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I wonder how many engine rebuilds/replacements have been done over the 400,000 miles.
You can build a 1966 Beetle from scratch without a single original part. Everything is available as a reproduction.
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Not like a normal engine where rebuilding the engine block on very old and high mileage might not be possible. With this (air cooled) engine you can unbolt and replace each cylinder. It’s an extremely easy engine to work on.
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Additionally, there must be many tons of Volkswagen parts available in Mexico. I recall VW bugs being the most common taxis in Mexico City, and they were also very popular as personal cars.
VW Beetles were built in Brazil until after turn of the century.
The museum I volunteer for teaches engine basics. They buy brand new VW engines, carb, points distributor and all for the class.
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I just checked out VW engines from EMPI, a performance brand: $3000-$9000, depending on what you want. I’m sure base engines can be had cheaper, and one often only needs parts, like cylinders/pistons/rings, for much less.
There is a small market for vw bug stuff, so it’s good to have a source of parts. For folks who want to go that way.
It’s NOT a small market. It’s actually quite large.
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Every dollar wasted on a bug should have been spent on a better car. Bugs are terrible, outdated, tech. They are underpowered and unsafe on modern roads.
If I had a place to keep one I would have one. It certainly safer than the motorcycles I rode.
I would like a Karmann Ghia.
One of my fraternity brothers had a Karman Ghia in the early 1970s. We used it for our pledge trip. Fortunately, we had the southern route and stopped at my house. That’s where the VW gave out. We took our Austin American that my sister was using for the remaining 80% of the trip. Amazingly, the Austin worked well throughout the entire trip.
I had one, and–overall–it was a good car. Of course, it was painfully slow, and the heater/defroster was such a joke that I installed a '55 Chevy heater blower in the driver’s side heat duct in order to provide some barely-adequate heat on that side. I would have installed a second blower in the passenger side duct if the electrical system had been more robust.
Because of the way that the vehicle’s “nose” protruded beyond the front bumper, street parking easily resulted in body damage when people parked “by ear” in front of my car. I paid for body repairs twice on the nose of that car, but I eventually gave up on that seemingly-endless problem.
And, of course, by modern standards that bog-slow car didn’t even get very good gas mileage. (only 24-26 mpg IIRC) But, for its time, it was an enjoyable car and it was actually very reliable.
You can say that about many classic cars that people collect. The VW bus was much worse in terms of technology and being so underpowered. But they go for a lot of money. Just ask Fluffy
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My 6th grade teacher had a Beetle, I was very impressed with the headroom the time he let me sit in it. “Roomy” and “small car” didn’t usually go together. A friend still has the Beetle he bought in ‘71 to commute to work in Alberta (talk about cold weather!). It has seen several engine rebuilds, but still runs great. He later bought a Karmann Ghia to go with it, had to have lots of body work done on the ‘nose’, which was full of Bondo.
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By modern standards, almost all cars manufactured prior to the '80s provide inadequate protection for occupants in the event of a crash. And, VWs were not alone in terms of being underpowered.