1. The cliche is somewhat tempting, but I didn't title this post "Evolution" because furthering the analogy between Beetles mechanical and beetles organical might serve to promote the unfortunate and very widespread misconception that the biological process of descent with modification--evolution--is progressive, in the sense of going from "worse" to "better" as time plods on. It most certainly is not, but the evolution of artifacts (e.g. cars) is, in some respects.
2. One shouldn't draw any amateurish Freudian conclusions about my tendency to photograph my favorite Teutonic vehicles from the stern, a predilection I have previously noted but which defies further analysis. Sometimes a car is just a car.
3. Sorry that there haven't been any camping photos lately, but again I'll refer you to an earlier post for one explanation for this.
Enough verbosity: onward!
Surely there are Beetle experts who will (and should) correct me if I'm wrong in estimating this to be a 1956. This beauty has clearly sat for years and looks to me to be a perfect candidate (non-hit, non-cancerous, non-Earl Scheibed) for restoration. Someone needs to save the old gal.
I'm guessing it's a '63. If I snooped more closely with the flow chart 02McDonald gave to me years ago in hand, I'd know for sure. This one appears to be more beat than the Oval Window above, but its tags are current so someone must love it (flat tire notwithstanding).
It's gotta be a 1972 Straight, right? If I wanted to be sure, I'd've used this trick: to determine the year of any 1965 or later air-cooled VW, look at the third number of the VIN (easily found inside the driver's side corner of the windshield from 1968 or so onward). That number is the last number of the model year. (For example, the VIN 3602254565 is attached to a 1970 Type III.) This was one of 1,220,686 Beetles made in 1972.
Proof that even artificial selection needn't improve upon the original, the Super Beetle (exported to the US between 1971-1980; all Beetles after 1975, I think, were Supers). As the 70s rolled on, the Beetle platform was increasingly being seen as outdated (nb: "seen as"), and they really started to tinker with them. Can anyone even name a vehicle that didn't get bigger as time went on? I can't. The venerable Beetle was no exception, and the Super Beetle (the pejorative is "Stupid Beetle") was the beginning, middle, and end of the end for them. Synapamorphies include monstrous taillights and a curious grille on the front apron. Since I know that many Splitty owners look down their noses at Bay Windows like Ludwig in the same way I'm unfavorably comparing Supers to early Beetles, I will admit that they are good, fun-to-drive cars. Question: how does the roof get rusty like that?
No comments:
Post a Comment