Funkengroovin Wednesday - Bugs!

Just added a very cool new link: Building a beetle

This beetle project started with the purchase of a 1967 1500cc beetle. The beetle was in a very bad condition and needed major surgery to be revived to a new state of youth.

This site has some great photos of the work he's doing and loads of videos. He's also got links to other beetle restoration projects on the web. Check it out!


VW City Expert

VW will also show the production Tiguan and six new Bluemotion models, but the big news is this rear-engined city car. CAR first reported VW’s plans for the car back in our May issue. Whilst the City Expert will now have a water-cooled engine as opposed to air, it is closer in concept to the original Beetle than the modern namesake could ever hope to be.

VW’s car will cost around £3500 in developing markets, whilst Europe's version will cost around £5000. The City Expert is claimed to be ‘sensationally flexible’ because it will be available in three different bodystyles for varying markets. We’ll have a three-door hatch, India a five-door, and China will get a four-door saloon.

Although the engine is in the back, and steeply angled for more boot room, the battery, air-con unit and radiator are in the nose: both ends have a luggage compartment. Power steering isn’t expected to be available – it’s not needed due to the lack of weight over the front wheels – but ESP should be standard in Europe. Such simplicity should cut the build time of the car to an industry-leading 12 hours.

Engines will vary depending on the market but Europe should get a mix of two and three-cylinder models, whilst a one-cylinder car is under consideration for developing markets. A twin-cylinder car should instantly be £650 cheaper for VW to make, sources claim.

Preview of the next-generation VW Beetle: Coming in 2009


The VW Ultimatum

Aspiring directors and stunt drivers can go to Bourne Stunt Stimulator to test their skills in creating a series of stunts similar to those in the movie. Users can combine any of six VW vehicles with different explosions, speeds, props and sound effects; employ hundreds of different camera angles; or edit various sequences, and then play back the results for friends.

The stunt simulator is part of the automaker's ongoing "See Films Differently" marketing campaign.

New record for bridesmaids

The wedding belle arrived in a VW camper van, a reminder of their days travelling through Australia, while Andy and his 11 ushers arrived at the church on time on a fleet of scooters.

Postcards from our past. Six generations of writers reveals their holiday memories

1980s
Alex James, 38, former bassist in Blur, is now a writer and farmer, and lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Claire and their three sons.

The fun really started when we got the split-screen VW camper. Everybody had them in the Eighties.

My parents, my sister and I put aboard the Le Havre ferry out of Southampton without really knowing where we were going.

It was my job to look up the camp sites in the Michelin guide and I always wondered what it would be like to stay in the expensive hotels advertised there.

I've stayed in them since, but I've never enjoyed luxury as much as that first rush of total freedom and wanderlust in the bosom of the family VW.

(Check out the article for a nice photo.)



Bug collector fondly recalls crawlers and those that flew

I remember the dreaded cable freeze for year-round heat; the wing windows open for air on 95, going to my dad's house in Connecticut; the box I built for extra speakers behind the back seat and parking on a hill when the starter went bad while at school.

I used to get in behind the trucks going up 95 to save money on gas. They'd pull me all the way to Exit 18 on the turnpike and my gas gauge wouldn't move. To this day, in my home office, I still have the manual I bought to fix some things myself to save money.

What Can Be Done With The VW Beetle
Part 1
Part 2

Last but not least, some dude (Automative 20) translated one of my blogs into German! Das ist meine blog! (My German sucks.)



I prefer to have live performance / music videos for my Funkengroovin Wednesdays, but since this week is a bugger, so-to-speak, I decided this video might actually be better suited for this week's post.

Gus VW Beetle Video - Crazy