Not surprisingly, Beetles are not exactly rare sights in CA, although the density in Eugene is much higher. This one was hard to miss; re-paint by Kelly-Moore? I’m thinking it’s a 1971, but possibly a 1972 as I didn’t shoot the engine lid. The ’72s had four sets of air vents on it; the ’71s just two.
The other one was a bit easier to date.
This is a very original 1971 Beetle, showing the many decades of life near the beach. I shot it in Half Moon Bay just a short stroll down the beach from where we were staying. But its license plate frame tells its provenance.
Oops; I cut it off. But its from San Luis Obispo, on the Central California coast. It looks like one of a million of these when I first came out to CA in the early 70s.
The rust patterns are interesting. They suggest that the paint was abraded on front-facing surfaces; perhaps by the sand? And then the surface rust sets in. But VWs are built out of fairly thick gauge steel, so it takes a while for any actual penetration to happen. Unless one lives right at the beach, of course.
Is the owner a former flower child?
Which has more horsepower; the VW or that group of trail riders?
The trail riders for sure, but I’d rather drive the VW anyway.
That’s the kind of car that makes me want to scream, “Get it to a paint shop now! While you still have a car!”
But they are original only once!
Briefly!
I’m writing this from Nipomo, CA (flew into SLO yesterday). I had a ’70 red beetle. Had it in San Antonio (Air Force), Cincinnati & Denver until 1978. Did a loop from San Antonio to Santa Monica, to Montana and back. Drove over Loveland Colorado pass in blizzards (2nd gear to stay warm and keep moving forward!) Great car.
Indeed, the first car appears to be a Texas yellow ’72, the ’71 is Shantung yellow. I do wish they’d paint it before there’s nothing left. I remember seeing a ’73 in Monterey in 1979 that looked as rusted as this ’71, it probably spent it’s entire life right next to the sea.
Beetles, perhaps more so than any other old car, are so commonly found in bright primary colors. Yellow! Wonder if the second car used to be as bright as the first? There are several in my neighborhood and they all follow the pattern. Green! Red! Orange! Periwinkle! (Okay, not a primary color exactly, but it’s a nice, bold non-metallic shade .)
Texas Yellow , like Alaska or Yukon Yellow was a soft Pastel color .
Not for everyone but I loved it when sharply waxed .
Nice to see a few Beetles still out there , in Los Angeles metro area I still see three or four daily to this day .
Few are beaters like these though .
When new , both of these were equipped with twin intake port , low compression de tuned (retarded cam and ignition timing & tiny main jets) 1600 C.C. engines ~ easy to change back into roaring fast freeway fliers .
Thanx Paul ~ I’m still wondering if I should have ponied up for that Oval Window you posted last year ……
-Nate
Aaah, I’m missing my Marathon now, and Beetles in general. I particularly like the rusty one for some reason, but more so from the less rusty rear.
It might be because I actually miss flipping that engine lid to check the oil every time I drove my Beetles. I had to, John Muir said so.
A slightly yellower example
Now that the snow’s melted, these are starting to come back out around here.
It really takes me back to see that beetle….it reminds me how ubiquitous these cars once were. Such a great beach town car. I wouldn’t even call it a beater, more like honest.
My dad had a ’72 Super Beetle in the mid ’70s. He put a little Holley of some type on it and a different distributor and it got down the road quite well.
The only downside was he had to route one of the heater hoses to the carb to keep it from icing, which left the equivalent of a baby’s breath to heat the car.
A yellow Super that I snapped at my job, and wrote a CC article on last year:
I’d also say that first one is a ’72 in Texas yellow.
The Beetle I drove in high school was a 1971 standard Beetle in Shantung Yellow.
I’m happy with the VWs I have now and don’t really wish I had my ’71 back but I do wish my current cars were as crazy solid as that one was.
She went to a good home in Georgia though, so it all ends well.
Here’s a pic of a 16 or 17 year old me with my little brother and my ’71. This would have been 2001 or 2002.
My old ’73 Sport Bug was the same Texas yellow as the ’72 shown. Bees would often fly around (and in) it. They must have thought it was one huge dandelion.