My Son was driving His rat look 56 beetle on the highway
when an unmarked car did a U turn and caught up to him and sat on His tail for a few Kms...

My other Son was going in the opposite direction
and saw his brother with the car tailing Him...
He has a scanner, and heard the unmarked Police car
check out the registration of My Son's Rat beetle...

He then did another U turn and away He went...

So, Who's game to drive an unregistered car on the roads?? Not Me...

Lee

sure the second u-turn wasnt to go after your other son with the scanner??

nick

no one was booked....all good

'Rats' look like 'shitters' to most people but as long as the car is legal and legit no-one has anything to worry about!

No My other Son wasn't booked...

thats what He uses the scanner for...
to find out where they are... lol...

The rat beetle was pulled up by the highway patrol a while back, but after My Son showed Him the chassis
which looks new [black POR15] and told Him the running gear was as good as new

He went away....

Lee

Many years ago, when my brother first started driving his rough looking (and now retired) '67 bug, he was pulled over for 'breath testing' almost every week. After giving him the breath test the next question was almost always "is this vehicle registered?" After the usual rego check to verify they let him continue on his way.

Sure, the car looked a little rough - the paint was 'polished' right back to the undercoat in many places, and it had been lowered, but everything mechanical was new and legal.

He finally decided to repaint it when he was pulled over for the third time in a week on his way to work and the cop asked him "... so , do you polish it with a brick?". After the repaint he was never pulled over again - image obviously plays a part in which vehicles are targeted by the police....

...but if you do everything legally, aside from the inconvenience, there shouldn't be any other problems.

R

12yrs ago, when i was back in the UK, i drove a '74 1303 which was a bit of a shed [ rat-look ] lowered but mechanically sound.

I once got pulled by 3 different county police forces in one night!!! the 3rd lot got a right ear full from me as i seriously thought they were just takin the piss. As i didn't have my documents on me on the night i then had to go to each counties police station the following Monday to show them each my licence and MOT [rwc]... like a 200km round trip! from then on i always carried my docs with me... mot, insurance, the lot.

Cops in NSW are now using cameras linked to a computer to check both unregistered vehicles and unpaid fines. Second car is just up the road and they pull you over and remove the plates on the spot if unregistered. They have been getting heaps.

It's all to do with how you look. I drive my buggy all the time no problems, my son used it once and didn't get passed the first cop!!! I reckon they must think I look sensible

ride height is the main thing they will ping rat owners on
in 10 years of having my bugs on the road i never ever had a problem till i slammed my Lbug
i swear the cops used to line up down the street the second i reversed out of the garage
it was only down 1 spline at the back but the front my struts were on the lowest setting and my swaybar was only 47mm off the road
in NSW and i imagine most other states min ground clearance must be 100mm
this and the fact i just couldnt take it anywhere i ended up raisign it 4 notches (2") and even running 18" rims i have never been pulled over again since

I had my old car 4cm off the ground and ratty as you like, and had a cop pull up next to me at the lights, and with a big smile, proceed to tell me how cool my car was. then he says "f@#k its low" . After about 30 seconds, the lights turned green he gave me a wave and off we went.

Vw rats aren't threatning to police so unless you get one with a chip on his shoulder, you'll be right.

I drove mine 60kms a day everyday to work for about a year with no probs at all. But... you could be unlucky.

yes i drove the flat black shitty paint surface rust ghia 3cms off the ground every day and did 2 interstate trips in her never got a look from the fuzz ,my old fords on the other hand had the bacon boys all over my ass like a bad case of heamaroids

Hi

Headlight height would be the biggest let down with rat bugs or any modified bug, a stock bug is almost to low to start off with. The reason that they pick on low headlights is that when a lowered car hits dip or rises in the road the headlight beams lift up closer to the horizontal potentially blinding on coming cars.

I don't like living in police state but I do agree with the cops catching unregistered cars, if you ever have an accident with an unregistered car your really up the creek without a paddle.

Steve

yeah i had them doing the check thing enroute this morning whilst driving thru the city..
one minute im following a cop car the next he abruptly pulls over to the left to let me pass whilst eyeing at my ride and then barges in behind me..
the passenger was furiously tapping the plate into the system and looking over my ride etc..
mind you with a big cheesy grin on his mug..
then like magic they turned off left and dissappeared..
i suppose they left me alone as my ride is all shiny for dubs tomorrow..
but then again luckily for me i bpaid my rego yesterday - a day late - thank goodness..