Happy 65th: Drivin’ the original ’49 Beetle

Posted by hpayne on May 17, 2014

Come ride with me in a time machine back to 1949. No, not Doc Emmett Brown’s flux capacitor-equipped DeLorean DMC-12 – but the original 1949 VW Beetle Type 1.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the iconic Bug’s appearance on these shores. In the decades since, the Beetle has become an icon: The most recognizable silhouette in all of Autodom, a symbol of the hippie movement, and car that spawned the wildly popular Love Bug movie and TV series. Though it sprung from the brain of an irredeemable Fuhrer, the irresistible Beetle has found a place in every Yankee’s heart.

But a drive in the original Beetle is a reminder of its humble beginnings.

If the direct-injection, water-cooled, front-engine 2014 Beetle is a $25,000 accessory for the fashionable female or sporty male (see my Thursday Drive review of the powerful, Beetle GSR), the single carburetor, air-cooled, rear-engine original was a simple tool for everyone.

The interior is a simple landscape of cloth seats (two unadjustable buckets in front, a bench in the rear) a metal dash with a speedometer bookended by two glove boxes. Stitched leather dash and nav package? You’re in the wrong segment, mein freund. The car is surprisingly roomy, however, swallowing my 6’5” frame with plenty of headroom. Three small pedals – clutch, brake, and accelerator – sprout from the floor like typewriter keys from an antique, manual Underwood typewriter. A four-speed corn-stalk of a shifter grows out of the floor, a four-wheel emergency brake squatting behind it. Crank handles operate the windows. Rear visibility is minimal through the rear split screen.

The exterior? It’s a Beetle. ‘Nuff said.

The oily bits are equally, intentionally simple. One of the first rear-engine, rear-wheel vehicles produced (it was designed by the father of the Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, after all), the chassis is designed for minimal maintenance. An air-cooled engine. Mechanical drum brakes. An interior heated by the engine via an air-air exchange manifold. No air conditioning. Heck, a cactus needs more maintenance than this car.

“Upkeep? I give it an oil change and lube job every 3,000 miles,” says Bob Ellis, proprietor of Der Vintage Werks in Ortonville, Michigan, who looks after the ’49 car for VW.

Conceived by Porsche in 1938, the Bug didn’t enter mass production until after WW2 under Allied supervision. In 1949 it crossed the pond for the first time via Dutch importer Ben Pon. Sales, says Ellis, were slow at first given bitter memories of the war. But over time the cute, $1,280 Bug proved irresistible.

I met Ellis on the Cranbrook campus where I could drive the seatbelt-less VW on private roads. Like any 65-year old, the old boy was a bit creaky. The brake lights and the “semaphore” turn signals (which pop out from the car’s b-pillars) didn’t work and this Bug moves like snail. Uncle Ferdinand designed its slippery shape for sustained speeds on the Autobahn, but that was a different era. Put her on Woodward and it might get run over by a mail truck.

Slam the door shut (“You really gotta slam it!” says Ellis), turn the key, open the choke, crank the starter button, and . . . oh, yes, it’s unmistakably a Beetle. How many Americans learned to drive a stick on a Bug? The gearbox lacks synchro rings so shifts are rough (hard acceleration before upshift or even engaging the clutch helps a smooth stir of the stew), but the tin tub slowly accelerates with a familiar Beetle thrum that sounds like an over-caffeinated woodpecker. Zero-60 feels like it should be measured in hours (officially its 28 seconds). Top speed? Just 68. C’mon, Herbie!

I never got out of third gear on Cranbrook’s two-lane roads, but with gears thrashing, the woodpecker pecking and the odd hubcap popping off, the little bugger felt plenty peppy – as long as I didn’t notice the co-eds jogging past.

After 21 million in sales and multiple enhancements, VW knew in 1974 it was time to retire the formula and the front-engine, front-wheel drive Golf was anointed to replace the Beetle. The last rear-engine Bug rolled off a Mexican assembly line and into the sunset in 2005. When VW, eager to milk Bug nostalgia, launched the New Beetle in 1998, it did so on the modern, nimble Golf platform.

Engine in the front? Trunk in the rear? That’s not a Bug. But it’s progress, so we welcome the new Beetles to the family. Still, it’s a treat to get back in the time machine to relive the way it was.

Now if I could just find that hubcap.

1949 VW Beetle

Vehicle type: Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger coupe
Price: $1,280 (in ‘49 dollars)
Power plant: 1,192 cc, air-cooled, 4-cylinder boxer engine
Power: 25 horsepower
Transmission: Four-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 28 seconds; 68 mph top speed
Weight: 1,800 lbs (est.)
Fuel economy: 36 mpg
Report card

Highs: Roomy; Timeless Beetle shape
Lows: Non-synchro gearbox; Cornering is an adventure
Overall: Revered like an old friend

 

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