Jalopnik: Bug

A tale of two Volkswagens

Tom Joslin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Josh Clason's most recent Depth of Speed episode profiles Craig Johnson and his well restored vintage Volkswagens. It seems especially appropriate to examine vintage Volkswagen culture today, exactly 8 years after the last classic Beetle rolled off the assembly line. More »

Volkswagen was created 74 years ago today

Tom Joslin — Sat, 28 May 2011 12:30:00 EDT

Although the company might be best known today for their lovable Beetle, Volkswagen was created 74 years ago today in 1937 by the government of Germany—then under the control of Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party—as a new state-owned automobile company. After the Nazis were defeated, Volkswagen was rebuilt with assistance from the British Army. The company produced the first of the millions of Type 1 Beetles that would follow in December of 1945. More »

Found off the Street: 1977 Volkswagen Beetle

Tom Joslin — Sun, 01 May 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Welcome to Found Off The Street, our look at cars found on the cape that rust liked so much it decided to summer there; Cape Cod, MA. Today we have a 1977 Volkswagen Beetle. More »

Dead Bugs

Tom Joslin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EDT

A few of the over 21 million air-cooled Volkswagen Bugs built rust together while waiting for an unknown fate. It isn't hard to spot a Karmann Ghia and a Squareback sticking out like sore thumbs in the collection of rounded rooflines. More »

Slammed Porsche 911T on Ebay

Tom Joslin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST

Slammed within an inch of the ground and covered in fake patina, you might not like this 1968 Porsche, but chances are you will have an opinion about it. Selling later today on Ebay, this 911T "Outlaw" could be yours. More »

The Deadly Volkswagens Of Emeryville

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST

"Man there sure is sumptin' goin on with the water supply in Emeryville. Now just lookey at this here darn VW just sittin' thar." It's like Michael Bay meets Yves Tanguy. (More from artist Joe MacCarthy on his blog) More »

Volkswagen Says Floating Beetle in Spanish

Tom Joslin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST

The Volkswagen Beetle has been the test subject of for some bizarre experiments in its lifetime. Volkswagen decided they should highlight some of the more successful results in this ad including footage of a floating amphibious Beetle. More »

The Car That Started Murilee On His Vehicular Downward Spiral: Hubert The Hatred Bug

Murilee Martin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST

Here's a story I've been meaning to tell since I started writing for Jalopnik: how it came to be that I love junkyard-built, low-budget, primered-out heaps so much. You can blame this '58 Volkswagen! More »

DOTS-O-Rama Sunday, San Francisco Edition: Rover 105S, With Bonus Gulf Oil Beetle

Murilee Martin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. When was the last time you saw a Rover 105? More »

Vintage VW Bug Gets Turbocharged V8, Probably One Of The Four Horsemen

Andrew Didorosi — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

We're not sure what makes this vintage Volkswagen more terrifying, the turbocharged V8 engine or the unconventional (for a Bug) engine placement. Either way, this car fulfills a few dreams and, likely, a few nightmares. More »

1971 Volkswagen Beetle

Murilee Martin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST

Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. How about another Beetle Day today? As I've mentioned before, Alameda has sufficient air-cooled Beetles parked on the street for me to do a solid couple of Pure Beetle DOTS. I'm not going to do that, but I've owned a few Type 1s and I still like these rackety little machines… which means I'm going to sneak in a DOTS Beetle every so often.
More »

Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: Herbie The Love Bug Replica For $20,000?

Murilee Martin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

79% of our readers thought that $25,000 was a hubba-fied price for 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z, but maybe that's because 80s nostalgia hasn't taken a firm enough hold of our culture yet. That's why we're going with a car everyone appreciates: Herbie The Love Bug! Unlike what you'd experience with your $21,750 General Lee Replicas, you won't keep running across other Herbies out there, because the world Herbie-to-General-Lee ratio is about 1:150 these days. This '63 Beetle has had an obsessively thorough restoration, and the price shows it: $20,000. Cool car, but 20 grand worth of cool? You decide! More »

1969 Volkswagen Beetle, Before And After Mishap

Murilee Martin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:00:00 EDT

Sometimes months can go by between my photographing of a DOTS car and posting those photographs. Today's car is a good example; I shot the original photos last August, but the island is overflowing with air-cooled Beetles and I have a glut of photos of such cars (yes, Beetle fans, I know I should be posting more of them... and I will, promise). But this particular exposed-engine Beetle, which I'm arbitrarily calling a '69 (though it could be from any year during the 68-72 span), got in some sort of messy collision in the meantime and then moved across town. At first, I thought I was looking at a different car, but checking plate numbers told the whole story. More »

Volkswagen PC Mod Makes PC More Respectable

Travis Hudson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST

If may not be quite as Hasselhoff-cool as the KITT PC casemod, but If anything can be said about this VW Beetle PC mod, it's that the craftsmanship is absolutely beautiful. Someone took a scale Beetle model and crammed a fully functioning PC inside of it. The front bumper has a slotted laptop-style CD drive, and the rear bumper flips up to unveil the necessary ports for PC operation. More »

And now, for todays moment of Zen...

Travis Hudson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:00:00 EST

And now, for todays moment of Zen... More »

1972 Beetle: Don't Worry About Corrosion!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:30:00 EST

Yes, we know the joke: if Ted Kennedy had had a Beetle instead of an Olds 88 , Mary Jo Kopechne would be alive today and he'd have been elected president in 1972. Actually, the Beetle would have sunk just as fast as the Olds, because all the rust holes in the floorpan caused by New England weather would have let the water in plenty fast (13 pounds of paint or no). Now, if Ted's Chappaquiddick drive had involved an Amphicar... More »

Volkswagen Bug Camper, Episode II: Judgment Day

Ray Wert — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:00:00 EDT

We don't know if "Gary" ended up selling the 1970 VW Bug camper last year on CraigsList, but it sounds as though he was unsuccessful at the $20,000 and $16,000 asking price given last time. Because yes folks, the camper's back and this time it's on sale on eBay. The asking price appears to have dropped to a mere $1,275. Maybe that's because it no longer has an engine. Again, we ask you to please not blame either the drugs or "Gary's" inability to clean the sink of his back hair. [via eBay] More »

Farfegnugen For Sale: VW Swap

Jonny Lieberman — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:15:00 EDT

The annual VW Classic is the largest Volkswagen event in the world. Next year a bigger event in Germany might usurp Irvine, California's throne, but for now the Southern California show is king. Hundreds if not thousands of classic, air-cooled VeeDubs of all kinds ('member the Matador?) gather to be gawked at and appreciated. But how many Bugs can you look at? Luckily for those of us from the ADD set, there's a giant swap meet loaded with all sorts of cool stuff to check out. And check we did. Peruse the gallery and make the jump for more. More »

The Back of Beyond: Volkswagen's New Rear-Engined Ride

Jonny Lieberman — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:00:00 EDT

Seeing as how the ultralux Phaeton didn't work out so hot, the People's Car Company is going to release a new car for – get this – the people. And this new car will have its motivator right where Dr. Porsche intended — in the bum. The versatile wordsmiths at Automobile are claiming a mole buried "deep inside" VeeDub HQ has confirmed that a new ass-engined little car is imminent. For those of us that live in America and other first world countries, two body styles will be offered. One will ape the Beetle (why not?) and the other will look like a puny Jetta. Our cars will also come with a direct-injected turbo 3-banger. More »

VW < VW 1500

Jonny Lieberman — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:35:49 EST

While close acquaintance Scott contemplates seppuku, we watch with joy as the headless Type III dusts a hopped up Bug in the quarter-mile. Or the 4/10ths of a kilometer as it were. Make the jump for even more pics of the orange-striped hotness! [All our tips are belong to Vega] – Jonny Lieberman More »

If Slant 6 Were 9: A Mopar-Powered Bug Rod

Mike Spinelli — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 19:41:34 EDT

Just about everyone whose ever heard of Chrysler Corp.'s "Slant Six" engines of the 1960s and 1970s — gearhead and casual DC-Punk fans alike — know they're responsible for millions of miles of trouble-free motoring. Those who covet the erstwhile sixbangers know they can be tricked out in a manner Chrysler flat-top'd engine builders needn't have imagined. Jim Fisher did imagine, however, and, well, the results speak their own language — Bug. [Thanks to Simon for the tip.] More »