As I’ve recently sold the Corsa mentioned here and returned to the bus, my way to / from work involves waiting. For the bus, that is. And while waiting, you develop Car-Spotting. However, this next classic took no special effort, as you’ll see inside the post.
I mean, just look at this:
Saw it rolling towards me, and quickly readied my smartphone to snap it up. If ever a photo depicted the difference between modern vehicles to classic ones, I think this could come pretty close. The world surrounding the Beetle is mostly Gray (well alright, with some patches of color, like the sky), most vehicles are Silver, Black or White as is the norm with modern cars nowadays. Also, the familiar Beetle shape contrasts with just about everything around it.
I’m always happy to see yet another classic car (even if it’s “just” a VW Beetle) rolling along in everyday traffic, its owner deciding to use rather than hide it.
The preserved look of this Lime Green VW leads me to think I’d better mention the flourishing and very much active local Beetle’s club. There probably are such clubs just about wherever the Beetle’s got to on the planet, and Israel is no exception. See some of my photos, from various club meetings:
Of course, the most common examples are the original-look Beetles, such as these.
There are cars that have been improved slightly, mostly visually.
“Improved” is a matter of taste. I actually like this “on the way to a RAT” look.
Some look as though a body-kit passed near by and decided to explode all over the car. Oh God…
There are Beetles which have been made to look more modernized.
And than there are beautiful examples such as this one, on the surface not much has been done to it but when you look closely, you notice the different stance and track. Once you talk to the owners, you appreciate the amount of work done to the car underneath.
Of course, there are much more modified Beetles, such as this one- with plenty of work done to it.
I nearly forgot the Baja Bugs, all of which are replicas.
Here’s another one, just because it looks so nice.
But for the most part, Beetles are still CCs you can witness parking out there in the everyday world, quite commonly compared to so many other classics that by now, are dead and buried. I’ll leave you with one of these Beetles- a true CC:
Nice ~
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Thank you for sharing this .
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-Nate
That lime green was a factory color for a couple years during the 70s. But it wasn’t a glossy green like above.
It’s true there are Beetle clubs/meets just about everywhere. Someone in Israel would post pictures on thesamba.com of their meets.
The one that surprised me the most was a huge club in Iran! They had some really nice cars.
Always leave with a good feeling when I see a functioning air cooled beetle. My favorite has always been the baja bug. The ones you termed Baja aren’t what I think of when I think of that. They lack the blunted nose and I don’t know if they have the open back or not. What they look a lot like is the vehicles that ran in the class 11 (IIRC) that I used to see in the Hot VWs magazine. Go anywhere. Close enough.
Good story and happy to see them alive and well in Israel.
+1
Hmmm. Need to go work on mine (after I stack hay).
We spotted this the other day, someone still carrying the torch for Bernie Sanders.
Typical Israeli political slogans at the back – the one I can see says “the electricity bill went up”, presumably about the rising cost of living in Israel. The best I’ve seen was “return the Brits”, essentially a plea for going back to colonial days, when the UK was in charge and we had law and order etc.
Britain often ran its colonies better than home, Hong Kong being my favorite example.
Orde Wingate got his start organizing a successful defensive force in Palestine before his more famous Chindit campaign in Burma.
Well, I do not think anyone would seriously want us to become a British colony these days (although at least after the Brits voted to leave the EU, theoretically they could have colonies again) but there was a feeling certain things ran better when they were the masters. My late father who was at what the Brits call the Begin gang and fought them before independence used to say that – with the benefit of hindsight – he would rather they’d have stayed until the 60s, if only to teach us proper governance. I tend to agree.
Hard to imagine there could ever be a time when you won’t see air colled beetles chugging around. Parked next to one on Friday.
That black beetle with the bodykit – are those the worst taillights that have ever been fitted to a beetle? Beyond ugly…
In the 1973 Woody Allen movie “Sleeper”, the car’s been parked in a cave for 200 years; Woody turns the key and it starts on the first crank.
Theres still a few in regular use here though when the dub club has a get together they come out of the woodwork, in all states of preservation.
That green must give its driver eyestrain.
My first thought was Pemex green but it’s a little too bright. I saw an orange one today. Very nice. Made my day 2x now.
Once again an excellent article, Yohai. Thank you so much for showing us the variety of things which are done to Beetles in your country – every look we have and a few more as well. Love your line about “a bodykit was passing by and decided to explode all over this car” – classic!
I wonder if the owner of that lime green Beetle gets a cut on his insurance – that eye-popping green must surely be a safe colour!
Nice collection. The Bug is truly a world car.
Thanks for your comments. They’re greatly appreciated. 🙂
The silver and black Super Beetle isn’t to my taste, but that front hood is pretty cool…all the ridges and character lines are gone. Is that an aftermarket fiberglass piece that’s part of a bodykit, or something the owner fabricated? Either way, it’s an interesting look.
I think the raised Baja style cars might be my favorite,
A neighbor recently bought an off-white 1970ish Beetle as a weekend toy; that sound is unmistakable for anything else on the road.
Love that green!
It is somewhat remarkable how many Beetles are still used as daily drivers or frequent weekend toys. What other vehicle that age can still be seen daily, sometimes multiple times?
(One potential answer: Ford trucks.)
At least here in the southeast, the three most common 40+ year old vehicles you see outside of a car show are Ford pickups, Ford Mustangs and aircooled Volkswagens.
I often contribute to the Volkswagen on the road and my dad regularly drives his 1970 F100.