What a wonderful tribute it would be to have a museum exhibit with first and last side by side- a machine that defined humanity for over six decades, and our love of mobility. Truly the people's car
I’ll never forget riding with my pops in his baby blue ‘67...beautiful chrome override bumpers, oval fender grills, and unique, sweet smell of faded German vinyl interior and oil!! Best thing about that beetle is it kept my dad’s memory of him alive!
What a beautiful plant. These cars should have been made forever. They would have been purchased forever. A simple, reliable, timely design that people love. I own three. I am 66 and their ages collectively are older than I am.
Actually the digifant fuel injection, the electronic ignition, and the catalytic convertor makes these Bugs environmentally compliant. It's the crashworthiness standards that banned the Bug coming into the U.S..
Oh, Heavens, YES... As a professional driver that has racked up over two million miles in VW beetles, I say produce them until the end of civilization as we know it! hit 'em here, kick 'em there, as long as you have fuel you have a car to drive... Viva VW!
I owned 300 of these little guys - you could drop me off in a junk yard with a battery, set of plates and my tool box and 6 hours later I would be driving myself home... Such a simple easy design that basically held up for so many decades. I used to call them souped up lawn mowers... I miss them so very much! :'(
They where TRUE "peoples wagons" by design. If only everything was made this simple. I had one with 230,000 miles on it that starting smaking a little so rebuilt it in my back yard with a mail order piston, cylinder and gasket kit for $129.95 plus 14 hours labor. Good as new. After taking it apart I discovered only the #3 cylinder was worn out. The rebuild kit came with a 50% more powerful cooling fan and later I found out that the 3# cylinder problem was common since it got the least cooling air hence the more powerful fan. After using it for 8 more years I gave it to my son and he sold it in 2015 with 450,000 miles on that rebuilt engine that cost me 129 bucks, AMAZING!!! Personally I think all these computers and electronic fuel injection have made cars a disposable item which hurts the environment why more than a tiny bit of smog. I think all motors under 1500CC should be exempt from smog equipment laws since they produce less than 1/2800th of 1% of all engine exhausts. Maybe more people would have an interest in a super low cost car that they could fix themselves for 3 generations. Personally I would redesigned the body to be more roomy with more trunk and foot room and 4 doors. For that matter the VW bus was the ultimate body shape with collectors paying more for them now than they sold for new. I own a fully restored VW "bus" and I just can't stop myself from driving it. Very cool machine and every time I take it to the store I find one or two notes under the windshield whipper asking me if I'd like to sell it!
My dad called them an antique go cart one time. For a while I was pretty heavy into the VW scene as a hobby no racing or showing them. His folks, my grandparents, bought a '57 coral GMC step side pick up for Pa (the family called him pa, he was an electrical inspector for the city of Seattle), and also bought a black '57 oval window Beetle for my grandma. She drove it 10 years then traded or sold it and bought a '67 Beetle (my favorite year easily), I think it was sand beige. Sadly Pa had liver failure and couldn't beat it like he did polio years prior. At that point grandma traded the '67 Beetle (bad, bad grandma!) in for a '71 squareback, I don't remember what they called the color but it was pale yellow. She drove that for about ten years then bought a basic bare bones white Honda civic and gave the squareback to our family so I ended up with it, drove it for a couple of years and sold it to a close friend then he sold it to a friend/room mate then he sold it to another service station mechanic. He put it up for sale and I actually went and drove it one more time before it was gone forever, I didn't buy it...anyway, I was talking with grandma about cars (she was a cool grandma, we celebrated her 100th birthday party at my dad's house where I grew up), regarding her purchase of a Honda after driving air cooled VW's almost 25 years, she said, "I thought I deserved it after driving nothing but the Volkswagens all those years." Here new Honda barely was stepping up from the VW's. Oh I just remembered something else she said. I was just learning to drive and had only driven an automatic, no stick shift, and she says, "well then you haven't learned to drive." !!! What???!!! Needless to say I made it a priority and learned how to drive stick in her old squareback. Pretty cool now that I think about it. All the best to my VW peeps, be see'n ya' around sometime maybe. GW
+Joseph Heston they even let the type approval expire, so that there will never be e new edition. mini had the approval and could build an extra seies of cars after 20 years. you must not forget: time walked over this car. it is a 75 year old construction, nort fit for modern streets. smile if you see one and forget any new edition. game over
Stephen Brookes i hd 4: 54/59/61 when i was young, and a n aubergine mex. My lasrt beatle was a 1500cc 66 which i had to sell in 2008 after logng years of fun. i became rtoo old and driving beame to arduous fpr me, the balaning on teh worn out seatsprings, too loud inside, too hot, too uncomfortable. now the new owner has restored ist into a pefect vondition, it was too expensive for me to do that. My "Käfer" (beetle) is nearly as good as new now. There is a time for anything, but the time of the beetle is definitely over. too slow, too unsafe, The tank on your knees, no deformation zone, no airbags, brakes need more than 50 meters from 100 km/h (about 70 ml ?), I always smile when i see (or hear) one. it was not easy when i saw my betle driving round the bend and gone forever. I shres one or two tears.- ridiculous, it is just a machine, but i kind of loved it. Now i have a 218 BMW. FWD, Van and a 3cyl 1500 engine just like the beetle. But 136 instead of 44 HP and more than 200 km/ fast. Progress....
Billi Backer I confess that I have never owned a Bug, but I did have a Type 2 camper. It was slow (0-60 eventually), the heater was non-existent, the steering heavy, the brakes vague and the fuel consumption worse than a Jumbo Jet, but it was unstoppable over any terrain, totally reliable and fun. I reluctantly sold it to help fund a business venture, but actually spent the money on restoring my Triumph Spitfire. I have always had at least 1 Italian car in my stable and currently have Alfas. You are right about the safety and emissions etc of old cars, but I can´t help myself in wishing to save them all like little lost cats and dogs!
ah, mileas, so you are US citizen.. and italian cars, wll we here in our rouch european climat know that corrosuin is a major problem, and the "production quality" magneti marelli is called "the inventors of darkness" here :) and we say you need two alfas, because one is always in repair... my favoruite oldtimers are four out of reach: haguar e-type, mercedes 300 (plus gullwing) and rthe eicht cylindedr mustang cabrilet. i saw one last summer, and the owner was so kind to let the engine run.. og my god, what a sound... another nice oldtimer is the T1 vw bus wioth the many roof windows,we call it "samba", a good original is up to 100.000 euros here. if you get one cheap: buy it, it will make you rich.even a messerschmitt "kabinenroller" (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Messerschmitt_Kabinenroller.jpg ) is about 50.000 euros, which means 60.000$ maybe if i win in a lottery, i would buy some restored cars, just to gave fun. at the momnt i am happy with my new BMW AT 218i which is the best car i ever had Slogan: "Driving pleasure" which is exactly what i feel.goodbye all you oldtimers , i am an oldtimer myself now :)
Should have never stop making these Wonderful Cars. Probably still the best small Car on the road even today. There Thousands of Americans that would buy another one of these VW's I for one and would love to get one more VW camper I had three of them and had more fun in those V W's than anything I ever owed. There's got to be a way of getting these from Mexico to the US. One Hell of a car.
best car ever made, easy to fix ,very adaptable, works anywhere on the planet hot or cold, it is a shame what they call a car today. maybe a 10 year lifespan
Yes, simple, inexpensive design. But it was not without some engineering flaws that were never ironed out. I see that this model has a dual port cylinder head with an offset oil cooler. The offset of the oil cooler was a late improvement, which didn't happen until the early 1970's, around 1973 maybe, maybe 3 years before they stopped being sold in the US. Why this offset wasn't added in the early 1950's after the first few engines sucked a valve at 100,000 miles, is beyond me. In fact, a better change would have been to get the oil cooler completely out of the way of cylinder number 3's air. Before the introduction of the offset, these engines did not last more than 100,000 miles, without needing a valve job, as cylinder #3 would run hotter than all the other cylinders, and the exhaust valve would stretch, and break. Offsetting the oil cooler added just a few thousand miles more to the engine, maybe an extra 30.000 miles, I'm guessing, before it needed a valve job. Cylinder 3 would still run hotter, but not as much hotter. They could have added sodium filled exhaust valves too, to increase their lifespan, but they never did. The short life of the engine resulted in many thriving businesses all across the United States and I'd figure in Mexico too, whose sole function was to rebuild VW engines. As far as rumors about problems with the heater - these rumors were actually untrue. The heaters worked excellently. In fact the cabin heated up faster, and hotter, than probably any other car ever made. The only shortcoming in the heater is incompetent mechanics who adjusted the duct-flap cables incorrectly, the cables for the flaps in the ducts that let hot air into the cabin, or who neglected to reconnect them if they were disconnected to work on the engine, or replace a clutch.. If you forget to reconnect the heater duct-flap cables and adjust them, the cabin is not going to get heat. While the engines themselves would only last 100,000 miles, the heat exchange boxes, with their flaps, would last 200,000 miles, even in the US northeast with its salted roads in the winter, as would the heater-duct cables. ANY car will work anywhere on the planet, with no adaptation except perhaps for arctic climates where you might want to change the viscosity of the engine oil, and for water-cooled cars, use a 60:40 mix of coolant to water, instead of a 50:50 mix, and this is true for the air cooled bug as well. In super hot climates it was actually at a disadvantage.
@J L To get the engine out of the bug you only had to lift the Rear of the car, and only a few inches, and rest it on jack stands, then you could roll the engine right out on a rolling hydraulic jack, or even a scissor jack on a furniture dolly. With the type 2 bus-van, you just removed a piece of sheet metal in the rear. You didn't have to jack any of the tires off the ground.
Very sad video. The first time I ever sat behind the steeering wheel was when I was 9 years old and my uncle took me out to a parking lot in his early 60's VW Beetle and taught me how to drive. It had been raining for hours and I just couldn't get the hang of shifting without losing traction and stalling. He just kept having me do it over and over until finally I got it right. Too much fun. I have had a standard transmission in most all the vehicles I have owned and still enjoy driving a standard. R.I.P. little auto legend and thanks for the memories.
It's quite fascinating to see the old school way they were still making the Beetle in Mexico. There is an old film on here somewhere showing the German Wolfsburg factory in 1954 and the construction was almost identical to this Mexican 2003 construction! Very similar Beetles to this model were last made in Germany in the 1970's by which time the German factories were heavily automated bearing no resemblance to the construction here at all! Quality wise, my family have owned beetles from 1955, 1971, & 1984 (Mexican). I still own the '55 and the quality is much better than the latter cars. The '84 Mexican was a very good car, with much better build quality than the '71 which had suffered the most appalling corrosion by the time it was only about 10 years old.
German automation didn't happen until 1983 at least not real automation. The German factory building bugs in the late 70s was the same in Mexico, they just shipped the entire plant to Mexico. Mexico came up with a few better solutions but for the most part construction was the same. They were not going to fully automate vw bug construction, wouldn't be cost effective. The paint should be better even though it is still being applied by man.
you can replace the audio for free here on TH-cam. Just go to your panel and select the video and then select change audio. Youll have thousands of free songs to replace this abomination with.
Hubiera estado con madres con el audio original de la planta. Escuchar las prensas,las voces, la línea de ensamble etc. pero con esto me conformó ya que por fin se me hizo ver como se fabricaba el auto del siglo mi auto favorito. jejeje
They have them. Mitsubishi Mirage an example. Go out and buy it if you want to support such cars. Media thrashes it because it is of "simple functionality" though.
Old cars with safety tech of today makes them very complicated unfortunately... Antilock brakes and traction control require sensors, computers, and special hardware. Airbag systems require computers and tons of sensors all over the car. Modern cars are manufactured as simply as the market and regulations will allow.
Volvo 940 from 1995 to 1998 is the answer, car that has ABS, SRS, Airbags, and is simple enough to work with yourself, with 2 valves per cylinder and a solid rear axle. The tech it has requires sensors and computers but these are cheap and easy to repair. I'd like to see a new car as simple as this, but manufacturers prioritize emissions and playhouse-functions such as ''self driving cars'' so that probably won't happen.
Que suerte que tienen todos esos operarios, que puedan contarles que ellos construían al automóvil que es un mito en la historia, que orgullo. Felicitaciones por haber contribuido al sueño de tantas personas!!!!!!!!!!
It's crazy to think the VW Beetle was available NEW in it's original form until 2003. Too bad we couldn't import them like 90 miles north of where they were built. Thank you, nanny statists.
And of course now that i found that out i have also becone aware that 2019 is the last year they will ever produce a bug/beetle in the united states.... Why WHY WHY. Fascist FuCKERS
Destroy the only positive thing Hitler was ever a part of in history..... Dammit!!!! At least i actually got yo own 2 mini coopers. The original mini cooper and then the mini cooper S in british racing green. However i came about 1 to 2 day close to physicaly owning an original JCW MIni cooper 2005 model. In bright yellow. Of course almost the same color as my original MC
We had three Bugs and I had my first driving experience with my dad’s -56 model. Those days every engine was run-in before assembled to the car. I really loved those cars. Now I have big Volvo but I could buy an old Bug as it really was fun to drive.
I had a VW van that was a bit challenged going up hill and needed a new engine every once in a while but I loved it. The perfect vehicle for a young surf bum.
They are great, is a combination of the classic boxer engine and new technology. I have a 95 and I love it! runs like a champion. I have it in Utah now and I drove the bug in crazy snow roads.
They kept the assembly line that made the engines running for quite a while after car production stopped. You could buy complete engines for a number of years.
I purchased a new VW bettle in 1969. I tightened up the valve adjustments, they were really loose, added a rear window scoop and an extractor. I got 36.9 mile per gallon. I should have kept it but it was miserably cold riding in the winter time.
Ooh...What a sad to know this. People nowadays looking and restoring this kind of car. It is "Tested and Proven". Very durable, adoptable. It can be used in all kinds of terrain, may it be offroad, mountains, cities, deserts and even worst it will float in a flooded roads. The Volkswagen Aircool cars are so practical and elegant in design. The cars of all seasons and occassions. For family used. Be it business transactions, weddings and even in adventures. Truly the German is right that It is the PEOPLES CAR! All coolant engine car truly disposable, expensive and complicated. It is not practical but comerciall. Volkwagen Aircool Engine car are unbeatable. PROVEN and TESTED!
It would be interesting to know what those last few years of Beetle were like to own and drive. I bet EFI was a lot easier to live with than a carb setup, although when they get old the opposite is probably true, good luck troubleshooting EFI as a DIY mechanic. With a carb you can just put on a new one if nothing else.
Very nice. I love those cars. A lot of memories with those. One that stands out is when my face hit the windshield in a 1960, in about 1966, LOL. Head on collision. Luckily at a slow speed.
excelente video siempre quise ver como fabricaban este hermoso auto pero la música de fondo está fea. preferiría el sonido de las prensas, maquinas y del personal trabajando. El vocho clásico una joya que tiene vida propia
It's a good thing that many of these steps are now robotized. There was a lot of hammering and bending of body panels here that simply wouldn't happen on a robot assembly line. Also the dude wrenching millimeters away from a spinning belt to the disco tunes "Danger" was just hilarious.
amazing car. I always wanted to see this factory. I love vw aircooled beetles. the music sounds bad. I preffer progressive metal or heavy metal in this awesome video
I lived in Mexico for a few years back in the 90s. Beetles we literally everywhere and they were the choice for Taxis back in those days. Green and white beetle taxis were literally everywhere. When the government started requiring taxis to have 4 doors, it spelled the end.... very sad that such a factory closed and those people lost a good job.
Very interesting to see the car in production and to think that my Beetle would have been on that line. Sadly not an Ultima Edicion but still a 2003 model
Most of us didn't knew that this classic VW shape existed brand new till 2003. This Beetle had unique air cooled rear durable engine. Many car collectors have still kept the classic Beetle in original condition.
The air cooled bug is something that should never stop being produced! This is a sad moment captured in video, bring the bug back! I hope they keep all the tools!
Juan El Aleman Viva el vocho, aqui en australia hay unos miles circulando, me acerque a verificar el vin del auto y sorpresa viene de Mexico. Orgullo para Puebla que anden jalando para los putos australianos.
This is why car companies love to send the manufacturing to Mexico. If you look at how they are building this car, it is all by hand. No machines to carry the part, no machine to paint, no machine to make the welds. They save millions, if not billions in production cost because they don't have to purchase these machines doing what the human is capable of doing. I wish we built cars in the US like this. Then there would be a sense of pride in the cars you build by hand.
In Brazil, this 2003 Mexican version from 2003 worths a lot of money. There´s one guy who bought and never been to the next block with the car. I wish I could have bought one as well.
+King Rose Archives Because they are last year. Collectors and lovers buy these cars. In Brazil it was assembled from 1958 to 1986 and after from 1994 to 1996. After this period you should have money and import one from Mexico wich was very rare. I have seen some stores selling this last edition from 20000 to 25000 dollars.
Jan Duarte where would you even sell it though? Only North Korea and a hand full of African nation's have restrictions low enough to allow these to be sold new
Jan Duarte hate to pop ur bubble, but you would have new frames therefor you need Vin numbers or serial (can’t remeber really caked) and since it was made in year x it wouldn’t be considered a classic because a classic is 25 years and your new frame says 2020 or whatever
What a wonderful tribute it would be to have a museum exhibit with first and last side by side- a machine that defined humanity for over six decades, and our love of mobility. Truly the people's car
I’ll never forget riding with my pops in his baby blue ‘67...beautiful chrome override bumpers, oval fender grills, and unique, sweet smell of faded German vinyl interior and oil!! Best thing about that beetle is it kept my dad’s memory of him alive!
What a beautiful plant. These cars should have been made forever. They would have been purchased forever. A simple, reliable, timely design that people love. I own three. I am 66 and their ages collectively are older than I am.
VW is an expert at cheating EPA's smog tests, they could easily get away with it and continue to produce that great car. :)
EPA had zero to do with this - they were produced in Mexico for the South American market and not sold in the United States.
Actually the digifant fuel injection, the electronic ignition, and the catalytic convertor makes these Bugs environmentally compliant. It's the crashworthiness standards that banned the Bug coming into the U.S..
What about becoming electric, as they do on Zelectric?
Oh, Heavens, YES... As a professional driver that has racked up over two million miles in VW beetles, I say produce them until the end of civilization as we know it! hit 'em here, kick 'em there, as long as you have fuel you have a car to drive... Viva VW!
I owned 300 of these little guys - you could drop me off in a junk yard with a battery, set of plates and my tool box and 6 hours later I would be driving myself home... Such a simple easy design that basically held up for so many decades. I used to call them souped up lawn mowers... I miss them so very much! :'(
Goddamn 300 bugs??????
Must be a nightmare to maintain but feels good to know you have a truckload of these sturdy set of wheels in your possession
They where TRUE "peoples wagons" by design. If only everything was made this simple. I had one with 230,000 miles on it that starting smaking a little so rebuilt it in my back yard with a mail order piston, cylinder and gasket kit for $129.95 plus 14 hours labor. Good as new. After taking it apart I discovered only the #3 cylinder was worn out. The rebuild kit came with a 50% more powerful cooling fan and later I found out that the 3# cylinder problem was common since it got the least cooling air hence the more powerful fan. After using it for 8 more years I gave it to my son and he sold it in 2015 with 450,000 miles on that rebuilt engine that cost me 129 bucks, AMAZING!!!
Personally I think all these computers and electronic fuel injection have made cars a disposable item which hurts the environment why more than a tiny bit of smog. I think all motors under 1500CC should be exempt from smog equipment laws since they produce less than 1/2800th of 1% of all engine exhausts. Maybe more people would have an interest in a super low cost car that they could fix themselves for 3 generations. Personally I would redesigned the body to be more roomy with more trunk and foot room and 4 doors. For that matter the VW bus was the ultimate body shape with collectors paying more for them now than they sold for new. I own a fully restored VW "bus" and I just can't stop myself from driving it. Very cool machine and every time I take it to the store I find one or two notes under the windshield whipper asking me if I'd like to sell it!
My dad called them an antique go cart one time. For a while I was pretty heavy into the VW scene as a hobby no racing or showing them. His folks, my grandparents, bought a '57 coral GMC step side pick up for Pa (the family called him pa, he was an electrical inspector for the city of Seattle), and also bought a black '57 oval window Beetle for my grandma. She drove it 10 years then traded or sold it and bought a '67 Beetle (my favorite year easily), I think it was sand beige. Sadly Pa had liver failure and couldn't beat it like he did polio years prior. At that point grandma traded the '67 Beetle (bad, bad grandma!) in for a '71 squareback, I don't remember what they called the color but it was pale yellow. She drove that for about ten years then bought a basic bare bones white Honda civic and gave the squareback to our family so I ended up with it, drove it for a couple of years and sold it to a close friend then he sold it to a friend/room mate then he sold it to another service station mechanic. He put it up for sale and I actually went and drove it one more time before it was gone forever, I didn't buy it...anyway, I was talking with grandma about cars (she was a cool grandma, we celebrated her 100th birthday party at my dad's house where I grew up), regarding her purchase of a Honda after driving air cooled VW's almost 25 years, she said, "I thought I deserved it after driving nothing but the Volkswagens all those years." Here new Honda barely was stepping up from the VW's.
Oh I just remembered something else she said. I was just learning to drive and had only driven an automatic, no stick shift, and she says, "well then you haven't learned to drive." !!! What???!!! Needless to say I made it a priority and learned how to drive stick in her old squareback. Pretty cool now that I think about it.
All the best to my VW peeps, be see'n ya' around sometime maybe. GW
Ferdinand Porsche would have been proud to see his design last as long as it did.
Beetle/Fusca is a great car!
He is watching down on his Creation he is super proud up there
Except that it wasn't really his.
Wasn’t the basic design of the Beetle someone else’s idea that Porsche “borrowed”?
@@Swimdancer1 based on the Tatra Type 97
One of the best cars ever made.
My old bug looked like trash but ran like a champ.
I wish I still had it.
I hope VW didn't destroy the stamping dies, because they would be a moneymaker for an aftermarket outfit.
+Joseph Heston they even let the type approval expire, so that there will never be e new edition. mini had the approval and could build an extra seies of cars after 20 years.
you must not forget: time walked over this car. it is a 75 year old construction, nort fit for modern streets. smile if you see one and forget any new edition. game over
Yeah but it will never die. Somewhere in the world there will always be a Vocho. There were too many made for it to become extinct!
Stephen Brookes i hd 4: 54/59/61 when i was young, and a n aubergine mex.
My lasrt beatle was a 1500cc 66 which i had to sell in 2008 after logng years of fun. i became rtoo old and driving beame to arduous fpr me, the balaning on teh worn out seatsprings, too loud inside, too hot, too uncomfortable. now the new owner has restored ist into a pefect vondition, it was too expensive for me to do that. My "Käfer" (beetle) is nearly as good as new now.
There is a time for anything, but the time of the beetle is definitely over. too slow, too unsafe, The tank on your knees, no deformation zone, no airbags, brakes need more than 50 meters from 100 km/h (about 70 ml ?), I always smile when i see (or hear) one. it was not easy when i saw my betle driving round the bend and gone forever. I shres one or two tears.- ridiculous, it is just a machine, but i kind of loved it.
Now i have a 218 BMW. FWD, Van and a 3cyl 1500 engine just like the beetle. But 136 instead of 44 HP and more than 200 km/ fast.
Progress....
Billi Backer I confess that I have never owned a Bug, but I did have a Type 2 camper. It was slow (0-60 eventually), the heater was non-existent, the steering heavy, the brakes vague and the fuel consumption worse than a Jumbo Jet, but it was unstoppable over any terrain, totally reliable and fun.
I reluctantly sold it to help fund a business venture, but actually spent the money on restoring my Triumph Spitfire.
I have always had at least 1 Italian car in my stable and currently have Alfas. You are right about the safety and emissions etc of old cars, but I can´t help myself in wishing to save them all like little lost cats and dogs!
ah, mileas, so you are US citizen..
and italian cars, wll we here in our rouch european climat know that corrosuin is a major problem, and the "production quality" magneti marelli is called "the inventors of darkness" here :) and we say you need two alfas, because one is always in repair...
my favoruite oldtimers are four out of reach: haguar e-type, mercedes 300 (plus gullwing) and rthe eicht cylindedr mustang cabrilet. i saw one last summer, and the owner was so kind to let the engine run.. og my god, what a sound...
another nice oldtimer is the T1 vw bus wioth the many roof windows,we call it "samba", a good original is up to 100.000 euros here. if you get one cheap: buy it, it will make you rich.even a messerschmitt "kabinenroller"
(de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Messerschmitt_Kabinenroller.jpg ) is about 50.000 euros, which means 60.000$
maybe if i win in a lottery, i would buy some restored cars, just to gave fun.
at the momnt i am happy with my new BMW AT 218i which is the best car i ever had Slogan: "Driving pleasure" which is exactly what i feel.goodbye all you oldtimers , i am an oldtimer myself now :)
Best & most unforgettable car ever made! Built for the masses of millions of people! Great video!
i'm so glad these cars lasted as long as they did. since millions of them were made and sold they're about the only classic car i could afford
AJSSPACEPLACE they are also one of the best classics 😉
los créditos se los lleva daddy yankee. sin el, la canción sería un asco. mi querido Justino ,solo te colgaste de la cancion... 😎
Great engines in those mexibugs,sadly the bodies dissolve after about 5 years in Ireland's wet climate.Mexi exhaust killed power too.
Full-size Chevys and Fords are surprisingly cheap if you get the Four-Door Discount.
WAFI...
Was a passenger in Beetle, strangely, in Moscow at 2000-something. It felt so adorable, that i wanted to stay in traffic jam a little bit longer)
video of production of my favorite car with my favorite music style of 80's in the background is just perfect for me!
Should have never stop making these Wonderful Cars. Probably still the best small Car on the road even today. There Thousands of Americans that would buy another one of these VW's I for one and would love to get one more VW camper I had three of them and had more fun in those V W's than anything I ever owed. There's got to be a way of getting these from Mexico to the US. One Hell of a car.
I wonder how many factory workers drove a bug to work. Long live the vocho... Mexico and Brazil... aircooled paradise
a car that was based on designs from the early 1900s (tatra) has lasted this long and still looks good today. truly amazing
The most Beautiful and dependable car ever built by Germany. I had one for good 13 years and would love to own one today . My dream VW Beetle ❤
best car ever made, easy to fix ,very adaptable, works anywhere on the planet hot or cold, it is a shame what they call a car today. maybe a 10 year lifespan
Yes, simple, inexpensive design. But it was not without some engineering flaws that were never ironed out. I see that this model has a dual port cylinder head with an offset oil cooler. The offset of the oil cooler was a late improvement, which didn't happen until the early 1970's, around 1973 maybe, maybe 3 years before they stopped being sold in the US. Why this offset wasn't added in the early 1950's after the first few engines sucked a valve at 100,000 miles, is beyond me. In fact, a better change would have been to get the oil cooler completely out of the way of cylinder number 3's air. Before the introduction of the offset, these engines did not last more than 100,000 miles, without needing a valve job, as cylinder #3 would run hotter than all the other cylinders, and the exhaust valve would stretch, and break. Offsetting the oil cooler added just a few thousand miles more to the engine, maybe an extra 30.000 miles, I'm guessing, before it needed a valve job. Cylinder 3 would still run hotter, but not as much hotter. They could have added sodium filled exhaust valves too, to increase their lifespan, but they never did. The short life of the engine resulted in many thriving businesses all across the United States and I'd figure in Mexico too, whose sole function was to rebuild VW engines.
As far as rumors about problems with the heater - these rumors were actually untrue. The heaters worked excellently. In fact the cabin heated up faster, and hotter, than probably any other car ever made. The only shortcoming in the heater is incompetent mechanics who adjusted the duct-flap cables incorrectly, the cables for the flaps in the ducts that let hot air into the cabin, or who neglected to reconnect them if they were disconnected to work on the engine, or replace a clutch.. If you forget to reconnect the heater duct-flap cables and adjust them, the cabin is not going to get heat. While the engines themselves would only last 100,000 miles, the heat exchange boxes, with their flaps, would last 200,000 miles, even in the US northeast with its salted roads in the winter, as would the heater-duct cables.
ANY car will work anywhere on the planet, with no adaptation except perhaps for arctic climates where you might want to change the viscosity of the engine oil, and for water-cooled cars, use a 60:40 mix of coolant to water, instead of a 50:50 mix, and this is true for the air cooled bug as well. In super hot climates it was actually at a disadvantage.
@J L To get the engine out of the bug you only had to lift the Rear of the car, and only a few inches, and rest it on jack stands, then you could roll the engine right out on a rolling hydraulic jack, or even a scissor jack on a furniture dolly. With the type 2 bus-van, you just removed a piece of sheet metal in the rear. You didn't have to jack any of the tires off the ground.
Best car ever made is the original Dodge Charger R/T but the bug is also cool
Very sad video.
The first time I ever sat behind the steeering wheel was when I was 9 years old and my uncle took me out to a parking lot in his early 60's VW Beetle and taught me how to drive.
It had been raining for hours and I just couldn't get the hang of shifting without losing traction and stalling.
He just kept having me do it over and over until finally I got it right.
Too much fun.
I have had a standard transmission in most all the vehicles I have owned and still enjoy driving a standard.
R.I.P. little auto legend and thanks for the memories.
One of the single greatest cars ever. I miss my old bugs and bus.
I have a 1973 still running....I love it!
Jorge Vargas me too
Me too Jorge Vargas. I have a ‘74
damn...that's so cool....i miss my beetle....
It's quite fascinating to see the old school way they were still making the Beetle in Mexico. There is an old film on here somewhere showing the German Wolfsburg factory in 1954 and the construction was almost identical to this Mexican 2003 construction!
Very similar Beetles to this model were last made in Germany in the 1970's by which time the German factories were heavily automated bearing no resemblance to the construction here at all!
Quality wise, my family have owned beetles from 1955, 1971, & 1984 (Mexican). I still own the '55 and the quality is much better than the latter cars. The '84 Mexican was a very good car, with much better build quality than the '71 which had suffered the most appalling corrosion by the time it was only about 10 years old.
NewmanAutomotive the Mexican ones were made of galvanised steel
NewmanAutomotive I
NewmanAutomotive I
They shipped the whole factory to Puebla Mexico. No molded change after that. Not even Super Beatle
German automation didn't happen until 1983 at least not real automation. The German factory building bugs in the late 70s was the same in Mexico, they just shipped the entire plant to Mexico. Mexico came up with a few better solutions but for the most part construction was the same. They were not going to fully automate vw bug construction, wouldn't be cost effective. The paint should be better even though it is still being applied by man.
It is almost criminal to have this music over something so awesome.
It was blaring. I know what you mean.
you can replace the audio for free here on TH-cam. Just go to your panel and select the video and then select change audio. Youll have thousands of free songs to replace this abomination with.
Yeah wtf?
I wish I knew how to do that.
Eric Rohrbach just the video , at the plant it was quiet,the hidráulico sistema very quiet
Хорошо что есть ютуб, где и когда я увидел бы эти исторические кадры? Спасибо авторам канала!
Hubiera estado con madres con el audio original de la planta. Escuchar las prensas,las voces, la línea de ensamble etc. pero con esto me conformó ya que por fin se me hizo ver como se fabricaba el auto del siglo mi auto favorito. jejeje
cars use to be so simple, they should bring back the simple functionality of cars with the safety tech of today.
That would be challenging.
That would be awesome.
They have them. Mitsubishi Mirage an example. Go out and buy it if you want to support such cars. Media thrashes it because it is of "simple functionality" though.
Old cars with safety tech of today makes them very complicated unfortunately... Antilock brakes and traction control require sensors, computers, and special hardware. Airbag systems require computers and tons of sensors all over the car. Modern cars are manufactured as simply as the market and regulations will allow.
Volvo 940 from 1995 to 1998 is the answer, car that has ABS, SRS, Airbags, and is simple enough to work with yourself, with 2 valves per cylinder and a solid rear axle. The tech it has requires sensors and computers but these are cheap and easy to repair. I'd like to see a new car as simple as this, but manufacturers prioritize emissions and playhouse-functions such as ''self driving cars'' so that probably won't happen.
Que suerte que tienen todos esos operarios, que puedan contarles que ellos construían al automóvil que es un mito en la historia, que orgullo. Felicitaciones por haber contribuido al sueño de tantas personas!!!!!!!!!!
I'm here for the music.
what's the name of the music that begins at 1.46
Excelencia el armado artesanal del VW sedan última edición , un orgullo de los mexicanos que el último salió de la planta Puebla en México
It's crazy to think the VW Beetle was available NEW in it's original form until 2003. Too bad we couldn't import them like 90 miles north of where they were built. Thank you, nanny statists.
Yeah, I didn't know that!
“Nanny statists”
Poor you.
I know i wish i could have one soooooooo badly
And of course now that i found that out i have also becone aware that 2019 is the last year they will ever produce a bug/beetle in the united states.... Why WHY WHY. Fascist FuCKERS
Destroy the only positive thing Hitler was ever a part of in history..... Dammit!!!! At least i actually got yo own 2 mini coopers. The original mini cooper and then the mini cooper S in british racing green. However i came about 1 to 2 day close to physicaly owning an original JCW MIni cooper 2005 model. In bright yellow. Of course almost the same color as my original MC
everything handmade.. event the painting of the body..
We had three Bugs and I had my first driving experience with my dad’s -56 model. Those days every engine was run-in before assembled to the car. I really loved those cars. Now I have big Volvo but I could buy an old Bug as it really was fun to drive.
I had a VW van that was a bit challenged going up hill and needed a new engine every once in a while but I loved it. The perfect vehicle for a young surf bum.
the 2003 model was fuel injection
Swing axle bugs with front disc brakes! Those motors are probably the most reliable ones too.
They are great, is a combination of the classic boxer engine and new technology. I have a 95 and I love it! runs like a champion. I have it in Utah now and I drove the bug in crazy snow roads.
how did you import it? Get a VIN number for an older one slapped on? Or use an older body and just retrofit the newer engine?
TitaniumCountess I'd have to guess substantially similar clause
They kept the assembly line that made the engines running for quite a while after car production stopped. You could buy complete engines for a number of years.
The Mexican bugs won't pass US smog tests.
I purchased a new VW bettle in 1969. I tightened up the valve adjustments, they were really loose, added a rear window scoop and an extractor. I got 36.9 mile per gallon. I should have kept it but it was miserably cold riding in the winter time.
Спасибо за показ изготовления очень талантливо сделанной машины.VW Beetle Fuska- самая милая в мире машинка !!! Супербиодизайн!
I don't think I'd like working there. Listening to disco all day would be pretty annoying.
rusty8mm DISCO! DISCO! GOOD! GOOD!
Edward Snowden mariachi is way better and more creative than crap I mean rap.
Great comment, laughing here like a dumbass.
Dr. Porsche would not be amused. Its either Flight of the Valkries or nothing.
Is either this or narco--corridos!!
my dad was the one who transported this vw bug
+Kara Jeremias He should have transported it to my garage. I would love to have a 2003 Classic Beetle right next to my 1972 Super Beetle.
Kara Jeremias very good....now marrri me!😉💖💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
Kara Jeremias. Pics or didn't happen???
Your father is a hero.. God bless..
The best car ever built
Great fun to watch--from a guy who owned and worked on two of these beasts!
What is the song at the beginning of the video?
I bet the lack of Automation and the more Hands-On makes the cars even better
yo tuve Volkswagen modelo 1976 hace mucho tiempo, que recuerdo de la música disco cuando era niño en los años 80's.
Ooh...What a sad to know this. People nowadays looking and restoring this kind of car. It is "Tested and Proven". Very durable, adoptable. It can be used in all kinds of terrain, may it be offroad, mountains, cities, deserts and even worst it will float in a flooded roads. The Volkswagen Aircool cars are so practical and elegant in design. The cars of all seasons and occassions. For family used. Be it business transactions, weddings and even in adventures. Truly the German is right that It is the PEOPLES CAR! All coolant engine car truly disposable, expensive and complicated. It is not practical but comerciall. Volkwagen Aircool Engine car are unbeatable. PROVEN and TESTED!
GREAT CAR, it looks like this one was made way better than the original...
It would be interesting to know what those last few years of Beetle were like to own and drive. I bet EFI was a lot easier to live with than a carb setup, although when they get old the opposite is probably true, good luck troubleshooting EFI as a DIY mechanic. With a carb you can just put on a new one if nothing else.
Very nice. I love those cars. A lot of memories with those. One that stands out is when my face hit the windshield in a 1960, in about 1966, LOL.
Head on collision. Luckily at a slow speed.
By the way, you could drive those using only the hand brake. I did it many times...
Cheapest hand made vehicle you could own with almost zero mechanical issues....
they run forever !!
Brilliant car , I had three of them as a young bloke , the worlds first truly reliable affordable car .
I’m only here for the italo disco 😂
excelente video siempre quise ver como fabricaban este hermoso auto pero la música de fondo está fea. preferiría el sonido de las prensas, maquinas y del personal trabajando. El vocho clásico una joya que tiene vida propia
Cool video! My son and I are working on our 69 Ghia that we saved from the car crusher 👍
I can't believe a question I asked about old cars can still be made today has been answered. It's true.
Love to have a new one .
Fui el único que disfruto el más el video por la música💜💜💜💜
It's a good thing that many of these steps are now robotized. There was a lot of hammering and bending of body panels here that simply wouldn't happen on a robot assembly line.
Also the dude wrenching millimeters away from a spinning belt to the disco tunes "Danger" was just hilarious.
amazing car. I always wanted to see this factory. I love vw aircooled beetles. the music sounds bad. I preffer progressive metal or heavy metal in this awesome video
Ideas are never lost either improved or deferred as long as you give them a chance! To speak!
I lived in Mexico for a few years back in the 90s. Beetles we literally everywhere and they were the choice for Taxis back in those days. Green and white beetle taxis were literally everywhere. When the government started requiring taxis to have 4 doors, it spelled the end.... very sad that such a factory closed and those people lost a good job.
Hecho a mano como el ferrari jajaja ... buenos autos recuerdos muy gratos en un VW
El auto del siglo el mejor y el más bonito saludos desde México
i would buy one today in the USA in a heartbeat, what a waste of good tooling & engineering that people of modest income can't buy this new today
Cars are so much more expensive today. You've hit on a big problem. No longer making cars for the common man or woman.
VW didn't to make these anymore (not enough money in it) They want to sell you much more expensive Golf's, Pissat's and other high price cars.
I worked in a company that wasn’t this clean . I love the beetle. I have a 73 standard beetle.
Liked the music
Caramba! Totalmente artezanal. Pintura feita na pistola manual. Incrível!
If it is cheap enough why not ?
wow painted by hand!
Weren't the submerged in pain in Germany?
Team Neudimensions cheaper than a kuka!
thats nothing! if you notice at 8:33 there are no gages or displays, he is tuning it by ear
Is it mandatory to have a moustache if you want to work in that factory?
I'll check with personnel. But I think you're probably right. Although for women it's an option.
Eric B They're Mexicans...
and have a piece in your locker.
Bill Taylor Locker? They give you a burlap sack and suggest you learn to tie a good knot.
Duh of course is mandatory!
Very interesting to see the car in production and to think that my Beetle would have been on that line. Sadly not an Ultima Edicion but still a 2003 model
Did not know they made original design VWs until that recently. Very cool, hope they have a long life in that country as classic cars.
That was before the world became a darker place with boring cars painted mostly in black, white, silver, or grey.
ESTA FUE LA MEJOR EXPERIENCIA EN MI VIDA TRABAJAR EN ESA PRODUCCION LO SUEÑO MU A MENUDO GRACIAS POR ESTE VIDEO
That’s hard physical work and attention to detail.
Sad to see its passing but thanks for the video.
I see they took the Henry Ford saying to heart - "You can have one in any color - as long as it's black."
Did the video have sound? it would have been nice to hear the sound of engine.
Nice video. Thank you.
Jenny Stjärnfeldt i love u...marri me!💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
Jose Luis Arenas Prado what's up with you man? you act like Pepe Le pew ask every single girl to marry you.
That looks like the same old 1600 but with fuel injection and a modern alternator.
Well it's swing axle rather than IRS.
Don't forget fuel injection and air conditioning... Completely incompatable with the cars
Those machines are part of humanity treasure and transportation history !
SIMPLE AND FUNCTIONAL.
Original audio lost/never taken?
This is what they sent us.
Most of us didn't knew that this classic VW shape existed brand new till 2003. This Beetle had unique air cooled rear durable engine. Many car collectors have still kept the classic Beetle in original condition.
I loved to have a brand new Volkswagen Beetle but I want the old school air cooled engine . I have a 73 standard beetle.
Simple no nonsense car, good for 20 years. Why did they stop the production?
Thank you for sharing your video with us
7:40 solo en Mexico, motor en marcha y trabajador Acercando su mano a la Banda y polea. Y la seguridad del operator en riesgo.
The air cooled bug is something that should never stop being produced! This is a sad moment captured in video, bring the bug back! I hope they keep all the tools!
Ha haa, so high tech that at 2:51 the worker kicks the metal part into place.
viva el vocho!
Juan El Aleman Viva el vocho, aqui en australia hay unos miles circulando, me acerque a verificar el vin del auto y sorpresa viene de Mexico. Orgullo para Puebla que anden jalando para los putos australianos.
Runaway with my lover from Tapps, second best song after Forbidden lover!.
Apparently Ralph Nader had limited influence in other parts of the world. I see swing axle rear suspension on the final beetles built.
Easy to make easy to repair. Not verry expensive to buy.. Looks good.. I don't know why they stopped production!
This is why car companies love to send the manufacturing to Mexico. If you look at how they are building this car, it is all by hand. No machines to carry the part, no machine to paint, no machine to make the welds. They save millions, if not billions in production cost because they don't have to purchase these machines doing what the human is capable of doing. I wish we built cars in the US like this. Then there would be a sense of pride in the cars you build by hand.
In Brazil, this 2003 Mexican version from 2003 worths a lot of money. There´s one guy who bought and never been to the next block with the car. I wish I could have bought one as well.
Are they valuable because they were the last year or because they're good, reliable transportation?
+King Rose Archives Because they are last year. Collectors and lovers buy these cars. In Brazil it was assembled from 1958 to 1986 and after from 1994 to 1996. After this period you should have money and import one from Mexico wich was very rare. I have seen some stores selling this last edition from 20000 to 25000 dollars.
I feel like I'm watching deleted scenes from Scarface, mainly because of the music.
hehehehe or flashdance .... or miami vice ...
actually i like it ....................
Dat Boi especially where they say I'm a son of a bitch now or something like that
These cars were new and modern to them just like the music
I can't believe that one guy works every station!
I hope there still more, Volkswagen vehicles! ❤
The line wasn't very automated. Lot's of Manuel labour.
yep i see like 100 Manuels and all with mustaches
Funny, one of the factory workers in this video's name was Manuel Labor!
(22-Sep.2018) Here come the robots...!
They took our jobs!!!
Ivan Latković Well "big boy" go and cry to the factory owners see if they care about your situation.
I wish I can buy all those equipment to rebuild the bug.
Jan Duarte where would you even sell it though? Only North Korea and a hand full of African nation's have restrictions low enough to allow these to be sold new
Well, I will sell it as an EV vehicle in America. Because, people love classic EV cars these days and there's a market for it nowadays.
Jan Duarte hate to pop ur bubble, but you would have new frames therefor you need Vin numbers or serial (can’t remeber really caked) and since it was made in year x it wouldn’t be considered a classic because a classic is 25 years and your new frame says 2020 or whatever
Beet, the best shape of all time.
Great! What is the last song?
Que video tan interesante.
Adoro los vochos.
xD
Yo también, solo que al carro en si no, sino a su valor espiritual en Latinoamerica y mas en México
Y siempre fue una de las primeras opciones para los que compraban su primer auto.
legendary cars