Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Vagabondblogger's Bug - Then

VB has been digitizing old photos. Here's photos of her 1965 VW Bug in perfect condition, back in 1996. As VB mentioned here, our Bug caught on fire. Even though it's been repaired it still needs much work. The top caught on fire, and has not been replaced; and the interior still looks like crap. So enjoy the photos of a lovely Bug, once in perfect condition. No subtitles today, and, as usual click on the photo for an enlarged view. Oh yeah, and check out the photos of VB's burnt out car at the link above. It'll make you cry. It just makes her crazy!




















NEWS: (Click on the link for the full article.)

European Bug In

"THE CONCEPT : The Original Bug-In saga started way back in 1968 on the American West Coast and it quickly grew into THE major VW event that lasted for 15 years... Today the Bug-In Name has a legendary status, and now for the first time ever this show concept lands on Belgian soil under the EUROPEAN BUG-IN flag! This event was conceived with the approval and support of Richard Kimball, one of the original Californian Bug-In Promotors."

VB wants one of these! It's a bit pricey though.
Green RVing: Growing Trend or Wishful Thinking

"DURANGO, CO (AP) - Imagine this plausible scene at any given Main Avenue intersection at the height of tourist season: A behemoth luxury motor home with a Suburban in tow sits next to a diminutive Toyota Prius, waiting for the light to turn. Westfalia photos courtesy of Verdier Canadian industrial designer Alexandre Verdier has designed an updated, super-green version of the Volkswagen Westfalia.

“ Such profligacy!!” the Prius driver seethes. “What part of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ did you not understand?”

Canadian industrial designer Alexandre Verdier, an ardent devotee of the Volkswagen Westfalia camper buses, set about designing an update, super-green version 10 years ago.

On his Web site, www.verdier,ca, a video reels digital renderings of the sleek ergonomic camper set to funky world music. Imagine Herbie the Love Bug meets the Jetsons. It’s sure to make Westfalia’s cult following salivate.
Verdier said that when he approached Westfalia execs about his project, he got an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The first prototype will go on tour next summer, he said. The initial production run will be about 1,000 units, of which 150 already have sold (mostly to Californians, he said). They’re selling for about $89,000."

Verdier site here.

He Used the H Word

"DETROIT — When you are a Chinese auto designer, the idea of political correctness is different than if you are an auto magnate from Europe or North America.

At a conference across the street from the North American International Auto Show where he is showing several design ideas for electric cars, Guangming Li extolled Henry Ford’s Model T and Adolf Hitler’s Volkswagen Beetle as automotive icons that changed the world."


Volkswagen Beetle set to roll out in India

"The original 'people's car,' Volkswagen's Beetle, is all set to roll out on Indian roads as the company plans to bring it by the middle of this year, even as the Indian version 'Nano' from Tatas hogged the limelight since its unveiling at the Auto Expo in New Delhi."

Ecorrazzi Chats With KT Tunstall

"E: My favorite green activity is walking around my apartment naked in the summer, to cut down on my energy use and the AC bill. What is your favorite green tip/activity and why?

KT: I also love walking around my house naked. I also highly recommend sharing a bath, hitting yourself on the head with a ladle if you need to boil the kettle twice, and turning your heating down by 2 degrees.

E: What is your favorite tree, insect, and car?
KT: The Californian Redwood. The Bee. A vintage Porsche…or a souped up Brazilian copy of a 60’s split screen VW camper. But I don’t own a car or a camper van as it wouldn’t make sense."


ITV's new pairing of soap and satire is odd, yet better than you might expect


"At ITV, the furniture has been moved. The result of this not-very-exciting heaving and shoving is that News at Ten is back, and that Sunday-night episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale are to be shifted to Tuesdays and Fridays. If this all feels a bit back to the future, fear not: ITV's executives have also dashed out and bought a couple of trendy new modular sofas in the form of Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach (Thursdays/Fridays, 9pm and 9.30pm). The first is a comedy set behind the scenes of a soap; the second is the soap itself, which is set in Cornwall and stars Jason Donovan, Martine McCutcheon and a VW camper van (of these, the van is by far the best performer)."


Ry Cooder - Crazy 'Bout An Automobile

3 comments:

  1. Oh how sad about the fire! My mother in law gave up driving when the family sold her orange VW... she just loved it so much. Interesting news that India will be rolling out VW's. The new ones that were released in Australia some years back have not had such an easy time.. many people have complained there are lots of 'bugs' (excuse the pun)...be interesting to see how the VW's compete with the ever reliable Ambassadors... I suppose with India's burgeoniing wealthier middle class they will do well.

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  2. Those first couple shots aren't in Cleveland Hts, are they?

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  3. lynda: Our daughter has a 2004(?) Jetta and after all the electrical problems with her car, we decided on a Mini for me. I have not been impressed with the new VW designs - they're run of the mill, even the new bug. I love my Mini though. It's fun to drive, but not nearly as much as the bug, which is in driving condition, if you want to sit amidst a burnt out interior - our next car project.

    cairogal: Nope - all in Shaker. We lived just off Lomond, which has smaller houses, and does look a lot like Cleveland Heights.

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