Test Drives
Published on January 14th, 2012 |
by BajaBusta
1974 Volkswagen Beetle Test Drive
It might not have been the panacea that VW needed to hypo it’s sales charts, but the 1974 Super Beetle featured in this vintage Car and Track road test was undoubtedly an air-cooled Volkswagen. Even with a new suspension system and slight cosmetic changes, the 48 horsepower was, in the words of host Bud Lindemann, “noisy and not enough”.
According to Lindemann “the Beetle’s performance suffered badly with the advent of emissions controls” and the proof was plain to see in this vintage road test. From the atrocious acceleration (22 second 1/4 mile run) to the dangerously slow passing times, it was clear the ’74 Super Beetle was very underpowered.
Anyone able to look past the Super Beetle’s dismal straight line performance would find a car with good stopping ability that ran Car and Track’s pylon course well while managing an honest 27 MPG. Still it seemed the negatives outweighed the positives. Lindemann believed it would be Volkswagen’s newer models that would keep Volkswagen’s hopes alive saying “the little ugly bug has had its day in the American sun”
Tags: 1974, Bug, New Beetle, Review, road test, Roadtest, Slug Bug, test drive, Testdrive, Volkswagen Beele, VW
I liked the Beetles made until 1965, those were the ones with the large headlights and small taillights and they were much cuter than the ones that came later
I love how he talks about the brakes dissipating heat – when the wheels are locked up solid! Riiiiight……. LOL!!
That’s the molten rubber on the tires, returning to a solid state. haha!
I wonder if this was faster than the 1985-1988 Chevy Sprint with the 3 cylinder engine?
If Volkswagen was to keep any of its rear-engined rear-wheel drive vehicles alive, I believe they were right to keep the Bus/Vanagon alive.