| [ Total Views: 1050 | Total Replies: 4 | Thread Id: 107645 ] |
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 HappyDaze
A.k.a.: Greg Mackie
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
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| posted on November 15th, 2014 at 07:33 PM |
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Was the Beetle important ?
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/11/14/vw-beetle-most-important-object-20th-centu...
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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landfall
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| posted on November 15th, 2014 at 08:20 PM |
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Important? Yes.
The most number of vehicles manufactured? Yes.
The most influential? No.
I would list the Morris Mini as number One, basically all modern front wheel drive vehicles copied the Mini.
Very interesting video though, thanks.
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waveman1500
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| posted on November 16th, 2014 at 10:44 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by landfallI would list the Morris Mini as number One, basically all modern front wheel drive vehicles copied the Mini.
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You've got it spot on there. The Mini had a much greater influence on vehicle design. You can still buy vehicles which are very similar in design and
construction to an original Mini. The Mini suspension design didn't catch on, but the engine/transmission layout and approximate proportions are
still successful. VW's own up! is very clearly evolved from the design of the Mini, not the Beetle. That alone should prove that the Mini has had
more influence on modern vehicles.
I guess what they're trying to say is that the Beetle has had a bigger influence on a corporate level, in creating the VW Group as we know it today.
I would actually say the Golf is at least as significant in the success of the VW Group though.
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Snap Crackle Bang
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| posted on November 16th, 2014 at 03:12 PM |
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If you look at the details of the design and construction methods, the Golf has been much more influential tha the mini. Practically every affordable
car on the market now is an evolution of a copy of the Golf or Golf rival. Meanwhile very few manufacturers make cars with the gearbox in the sump
Mind you, the Dinosaurs did not have Beetles and they went extinct, so Beetles are critical to the survival of all humanity, and that's also
important😄.
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waveman1500
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| posted on November 16th, 2014 at 05:35 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by Snap Crackle Bang
If you look at the details of the design and construction methods, the Golf has been much more influential tha the mini. Practically every affordable
car on the market now is an evolution of a copy of the Golf or Golf rival. Meanwhile very few manufacturers make cars with the gearbox in the sump
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This is very true, but the Golf wasn't the first front wheel drive car without the gearbox in the sump. All sorts of European cars got there decades
earlier. The Lloyd cars (later Lloyd Alexander) of the early 1950s had transverse engines with a gearbox on the side, but they were only two cylinder
two-strokes.
Arguably, the Golf might have been first 'modern' hatchback with the complete package of front wheel drive, transverse four cylinder engine,
Macpherson struts at the front and torsion beam axle at the rear. It was certainly an excellent car at the time of it's release, and is still a good
car even now!
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