Like several friends, my first car was a Volkswagen. It was a family friend’s car and the 1962 VW Bug was pristine. I bought it for $500 in 1972 when I was age 17. The memories of learning about its simple engine and driving it everywhere are still vivid 40 years later.
All these years later, I just drove a 2014 Volkswagen Beetle R-Line for a week. It’s still unmistakably a Volkswagen, but it’s also a completely different car. The new VW Beetle has five times the horsepower of my Bug from yesteryear. And the driving difference, from what I can remember from 40 years ago, is remarkable.
Vintage and new Bugs and Beetles still share a wondrous trait: Both are just fun to drive.
The Bug and Beetle combined are also among the top-10 best-selling cars in history. And I’ve always been a fan of the manufacturer’s lineup, with the exception of the wacky jeep-like beast called The Thing.
Vintage Volkswagens are amonng my 24 Automobile Collections on eBay.com. Here’s the link :Bugs, Beetles, Bliss
My eBay Collections were curated as part of my collaboration with eBay.
Article Last Updated: November 1, 2013.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
Bugs. They always put a smile on my face.