Just called in my VISA number and boy... I don't know about this, but they sounded too proper on the phone... could be their accents. Kinda took me off guard. They sounded very professional... not at all like they seem on the geek site.

Just fooling with you guys... thanks Rob for the quick response regarding the VISA number I sent you... but then again I guess you want the money just as bad as I want an empeg!

#170... I got my order invite and I have ordered my 12 gig blue!!! YAAAAHHHHOOOOOOO

You forget: It is we who have the accents. Remember where our language came from.

___________
Tony Fabris

> Remember where our language came from.

Yeah, and if you're not careful we might ask for it back! :)

Rob

Sounds good. Just meet us at Bunker Hill in Lexington, Massachusetts and we'll let you take it back. :-)

Oh, and bring the red coats. :-)

Jambo
Something like #14000 (give or take a few)

Tony,

What in the blazes are you talking about? According to my sources, the Americans invented the english language 2 centuries back.

Calvin

Let me remind you, guys from the Colonies, that Congress decided on English as the official language of the Union (over German) with majority of two or three votes (or so I have been told, anyway... :)

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196

Hmm
I just wonder how WorldWar2 wout have endet if the janks had been speaking german


Mark
wait for mk III with a USB Host/slave
(USB->GPS)(USB->Bluetooth)(USB->You name it)

> Remember where our language came from.
Yeah, and if you're not careful we might ask for it back! :)

eewww!
After all the years of mis-treatment? You still want it back?
That's disgusting!

Murray 06000047
____________________

Yeah, and if you take it back, you've got to take the southern dialect and ebonics, too. I don't think you want that, but it would sure help us out!

DiGNAN

I just wonder how WorldWar2 wout have endet if the janks had been speaking german

OK, now I just have to tell this story...

Back in the 1970's I worked as Service Manager at the local Volkswagen dealer. This was when all VW's were air-cooled 4-cylinder rear-engined cars. Four G.I.s (American soldiers) pushed a VW Beetle to our shop from a few blocks away where they had just finished overhauling the engine. Not knowing any better, they had neglected to set the crankshaft endplay, and the engine wouldn't turn. So they asked for our help in diagnosis.

We sent Big Klaus out to take a look, and he discovered the problem in moments. Now Big Klaus looked like a poster boy for Teutonic excellence -- 30 years old, 1.9 meters tall, 200 pounds, blonde, crew-cut, blue eyes, strapping good health. The G.I.s didn't like his diagnosis, so they began pushing the car up and down the street popping the clutch in second gear, whereupon the car would skid to a stop with the rear wheels locked up.

Big Klaus stood out on the street watching this comedy of errors, hands on hips, shook his head, and said in his thick German accent (please bear with my attempts at phonetics): "Amedican G.I.s like zat, und still ve lose der var."

I can close my eyes and see it again just as if it were yesterday...

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Hmm.. Wasn't the VW from the 70s called VW Bug? My girlfriend loves them and would like to have one....

The "Th" seems to be a real problem in speaking english for many germans

TeeMcBee

Wasn't the VW from the 70s called VW Bug?

I'm pretty sure the official U.S. distribution model name was "Beetle", and "Bug" was the popular nickname.

___________
Tony Fabris

Ahh!

Some weeks ago I had a look as some mexican sites to find out something about the "bug-beetle" - where I could maybe order one (aren't they built again in mexico or am I misinformed? - No I think I've seen a price and some exact details...)
First I was seeking for Beetle but I always ended with the new Beetle. Then I tried it with Bug and I succeded...

Well - But it might be like you said, Tony.

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

Just read in Linux Journal yesterday that a VW Bug was seen in California with the license plate 'FEATURE'

Wish I'd thought of that one

Geoff
---- -------
Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...

The original car was called "The Peoples Car" (Volks Wagen) and since it was the only vehicle made by the company, there was no model name. The Beetle developed years later, but was still not the official model designation. The "Bug" was the generic nickname, with the various van and saloon derivatives all gaining their own nicknames.

The original Beetle 1303/1306 (1300cc Mk3/Mk6) is still being manufactured in both Brazil and Mexico. There are various companies importing them at low profit into Europe.

However, this is all a bit moot since VW are now manufacturing a new generation Beetle in Europe based on the Golf chassis, which is an absolute delight to drive (if somewhat expensive). Try one.

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Am I the only one who does not like the new bugs? I mean, they're different and everything, but I much prefer the styling of the old bug to the new one. I always thought that an old red convertible bug would be a cool car to own.

I think when they moved the engine from the back to the front, they decided that they didn't need as much space in the front as they once did. Now the new bug looks practically symetrical if you draw a line down the middle.

Just look at the difference:



And don't get me started on the plastic molded flower holder.

DiGNAN
13653

I am not sure about the looks, I confess, but mainly due to the fact we had at least three of the originals in the family at one time or another.

I agree about the "flower holder", but I have a friend with an ingenious use for his...

Drive one. You will be amazed. Don't buy one though; the only one worth having is the VR6 G60 (supercharged) version, and they are asking Monopoly money (somewhere like Park Lane with a Hotel) for it. I would much rather buy a Lotus Elise for the same money, and my empeg would fit the dash better

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Well despite the fact that you must be playing a British version of Monopoly (I think you're talking about Park Place in the US version- the second best spot on the board?) I get your point

I haven't driven one, but I've rode in one, and I wasn't all that impressed. I'm sure it wasn't the type you're talking about, though.

There was ONE thing that impressed me, though. Something I think every car should have, but I understand why they don't, and that's an AC outlet built in. That is a very nice feature. However, I got a gift certificate to Brookstone recently, so I bought a 120watt one for like $50. It's nice, because I only have an in-house cell phone charger, and now I can use that in the car! I can also recharge my HP Jornada 820.

However, I can't say I liked much else about it.

DiGNAN
13653

I much prefer the older to the newer. They just are not the same. I had a few friends that had Bugs when I was growing up and I remember a 57 that someone had and they just abandoned it on the side of the road because it threw a rod in the engine. Poor thing.

Laura

I live to launch.

They must have been really trying hard to do that.

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

I know the new Beetle. Nice car - for those who like this shape. I don't really like it too much. I prefer limousines.

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

Well - as I said before - I don't like the new Beetle, too. But I didn't like the old one. Maybe some tuned models and the very first models (with the small splitted backwindows) looked quite nice.

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

ROFL!

___________
Tony Fabris

I test drove the Beetle last year and I was incredibly impressed. The handling is very tight, great suspension, and I like the shifter quite a bit. Lots of headroom but mostly I was impressed in how sporty it felt.

Where are they offering a G60 Bug? In Europe?

Calvin

...it threw a rod in the engine.

Let's see... '57 VW would be a 1200cc, 36 horsepower engine, and this is absolutely the first time I have ever heard of one of those throwing a rod. You can run them out of oil and seize them up, but other than that it would usually be pretty hard to get one of them to quit.

You know, that '57 bug in average mechanical and cosmetic condition today would be worth more than your Nova! (Not as fast through the quarter mile, though... )

Just to throw a bit of fuel on the flames... the New Beetle is superior in every aspect to the old, with the possible exception of totally mis-remembered nostalgia. Trust me when I say that the old VW Beetles were dreadful cars by any modern standard of comparison: noisy, ill-handling, slow, miserable in cold weather, uncomfortable, and not (again by today's standards) particularly economical to operate. Factor in that in today's money, the New Beetle actually costs less than the old one did (calculate the number of hours you had to work to buy an old Beetle in 1970 compared to a New Beetle today...) and there's no doubt which is the better car.

Let the Flame War Begin!!

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Yup, VR6 G60 with permanent 4WD to special order. Ooooh.

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

> mostly I was impressed in how sporty it felt.

That'll be because it's essentially a Golf GTi. That said, the GTi is tighter, by all accounts.

I didn't like the new Beetle much, but since Hugo got one it's grown on me more. The A Class looks really pedestrian parked next to it.

Rob

I didn't like the new Beetle much, but since Hugo got one it's grown on me more.

Hugo got one? Whew, I'm glad I held off on posting all my disparaging comments about them when the subject first came up.

___________
Tony Fabris

Yep, I've got one (one of the very first right-hand-drive ones), in pearlescent blue.

It's got a Kicker Impulse 405 amp & Phase linear sub (very flat), plus infinity kappa's in the front (rear speakers are stock). Sounds amazing - much better than the A-Class (so much so that Rob started suggesting that we need a beetle as a demonstrator!).

I should really take some pics of the install, cambscar did a very neat job.

Hugo

So what are you sticking in the bud vase?

___________
Tony Fabris