question about rear engine beetle

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by imcurious

I don't know why they stopped making it, could you explain or provide a link?

Thank you

Aircooled Beetles wouldn't pass modern emissions testing. It's why Porsche finally went away from the air cooled flat 6. For a while you could buy water cooled VWs and aircooled ones side by side. But the water cooled FWD models were simply better at the job of being cars.

Originally Posted by bryson662001

As for VW, I had an '81 rabitt that was a real lemon, piece of junk. My young and stupid niece went out and bought a Jetta and it was one headache after another. I think the only people who buy VW's now are just woefully uninformed and didn't do their homework.

My 82 Jetta went 250k miles with almost no issues whatsoever. Simple and rather solid cars overall. Later ones (Mk III and MK IV) got known for bad coilpacks and bad window reguators, but earlier cars have a reputation for longetivity. Except for a few of the Westmoreland, PA-built cars of the early '80s. The German ones were definitely a lot better.

[KoobleKar]

I never had to have any auxillary heater. The trick was to have good heater boxes without any leaks, then changing to a thinner oil, and adjusting the thermostat 1 inch so the fan wouldn't blow as much air onto the cylinder heads. The thermostat was like a brass bellows with a rod that lead to the flaps inside the fan shroud.