One careful, very careful, owner

[Jarlaxle]

About as much as I would like a case of the clap. I would rather have a neon-pink Pacer with yellow polka dots, lavender shag carpet interior, and lime green seats.

[MGMcAnick]

Pacers were kind of neat too, but I don't know about neon-pink with yellow polka dots, lavender shag carpet interior, and lime green seats. Did AMC make that combination as an extra cost option?

The only Pacer I ever had was another non-runner when I bought it. I gave $75 for it about 20 years ago. I sold it a week later, after a $10 tune up, to a Wayne's World fan for a grand. We were both happy.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I'd have thought a Pacer was way too small to have a shag carpet. That'd need contortionists. Or midgets.

[TPFKA@W]

That really takes me back. I had an old beetle, can't tell you the year, 4 on the floor, frequently had to be push started. Those were the days....

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, four on the floor is even more remarkable than shag carpet.

[BoSoxGal]

First year in college I bought an old yellow beetle out of nostalgia for the one my mom had when I was a wee lass; commuted 2 hrs/day back & forth to school in Maine winter, not a great car for that as no heat, but one morning I showed up to my weekend job at the package store and had to go back home because I didn't have keys and was the only one to make it to work driving my beetle through a foot of unplowed snow. They do power through snow pretty good but I agree don't handle terribly well. Still was a fun car to own!

[Econoline]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned that one of the most appealing attributes of those old VWs was that (with the above book and a few basic tools) they were incredibly easy for any owner to service and maintain...even for a Compleat Idiot like me.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I also had a 68 VW van, camper model but without the pop-up top. Louver windows, fold out bed, flip up table, sink. I was going to drive cross country in it but fell in love and got married instead.
I made the right decision.

[Big RR]

I had a pacer for about a year in the 80s as a second car; it had 3 on the tree and more muffler/exhaust problems than any car I ever had; it also seemed to run through batteries, and I replaced the starter twice. Had to replace the clutch as well at 50,000, but then I wasn't the original owner so I really can't comment on how good the clutch was (although most American cars (the Pacer, a 66 caprice, a 77 maverick and a 1981 Pontiac T 1000 (the Chevette twin)) I had with clutches (and they were all standard cars, not sporty ones) seemed to have clutches that crapped out after 60-75,000 miles; I never replaced a clutch in a Japanese car or the BMW I had, and the Japanese cars (a 84 civic and 88 and 92 accords) all had well over 200,000 miles when I got rid of them).

What I've seen with VWs is either you loved them or hated them (I never had one, and didn't much care for the styling), but many who loved them are fanatics. I even had a friend with one that had the semi-automatic transmission (an electric clutch I guess), although it made little sense to me. Did they make a bug with an automatic transmission?

[Bicycle Bill]

I'm sure they must have eventually; most American drivers are shiftless.
When I took driver's ed back in the early 1970s they didn't hardly say a word about manual transmissions and how to operate them; even then the majority of the big American cars like the Impalas and so on were being delivered with automatic trannies and I guess they figured that if you were going to be driving something with a manual you'd work it out for yourself.

-"BB"-

[oldr_n_wsr]

A high school buddy of mine had a vw bug that had a "clutchless" shift. Don't remember much about it other than I was amazed the a bug didn't have a clutch pedal.

[dales]

Back in the day (1967) we had to learn to shift a manual transmission to pass Drivers' Training.

We had a brand-new 1968 VW Bug to practice with, we not only had to shift from gear to gear, we also had to start on a hill from a dead stop. We had to manipulate the hand brake and clutch to assure a smooth take-off.

If you could do that, you passed Drivers' Training!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Back in the day (1967) we had to learn to shift a manual transmission to pass Drivers' Training.

We had a brand-new 1968 VW Bug to practice with, we not only had to shift from gear to gear, we also had to start on a hill from a dead stop. We had to manipulate the hand brake and clutch to assure a smooth take-off.

If you could do that, you passed Drivers' Training!

Yeah that was true in the UK too. Only manual shift to take the test. Hill starts and stops. Also the emergency stop where the examiner would suddenly whack the dashboard with his hand; you (startled out of your wits) bring the car to an expeditious, safe stop without stalling the engine. No mean trick in a stick shift vehicle.

[Jarlaxle]

I had to do that for my CDL test...no big deal: nail the brakes, push clutch just before stopping. Going, now...that was a different story in that truck.........................

[datsunaholic]

Did they make a bug with an automatic transmission?

Not a fully automatic one. Just the clutchless shift (no clutch pedal but you still had to move the lever manually)


When I took my driver's test in 1990 the first instructor to get in my car took one look at the stick shift and got out and left. Had to wait for an instructor who could deal with a test taker in a manual transmission car. I passed. We had an Automatic car but it was a big '77 Malibu and I'd done most of my learning on a little Datsun 510 wagon.

[Jarlaxle]

I used my uncle's F250 pickup.

Dude I know on another board used his father's Porsche 911.

[kmccune]

Jarlaxle ,do you realize what one of the old VW window vans are worth to a collector ?I didnt say it would be nice to have one to tool around in ,it would be nice to have one for its value,sorry if my query offended anyone .

[RayThom]

Yugo... or you don't.

[Jarlaxle]

Jarlaxle ,do you realize what one of the old VW window vans are worth to a collector ?I didnt say it would be nice to have one to tool around in ,it would be nice to have one for its value,sorry if my query offended anyone .

What in the world are you talking about?

[Econoline]

Jarlaxle ,do you realize what one of the old VW window vans are worth to a collector ?I didnt say it would be nice to have one to tool around in ,it would be nice to have one for its value,sorry if my query offended anyone .

What in the world are you talking about?

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dea ... 35599.html ...for example.

BTW I paid $95 for the first VW bus (a '54) I owned--in 1967.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1915037

And the only other VW bus I've owned was a '64.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1587399