars very often....
and to many, an old VW is nothing....

Lee IMHO... of course.... OK on Pete's opinion...

I'll have a 23 Window with a Heb chaser thanks.

On July 30, 2003, the final original VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) was produced at Puebla, Mexico

My rant is how can the Toyota Corolla take the record as the worlds most produced motor car? 1968 to present with 9 distinct generations which all look different. Maybe Corolla is the most produced nameplate?

Do you OWN a VW Pete???

Mines rare. So stick that in yer pipe and smoke it.

No, but my wife OWN's two, so technically as we are married, I sorta own half of that VW bundle.

Rare is a relative mesure..

For example, i see later model beetles and bay window kombi's on the road all the time, but i never see another later model notchback.

So i think that makes my car rare. Not rare enough to state it in an ad if i were ever to sell it, but in my eyes, its rare.

There are heaps of cows on the planet but my wife likes her steak "rare".

I think rarer is maybe a better word as in barndoor kombis are rarer than normal splittys for example and split beetles are rarer than ovals.
If your talk in Australian terms I'd say a fridolin or a hebmuller is rare in Aus as vehicles in small one off coachbuilt productions never hit our shores in their day and also how many survive today after a hard life in a shitty climate.
It's funny though, how it can be said things are rare or endangered.
It is said Koalas are endangered species but I have seen more now than I ever did in the past.
I suppose say it now and be aware and do something about it than find out later and it's too late.
What the hell has koalas got to do with volkswagens I don't know......I've lost it.

no you havent lost it frog
the word koala means no drink
and old vw's don't take water:P

[ Edited on 18-7-06 by kombibob ]

That is so cool,I had no idea.
They should have been named Koala in Aus not beetle.

Seeing Bruces Barnie on the road - that would be rare.

It's all relative.

If I have something you want badly, it's rare.

I however do agree that the amount of after market convertibles being called rare does make me laugh.

And of course j&S buggies are not rare either!
LOL

Im rare, there is only one of me in the whole world!

:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer

Alright everyone put a unique part on your car, then the car has to be 'rare'! Make sure you do a good job of it, like superglue on and then say it is factory! Sorry people but who cares whether you call your car rare, it is a Volkswagen thats all that matters!

H

the body of my buggy is 60% super glue, does that make it more rare?

Depends, did you formulate your own super glue?

Thanks David777 for bringing up the topic of buggies.

My Meyers Manx SR IS RARE.

It's the only one in the Southern Hemisphere and when registered it will be the only right hand drive one in the world.

It is the 23rd made. It was made in June 1970. It is one of only two outside of North America. The other is in Belgium.

Approximately 400 were made, (Bruce Meyers lost his records when he went broke and sold up) and only about 50 are on the manxsr.com register.

They keep popping up constantly as unbuilt kits and barn finds as most of them were never finished. I should know. Getting mine on the road has become, in many ways, a tiresome burden, but it will happen.

IT IS THEREFORE, VERY RARE.

PS I like my steak medium rare.

Maybe in Australia, but not generally. I'd say 50 left in the world is still a good number. Good on you for being different, but I don't think SRs are rare, just unusual. If there are 50 on the registery, there are probably another 50 somewhere in barns, and being fibreglass it's not like they will rust. Kitcars are out there generally anyway. But putting a Bruce Meyers production model in the rare category is certainly stretching it. You yourself said he made 400 of them. Their were common Ferraris made in smaller numbers. Just imho.

My J&S is the only one I've seen like it out of many I have seen, but I wouldn't call it rare.

Now this is RARE!!

Any old dub for sale that has original battery tray clean rockers and no rot under windscreen, pedals or pillars is RARE.

/* exaggeration */
21 zillion were made but probably less than 10 original units worldwide remain totally rust free. its like there were lots of dinosaurs once, but finding one alive today would be very rare.

Sorry, I disagree with that. I have heard of at least 3 in the last month like that. Seagull was given one for free. VWs are NOT rare.

But yes, silver's van is rare.


[ Edited on 19-7-06 by pete wood ]