What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - badbusdriver

watch

Just watched this brilliant YouTube video about 90 year old Mimi and the 1970 Beetle she has owned from new and still uses!

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - catsdad

Nice video. Not condescending and she knew her stuff. I suspect her deceased husband did a lot of preventative maintenance but so what. It’s a story with charm.

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - Xileno

I would prefer it with original spec wheels but apart from that it's very desirable. It looks so small parked next to that colossal SUV!

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - badbusdriver

I would prefer it with original spec wheels but apart from that it's very desirable.

I dunno, they have a certain retro charm about them. And bear in mind that in 1970 slot mags would have been considered the bee's knee's!

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - John F

Even more impressive (if true) is the 400,000 miles on the original engine. Body and electrics benefit from no frost or snow, hardly any rain (I wonder when she last used the lights or wipers) and the high likelihood of being out of the sun in a garage most of the time. Most Californian houses have garages for at least one car. (Number plate says San Juan Capistrano, just down the road from Irvine where my son lives.)

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - Manatee

I love it.

I keep thinking about substituting a classic for my recreational MX-5. But I don't think my daughter would be keen on the grandsprogs travelling in it, which would be part of the pleasure in owning something interesting with more seats.

Restored classics can be incredibly cheap compared with the restoration cost, but most of them would fold like a paper bag in a big accident. Driving one would be an acceptable risk for me (I did it for many years) but it would be an unnecessary risk to submit the children to.

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - Random

Saw that yesterday, interesting to note the wheels have been on it since new. Expect they helped grip and roadholding. Of course she and her husband would have been lates 30s in age then, assuming he was a similar age.

Although I had one as a hire car for a week back in 1990 I've never owned one. Should really do so having owned a Dyane and Moggie Minor.

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - badbusdriver

Saw that yesterday, interesting to note the wheels have been on it since new. Expect they helped grip and roadholding.

Grip not really an issue if on decent quality tyres, what with the traction afforded by having the engine hanging out the back and having a maximum of 57bhp (from the factory) at the time. They were prone to instability in crosswinds though, because of the shape and not having much weight over the front.

Although I had one as a hire car for a week back in 1990 I've never owned one. Should really do so having owned a Dyane and Moggie Minor.

There was a Dyane next to me at a Tesco filling station in Inverness a couple of weeks ago. Used to be the case that I really didn't like them, not now though :-)

1 owner from new 1970 VW Beetle - Wils

Or how about a 1979 VW Beetle convertible , one owner and 2 miles on the clock found in a garage in the West midlands . Going to fetch a lot more at auction than the article suggests ! .Link below .

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-12306909/...l

Edited by Wils on 18/07/2023 at 18:02