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OT Antique car shows

Read about a local antique car show in the newspaper yesterday. One model pictured was a VW beetle convertable like I had bought new and drove for several years. Does that make me an antique as well?

Reply to
KenK
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Are you worth a lot of money?

(Didn't think so.)

You are not an antique.

Reply to
philo

Is most of your power in your rear end? Do you have trouble climbing long hills? Do you carry a trunk up front? Are you cold all winter long?

If yes, then you might be an antique. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I remember when they reactivated the beetle. Woman had one at the post office. I asked her if you could still get one new for less than $1,000.

Reply to
Frank

Neighbor bought one for their daughter. Apparently, a real dog! (the car, not the daughter :> )

Reply to
Don Y

People seem to love them or hate them. If you are handy you can do the work yourself like a friend that changed his beetles engine. Otherwise you need some mechanic named Horst to fix it.

Reply to
Frank

Much easier to do on a Beetle than on most other cars since the engine drops out of the bottom. No engine hoist needed, just a couple of jacks and some tall jack stands.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Any decent mechanic can have the engine out in minutes. Here is a 3 man team doing it in 1:04 minutes

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Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

...

How can one tell when it's in or out, though... :)

Reply to
dpb

You need to clarify - Classic Beetle or New Beetle. The "New Beetle" is as miserable a piece of automotive engineering as pretty well any other model on the road today.

Reply to
clare

What clarification is needed?

Doesn't the engine come out of the bottom on both Classic (rear) and New (front)?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

On the "new" bug it takes a lot more than 15 minutes to get it out, and it involves removing transmission, axles, suspension, steering and a whole lot of hoses, wires, and linkages compared to 4 bolts, 3 cables and a couple wires on a classic.

Reply to
clare

I've done engine removal/install on my '64 Bug and '67 Squareback (basically the same procedure) 5-6 times. One-way is a about 15 minutes to one hour, depending on whether you're rushing it. Don't remember much of the detail now, but these guys weren't even screwing in the tin. There's plenty of videos on Youtube.

Reply to
Vic Smith

It isn't exactly an antique car show but a local club has a show every summer. There are a lot of beautiful restored '60s and '70s cars. Unfortunately I drove a lot of them back in the day and a restored POS is still a POS. I'm more into '30s and '40s coupes, but I imagine if you came of age then they were crap too.

Reply to
rbowman

We took about a half hour the first time to take it out of my K Ghia. I've heard a few stories about VW owners that did not pay their bill for repairs having their engine repossessed as the car sat in their driveway.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

The swing-axle bug engine comes out in half the time a "U" joint engine does. The "U" joint car has a rear engine mount to worry about (mostly in Combis and squarebacks - and SuperBeetles.)

Reply to
clare

I've had late twenties, mid thirties, eatl 50s, late fities, and on up to my crrent (latest year yet) 2002. I've got a soft spot for the mid-fifties and early sixties cars - but a mid 30s resto-rod would be great. The old 35 Chevy Master 4 dr had been set up with a Ford/Lincoln 410 V8 and straight axle - which would NOT have been fun to drive, but would have really moved. The worst part of that car was the wood-framed fisher body. The 38 terraplane would have been a nice cruiser if I had gotten around to installing a Pontiac Sprint OHC 6 with 4 speed, as I had planned.. The old flatty with the hudsonite clutch was a noisy slouch. The 53 Hemi wagon is one I wish I still had. It was a nice highway cruiser - with a bit of updated suspension it would make a real nice car today.

The 57 "gofar" pickup was a bit tiring on a transcontinental run - independent suspension up front with power steering would have helped a lot (the guy I sold it to did that mod - along with a 340 AAR engine and tubbing it and making a pro street heap out of it) The 264 flathead was a torque monster but was tiring at anything over 60 MPH. (from Waterloo Ontario to Tulsa OK and back running with a big-block chopped channelled model A coupe) The 60's ara Valiants and darts didn't stop worth crap - which was one thing I'd definitely fix if I had one today. The 49 VW would be a nice "toy" but without extensive mods would not be much of a driver. The 61 mini I could make a real nice "local driver" out of..

A "bubble-top" chevy with late model undercarriage and power-train wouldn't be a bad car - for a chevy. A 53-55 glass-top ford Victoria updated with modern underpinnings would be nice too.

For now I'll have to make do with my 20 year old Ranger P'up. (my Coronet Wagon and Fargo Pickup were both 20 years old when I owned them - and I thought they were OLD!!! 250,000 miles on the Flathead was really high mileage - I believe it had one rebuild under it's belt before I replaced the cracked cyl head - and the hemi was a total rebuild at 100,000. - the Ranger is at 212,000 miles and has never been open - - -

Reply to
clare

A lot of that "miserable automotive engineering" is the result of government regulations shoved down the throat of the manufacturers and paid for by the consumer.

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

Yep, had several late 30s, drove a 26 buick (buddies inheritance) a short distance.

It really bothers me to have someone braggin one his 32 duece when all that remains of it is a grossly chopped up body and many times even tht is a fiberglass reproduction..

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

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