Your Volkswagen Beetle or Transporter

It strikes me that the old VW bus was "analog" and the new one will be "digital" in nature.

I prefer the old bus warts and all, but they are unaffordable now. The new one would probably accommodate a wheelchair and be friendlier for a lot of people over the age of 60 if for no other reason than the posdibility of autonomous driving. Which I deplore but it may have its uses. How cool is that?

But I am conflicted...

Give me an old bus, or Beetle, manual transmission and let me drive!!!:):):)
 
My son setting off from home in his '92 T3 Transporter earlier this year. It has had a motor transplant and is now known as a Kombaru.
U51008I1521883875.SEQ.0.jpg

Leica M6, Elmar-M 24, Acros 100 in Xtol
 
dave lackey said:
It strikes me that the old VW bus was "analog" and the new one will be "digital" in nature.

I prefer the old bus warts and all, but they are unaffordable now. The new one would probably accommodate a wheelchair and be friendlier for a lot of people over the age of 60 if for no other reason than the posdibility of autonomous driving. Which I deplore but it may have its uses. How cool is that?

But I am conflicted...

Give me an old bus, or Beetle, manual transmission and let me drive!!!:):):)
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Dave,
There is definitely something to what you said regarding wheelchairs. You know me, liking to think outside the box.
How about a car that is adapted to the wheelchair. No not a minivan or omnibus but a real car. Say, 1985 Mercedes 300TD. Remove the front seat and weld in some wheelchair provision for securing the chair in the car. THEN, we need to get out of the standard wheelchair box and reinvent it. They haven't changed in a century. So we make a wheelchair that is comfortable, with a .120 steel frame that lowers the seat in relationship to the wheel axles and doubles as a real car seat. Yes it would weigh more but think that with a retrofit kit, it is not hard to imagine taking one's loved one out for a Sunday drive in an old car that perhaps you grew up with.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Dave,
There is definitely something to what you said regarding wheelchairs. You know me, liking to think outside the box.
How about a car that is adapted to the wheelchair. No not a minivan or omnibus but a real car. Say, 1985 Mercedes 300TD. Remove the front seat and weld in some wheelchair provision for securing the chair in the car. THEN, we need to get out of the standard wheelchair box and reinvent it. They haven't changed in a century. So we make a wheelchair that is comfortable, with a .120 steel frame that lowers the seat in relationship to the wheel axles and doubles as a real car seat. Yes it would weigh more but think that with a retrofit kit, it is not hard to imagine taking one's loved one out for a Sunday drive in an old car that perhaps you grew up with.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...


Haha!!! Good ideas! Thankfully we get by with a folding ultralight the few times we need to walk long distances each week (more than 5min.)...

I like the way you think!:)

Way down the road, who knows what will be going on or needed. My sister and her husband just moved to Florida (they are both in their 80s), and now living with their son, he has to give up his driver's license soon. As baby boomers advance in age, I can see where roomier vehicles (hopefully not the bloated SUV types now) would be much easier for the elderly and ill to use. I wish I had saved enough over the years to have a full-time chauffeur!:)

Ford is dropping all their cars for SUV type vehicles, except for two. I would like to see a lot of older parents get in those vehicles with seat heights like a Navigator or even an Explorer. Forget pickup trucks!
 
I don't think I have a photo of our 71 orange and white bus and that doesn't make me sad. Of all the vehicles we've had over some 50 years, it was neck-and-neck with my wife's Austin America for worst vehicle owned. It made my Renault R5, also orange, appear to have Subaru-like reliability. I have no nostalgia for that bus, only a determination to never, never, never again buy a Volkswagen. I would rather borrow my neighbor's carriage and one of his slower horses that buy one of them again. Thus endeth the rant.
 
Hehe, heh..My 62 Beetle outlasted my 71 Toyota.... and every Chevrolet I bought after that. Yeah, it took maintenance, but I like a little aggravation in life, otherwise I would have never owned six MG cars!

:p
 
EarlJam said:
My favorite combination for pictures of older vehicles is the Rolleiflex 3.5 Tessar and Tri-X.

This shot of one of the VWs in the neighborhood was made with the Rollei on TMAX 400, but there's still something about the Tessar that enhances the timeless beauty of these cars.
Click to expand...

Earl,

I like that shot!:)
 
robert blu said:
There is beauty in this world :)
robert
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Very nice photo, Robert !

I believe these types of windowed VW kombies were also always popular in the USA, except for the pickup truck and commercial panel van versions due to the Great Society man, LBJ, and his chicken tax.
 
Richard, your photo reminds me of what I loved about my Beetles. The wrench.

Back when I had more time than money, the VW was the perfect car because you could repair pretty much anything on them with basic hand tools. Over the years of ownership I completely rebuilt and installed two motors, reconstructed the entire front suspension and H-beam, reattached a body to a chassis, turned down brake drums by hand, replace all brake lines, patched a hole in the gas tank, rebuilt unknown numbers of carburetors, replace windows, interiors, etc., etc, all with basic hand tools. It truly was a Do-It-Yourself automobile.

I miss mine, and the days when I had time to work on them.

Best,
-Tim
 
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