Whats your scariest moment in a cal-look bug?

[Rennsurfer]

Easy question to answer.

I had those feckless 135 Michelin tires on the front of my orange '66 on early EMPI fives. Anyway, I over slept and was supposed to open the Long Beach Auto Haus store at nine in the morning like I always did. Well... it was one of those El Niño winter storms we were having in '83. A lot of wind and water. The rain was coming down very hard. I was at the intersection in front of Long Beach City College. The light turned green, a brand new Vanagon on the side of me and an almost new Porsche 930 behind me. I was doing about 40-50mph. All of a sudden, I feel the front of the car slowly lift. SCARY. Then, I started spinning about 2-3 360º turns. Somehow, I was extremely blessed and ended up bringing the car to a safe stop in the middle of one of the driveways leading into Vet's Stadium, further down the street. In the pouring rain... there I was. Completely scared outta my 19 year old mind. Both hands clenched tightly to my brand new EMPI wood steering wheel, heart pounding, and eyes wide open. I hear a knock on my side windows from the two other drivers. When I regained my wits about me, I realized that they were kind enough to have pulled over to see what was going on. I rolled down the driver side glass. One of the people said, "Are you alright?" The other asked, "Are you on something, like a drug?" I told 'em both that I was fine and sober & explained that my car lifted like an airplane wing which resulted in the hydroplane effect.

Needless to say, I didn't give a rat's arse if I was late opening the shop, by driving very slow. I called the owners at home and told them what happened and apologized for being a few minutes late. They were beyond cool and were just happy that I was alive. Went next door to the '49er Tavern and they let me take a huge schooner of some import bier back to the shop to mellow out with.

Right after that incident, I removed the 135 tires on my front lawn (the beauty of two-piece wheels) and upgraded to 145s. Also never took my lowered Bugs out in the windy heavy rain again, unless I was driving very slow. Taught me a good lesson. A day of which I shall not soon forget. When it's raining and I'm driving by that spot, I can still see that freaked out teenage rookie on the side of the road with a car full of EMPI. Thought for sure that my beloved wheels were gonna be toast into the curb. Thank God... the car and I were unscathed.

Next?

[Dick Mitchell]

Mine happened back in highschool, when I was young, dumb and often made really stupid decisions...Like racing a Kid I didn't much care for against his 69' Camaro Z28.  Happened on the street during lunch.  Came up on some traffic and went to apply the brakes and the drivers side brake cylinder burst.  Car jerked hard to the left and I ended up going part way up an concrete island divider, while my passenger-side fender went into the side bumper of the car in front of me.  (the car I hit happened to be a 70' bug) Luckily the girl driving didn't even care about the damage to her car and even though we exchanged info, she never contacted insurance (I was lucky twice)  Talk about embarrassing though.

However less than a week later, the kid I was racing decided to show-off when he saw that I was behind him waiting at a traffic light.  It goes green and he lights up the tires while making the turn onto the same street I had wrecked.  He ended up driving his pristine Z28 into the back of a lifted truck and wiped out the entire front end and crushing the radiator.  I didn't feel as embarrassed after that. 

[jhicken]

Although I wasn't in my bug, I was riding with Mark Ramirez in his black '67 following Billy McKinley and Mike Sosa in Billy's Guards Red '57 Ragtop [Billy may have been Prez of DKK at this time] and we were on our way home from the Speedway races down at the OC Fairgrounds. It was late on a Friday night and we were all well primed. Coming from Harbor Blvd down Bastenchury there was this long poorly lit left hand sweeper that Billy decided to pass a slow moving El Camino on the right. Next thing we saw was a flash of sparks from Billy's alloys and all of a sudden the '57 lifted up off the ground and then end over end down into the gully on the right. We freaked. Mark slammed on the brakes and we ran down the embankment expecting the worse. This gully was a drainage overflow and it was filled with these giant granite boulders. At the bottom we find Billy's ride, upside down, smoldering with what was left of the alloy's still spinning. We looked inside and they weren't there. We then heard their moans. About twenty feet away, in the only grassy spot within fifty yards, the two of them were laying next to each other. How they landed there I'll never know. They were beat, both went to the hospital for a few days but came out ok.

That was one hell of a scary night.

-jeffrey

[Neil Davies]

Not in a Bug, but in my Ghia - howling through some country lanes, late as usual, I came over a hump back bridge far too quickly, and didn't expect to see a sharp 90 degree right hander immediately after the bridge! The 145's just about gripped enough to point the front around the corner, but the poor 165s at the back didn't stand a chance! I had the car swinging like a pendulum back and forth, but it didn't go all the way round and i didn't hit anything - drove a bit slower for the next few miles...

[Dave Rosique]

The year: 1974

I'm 16 years old out late one night in my newly acquired U.S. spec, original paint, '55 Oval. I was driving up a concrete alley that had a little water down the middle... hit the water about 20 mph, yank the emergency brake and pitched it sideways until I came to a stop... wow that was cool. Smart kid that I was, I circled around for another go at it... this time I picked up the speed a bit, hit the hand brake, pitched it sideways (again) but mid slide I got out of the brake, gassed it (all 1200cc!!) and pulled out of the slide! SWEET!! At that point I should have stopped. Nope. Not me. Just ONE more time before I go home... This time I hit the water at about 40 mph, grabbed the hand brake, went violently sideways, went up a 45 degree embankment and put that nice old car on it's roof... The car slides for 100 feet or so, sparks everywhere, back seat comes out, battery dumps acid all over me, gas leaking everywhere... I thought I was a done deal.
I crawled out a window and with the help of some guy we pushed the car back to rubber side down... what an idiot I was...

Anyway, long story short... the B.S. story I told my Mom (and others) was I dodged a cat and wrecked the car...

nice.

[Black Sheep]

Reading DKK Fred's story reminds be of of a time when I was only a mere pup of 18 , I was giving a mate at work a lift home in my first 67 .
It was summer and it had just stopped raining after a short shower , coming up to a railway bridge which climbed up on a sharp right hander and then down again to the left following the track , having just fitted my first pair of sway aways and koni's to the front beam and being keen to see how much better my car handled  I went a bit quicker than usual 
The car started to feel a bit light climbing into the first bend , by the time I had crested the bridge the back of the car had overtaken me and we were facing the wrong way still spinning the car continued in its own little pirouette until we had gone a complete 360 on top of the bridge straightened up and continued down the left hander with no fuss at all .
With no real surprise my friend declined my offer of a lift the next day . I still go over that bridge from time to time and cant believe I managed to do that without touching the walls or hitting a car coming the other way .
the upside of my experience was that lowering the front didn't help it go around wet bends with a full height rear end 

[youngnstudly]

I was rushing to get to trade school one day and was going a little faster than usual. I caught a break and got behind an 80 year old woman turning left at a green light. In order to "catch" her at the light, I had to speed up and "bumper up" to her car, and that's when the trouble began! The light turned yellow and she SLAMMED on the brakes while just beginning to go through the crosswalk of the intersection. She stopped on the second line of the crosswalk (while the light is still YELLOW!!!! ) and "BOOOMMMM!"....I slid right into the back of her car at 10 or 15 miles per hour with those little 145 tires completely locked up! My head bounced off the windshield and ended up leaving a spiderwebbed crack all the way across the drivers side. She told me that she never stops for that light when it turns yellow but she just "froze up" this time! I managed to push the apron and hood back a few inches, both fenders were pushed as well, and the bumper was the only thing that didn't get damaged. Her car wasn't damaged at all!

The best part about it was the fact I threw a German hood on the car and "cobbed" everything back together (so I could drive the car), and 2 weeks later my coworker decided to "burnout" in reverse while parallel parking in front of my car. You guessed it, he plowed right into the same spot where I just had the accident, except this time it was really f$%ked up! I ended up getting $1800 from his insurance. My dad and I put the car in the shop on a Friday afternoon, tore it apart, stretched the apron back out, did the bodywork on the fenders, and primed everything by Saturday night. Sunday morning the car was completely reassembled (with wet primer ) and my hood latch now functions better than new. As you can see in the "before" photo, the car had already been hit in the front before I bought it (as indicated by the turn signal location on the drivers side fender. The primer was still fresh from my first accident when I got hit the second time. Luckily everything worked out great in the long run!





-Andy

[Fastbrit]

First test drive in my '54 rag-top after I'd put it on a '67 'pan. Two miles from home, engine quit, I look in the rear view mirror to see smoke pouring out of the rear vents. Fuel line had come off and ignited... That sure made me break out in a sweat!

[Bewitched666]

My moment was after my first dragrace with slicks and after i got home i was to lazy to take them off and next day i had to go to school and drove the car with slicks in the rain.

At a crossing i took off and the car went sideways nearly hitting the curb and other cars parked but i managed well and didnt hit anything.
After that scary moment i drove like a bitch to school and after school took the slicks off immidiately,haha

[Stephan32]

Hi,

Doing my favourite thing in the late 90's taking my beetle out for a drive on the country lanes.
Going uphill taking it left on a nice wide corner allmost 90 degree. ( my favourite corner)
As i nailed it in 2nd gear to get the car sideways I lost 2nd gear, just about when the car started to step out...
I was passenger from then on and spun the car upteen times and ended up facing the traffic
the wrong way round... luckily the man behind me was my brother on his Bike.

When I said what happened to my gear box he just said: Mate, your reaction was about a second to slow 

No damage just a lesson, no matter how well you think you can drive sometimes it is beyond your influence....

Cheers Stephan

[Paul Bate]

Simples,

Opening up my credit card bill and looking at how much I'd spent on parts! LOL!! 

Sh*t it nearly killed me !!

[glenn]

4 years ago at the track I was in the left lane. When I threw 2nd gear one of the CV joints broke forcing me to into a hard right turn. Luck for me the other car was past and I crossed over to the right lane and missed the wall by inches.

Needless to say I upgraded to Type 181 CVs.

[TexasTom]

I was on my way home, headed to pick up a pizza for dinner later ... about 3 pm, Saturday afternoon on the busiest hiway thru Austin,. I get a call from my brother who just happened to have passed me headed the other direction. He told me, "better watch out! Your headed into a rainstorm! Pretty heavy."
Now, I could've detoured at that moment and taken a distant route home, but remember ... I had pizza on the brain ... damn good pizza too.
Needless to say, I ignored his advice and drove my prize '69 right into it. I was travelling about 60mph, not a care in the world when I hit the water. Suddenly the car is pitched at 45 degrees to straight and headed for the inside Armco barrier! DOTs are cool to run on the rears, but not for everyday use! The left front bouced off the inside wall and I flat spun over 3 revolutions through two lanes coming to a stop 90 degrees to traffic, all the while wondering when it was going to pitch up and roll and/or be hit or hit another driver ... neither ever happened.
As soon as I stopped, I looked in the rear-view only to see the decklid pitched up. OMG! The MOTOR!!! Ran back there while traffic was stopping all around only to see that it had popped open ... no harm! Ran around to the front ... not so lucky. The left fender was caved into the tire and the tierod was way bent. I yanked and pulled the fender off the tire, jumped in and fired that mother up ... still runs and is OK!
I limped the car off the hiway and to the nearest driveway, the entrance to the local military base.
Called my brother back and he followed me back to the shop.
In haste and disgust I pulled it apart, never taking the cheesy photo or looking back.

Well, that little incident led me into a full rebuild/restoration that ended up taking close to a year to complete. But, it left the car in the best condition its been in since my brother originally purchased it back in '71 ... or so I like to think!
Finally got a set of REAL street tires too.

[Ole]

It was Oct. 4 2008, the last Test'n'Tune of the year at Bitburg, Germany. The Pink Panther ran pretty good and I managed to do a 11.35 @ 114mph, which is just 1/100 slower than the car ran back in 1974 at OCIR. The next pass the car left the line straight like an arrow and it felt good just until about 60 ft before the lights. At almost 8.5k the engine suddenly lost power combined with ugly noise from the back, the car felt like somebody pulled the back of the car down to the ground... I hit the clutch and fortunately the car went on straight, I immediately moved off the middle of the track. I'm a member of the timing crew, guess who would've been the idiot to remove the oildown?

At first I was dissapointed, it took me a while to figure how lucky I've been. This could have ended on the roof, if the car would've gotten slightly out of shape when I moved to the side of the track...

Still get goosebumps when I think at it, the time-ticket says it was 11.91 @ 91mph...

Saludos,
Ole

[Jim Ratto]

Last summer making a full blooded pass well to top of 4th gear....undisclosed location, in Oelkers white car. Henry just "had to show me"

[JS]

When my car "lifted" a little over a hilltop while racing driving alongside a 911 convertible. At about 120mph.

[kev d]

When I was 17 I had a '71 1200 running a big block 1500...
Front was really low, back end stock & running winter grip tyres..
Back end went out on a bend one Sunday afternoon & came around the other way digging into the grass & flipping onto its roof
End of bug!

Another time was in Russell's bay window coming back from the French super vw nats late one night...
Fog, lack of attention, a big roundabout & kerbs / crash barriers left us with a very battered bus to get home with...

[Black Sheep]

Another time was in Russell's bay window coming back from the French super vw nats late one night...
Fog, lack of attention, a big roundabout & kerbs / crash barriers left us with a very battered bus to get home with...

You know how I let you drive my car around the pits to warm the motor up Bud ? not gonna happen no more  

[karl h]

was about 1986 in my 63, i got my first set of cool rims: chromed sprint stars. i was so excited i forgot to tighten the lugs on the rear rims, so i lost a wheel on the test drive (embarrassing, in the middle of the buisiest street in town)

[BeetleBug]

This topic take me back to 1992 and my first summer holiday trip with the boys. My car was a 1969 model, lowered front, nice stand, Sprintstars, flat black and with a 1600ccm engine. It was my first car and I loved it! It was also my first year with the driving licence even though I had been driving for a while. The weather was absolutely amazing and I packed the car with 2 friends, 2 cases of beer and our luggage and headed to the south coast of Norway. My driving style at that time was inspiring and the guys riding with me, now drinking beer, wanted me to go even faster. We listened to Pearl Jam "Ten" album and I gradually increased the speed like you always do when you listen to driving music. We soon got to a part of the road that had some really nice, long turns and our speed was approx 90 - 100 kph. We went over a little hill that lifted the car slightly and just after the hill we had a right hand turn followed by a sharp left turn. We managed the first turn with screaming tires but when I wanted to turn left the rear tires lost their grip and the car turned toward the other lane with screaming tires. Then the magic happened... just when we thought we was going to hit the fence the tires manage to grip in the tire tracks in the other lane and placed the car perfectly in the other lane heading back home. I quickly changed gear and got the car going in case someone was approaching from behind and I drove to a place where we could park safely and catch our breath. The guy in the back seat got out and pucked and decided that he have used his luck for the summer and jumped on the first bus back home.

2 years later and you could still see the tire marks after our drifting session. Today this stretch of road is not longer in use but everytime I talk to the guys we remind our selves how much luck we had.

-BB-

[MeXX]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

[Mirco Jufer]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

Ohhhh shit!!!
That looks sooo extreme! And in the Background the Musik...Look like a Episode from Cobra 11,but this is real!!
I respect your Courage to drive again after this Moment(and much faster too...)

Ps: Do you race this Year at Bitburg?

Regards M.Jufer

[MeXX]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

Ohhhh shit!!!
That looks sooo extreme! And in the Background the Musik...Look like a Episode from Cobra 11,but this is real!!
I respect your Courage to drive again after this Moment(and much faster too...)

Ps: Do you race this Year at Bitburg?

Regards M.Jufer

Dear Mirco

DDD in Bitburg is on  my race calender.

MeXX

[Chris bugster]

Oh wow, Mex, I know how you feel because I rolled my 1303 at Santa Pod in 1999 during qualifying.

I had a scary moment last year at a race here in Poland. The video below is the semi-final, which I ran gently because I knew the other car was slow- a circuit track prepared Nissan.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q-lvtyOzeFw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Q-lvtyOzeFw</a>

Then after a very quick turnaround, the final. My crew packed the parachute nicely, but forgot to attach it to the car and so when I pulled the chute at about 120mph (I had to try a bit harder because this time I had a supercharged, NOS Mustang on slicks) I didn't slow down. As you can see in the video from the semis, there is a forest just after the finish line. I stopped, but those trees got awful close.

[Mirco Jufer]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

Ohhhh shit!!!
That looks sooo extreme! And in the Background the Musik...Look like a Episode from Cobra 11,but this is real!!
I respect your Courage to drive again after this Moment(and much faster too...)

Ps: Do you race this Year at Bitburg?

Regards M.Jufer

Dear Mirco

DDD in Bitburg is on  my race calender.

MeXX

Ok thanks Mexx,will see your Perfect Racecar there..

Regards Mirco

[Eddie DVK]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

Ohhhh shit!!!
That looks sooo extreme! And in the Background the Musik...Look like a Episode from Cobra 11,but this is real!!
I respect your Courage to drive again after this Moment(and much faster too...)

Ps: Do you race this Year at Bitburg?

Regards M.Jufer

+1
damn 

[Neil Davies]

Oh wow, Mex, I know how you feel because I rolled my 1303 at Santa Pod in 1999 during qualifying.

I remember that well - I was pitted next to you. My first season of racing!

[andy198712]

Hi

My scariest moment in my Ghia (sorry no bug)
in full HD

http://members.inode.at/297533/der_unfall.wmv


MeXX

farkkk!

[Ninho/DKM]

I was going to my garage that is 25 km from home in my 63 Surfin'Bird bug, garage is on hills and to get there i have to run on a curved road, i was relaxed driving when a Turbo tuned fiat got quite up on my ass and started to get hi rpm to invite me in run, we had done about 6 km at hight spedd when after a long left turn we met a police car that was entering in a road and while passing it i saw right clear the whit of policeman that was looking at us. I imediatly decided to run away before he decide to run for us and stop with obivious consequences, i had quite a hart attack till i got in to the garage and had the doors closed to hide my bug. Fiat was lost in my rer view mirror since police car appears.....

[AntLockyer]

In the burn out box when Lil Jay crashed in the lane I was about to run in was pretty scary.