Brings back memories! Mine had a bus transmission with the portal axles. That gives you a lift and gear reduction to run larger tires. If he doesn't have the dual park brake levers in it he needs to add them. Turn the wheel, grab the inside brake and it will turn around in it's tracks. Wish I still had mine. It was amazing how well it went off-road.
its an interesting drive with that particular set up as the rear of the car rises like mcain rising crust pizza upon acceleration, problem is on steep rough roads the wheel hop is absolutely horrific especially with large tires, i put a john johnson wheel hop kit in mine, lost a bit of clearance but no more bang bang or yoyo effect , and bushings are no longer available for that kit so i will be forced to make some from urethane stock, rebushing, lathing etc, lots of unsprung weight at the wheels is also no good but its still a fun drive regardless of the drawbacks.
Mine was a 68 with long travel suspension & fiberglass flip front end, that I got in trade for a Honda XL500 dual sport motorcycle. That Bug was the slowest & most fun vehicle I have ever owned.
They were off road worthy bone stock. 4 wheel trailing arm suspension, flat pan bottom, engine over the real wheels and factory posi. My friend had a beat up bone stock one in the 80's. I drove it through dry bottomless beach sand, I couldn't get the car stuck, even after stopping in the sand and trying to get it stuck. I let the clutch out and it didn't even spin a tire. Amazing vehicles for cheap off-roading.
Beetles certainly did not have factory limited-slip diffs (posi). May have been a rare option for military or postal models or maybe 181s had them more often, but I've never seen one.
When I was 10 years old and living near San Diego back in the '70s, the Baja Bugs were just about the coolest cars around that weren't GTOs or lifted Blazers. ...and of course, the Baja Bugs were so much more affordable and accessible for most folks. Tons of fun, and this video makes me dream of finding one of my own. Great find Brendan!
I owned a 67' and a 73' Baja VW Beetle back in the mid 90's and used both as daily drivers and weekend fun in the sun and sand runners. They were reliable, cheap and easy to build, maintain and fun to run in the Florida sun.
My VW mentor back in 1980 had a 69 Baja that he drove to his VW shop every day that would do 110 mph without a problem, he had a small spoiler bolted on the engine vent above the engine lid to keep the rear end from lifting off the ground . If you educate yourself on how to properly maintain your bug it will be totally dependable ! Ihave two baja bugs and still build VW engines - absolutely Love the VW !
If you find a Beetle in good shape, DONT CHOP IT LIKE THIS!! There's plenty around already hacked up. Keep the good ones whole, there's not that many left.
Hey Tommy, let me point out a few things. You said that converting a Beetle is like converting any of today's small cars to try to be an off-roader. Not true. First of all, the Beetle weighed under 2,000 pounds. And with a rear engine and rear drive, a high percentage of the weight is over the drive wheels. While having that rear drive is not technically the best in rain or snow, it does give the most traction going up hills since weight transfers to the rear. Also being air cooled meant a much simpler engine -- as we can see hanging out the back on your example. I would love to have an "OK" prepped Baja Bug. But I don't know enough to repair a 50 year old car myself, and don't have the money to keep paying somebody to keep a 50 year old car running well. The first car I ever drove at all, when I had just turned 14, was a 1967 Beetle with the back end converted to Baja Bug (wide dirt tires) but the front end stock including skinny tires. There is definitely something cool about these old Bugs. But..... that gas tank in the front might be better turned-into a fuel cell in the back seat.
Really cool bug. I'd like to see more videos of it. How it does on road and off road. Give it a true test of power with a 0-60. Do an mpg test and take it to moab. Just suggestions
Oh man, I’m so excited to collect mine. I was gifted a 1970 Beetle with a Baja kit attached some time in the mid-eighties. It’s been parked since 1990 for a title issue and “ran when parked” 😂
Back in the 70's a good friend of mine in high school had a 1962 VW Bug that he thought needed to be a Baja Bug. So he cuts off all of the stuff on the back and moves to the front and he bobbed the fenders but when he got to the hood he was not quite sure where to cut it. His parents had just got a brand new fridge two days before and the old one from the late 40's was sitting at the curb to be hauled off. He looks at the top part of the door and it had that Art Deco look to it. Anyway he takes the door over to the front of the Bug and holds it up till it matched the hood marks it with a sharpie and cuts it with a jig saw. Problem solved. We drove the wheels off that thing.
There's another level of aftermarket parts for the bug in Brazil, you can get a 6 speed with LSD and and you can use the 2000cc big block from the VW Bus, gear reduction, double carbs, exhaust, sets of Cams, +100hp easily achievable, a lift and some 32" "pizza cutters" mud tires and you'll have the best "Baja bug" ever
It’s technically a one wheel drive. Open rear differential. Great with momentum and blasting along. In the boulders, slow and muddy, even hill climbing without a LOT of momentum and you are SOL!! Hahaha. They are awful fun on prairie trails!!
I bought a 66 baja bug last October, and it is far and away my favorite vehicle I have ever owned. It's not 100% sorted, and it probably never will be. But, I went to an offloading event last weekend and it kept up with all of the Rzrs and Can Ams and trophy trucks. All for less than $4k.
Thanks for this fun review. What a sort of a coincidence for me to see this today. Just 2 days ago I saw a 70's VW dune buggy in Ocean City MD. Hadn't seen one a dune buggy "live" in years. Did see a Baja Bug at a Northern VA car show about 3 months back. Personally, I always preferred the Baja Bugs probably because they still looked more or less like a VW.
Hum thre's forty years I had a french Baja Bug clled here Bugster. We went to Marocco with it and all the time in the trails of the Bask country. Very nice car !!
if your gonna do anything with anything don't do it with the restored nice looking one. find the one thats the most beat up abused STRUCTURALLY SOUND and runing (but only barely) so you can get your hands greasy and learn while you build the vehicle of your dreams. but if you wanna build a buggy you need a beatle.
The front suspension on a VW Bug is DEFINITELY a torsion beam. The beam houses 2 torsion "bars" each made up of a stack of flat strap "leaves". Each torsion bar supports left and right side via the trailing arms. Each bar is anchored at its center to prevent rotation and to deal with lateral loads on the suspension. I suggest it is most wise to be thoroughly educated about a subject before smugly trying to correct someone else who was actually using the proper term.
@@dustymojave wow, you really know your VW stuff! And thanks for that lengthy reply, you must really feel good about yourself by now. Small man syndrome? Or just feeling smug? @kevinbarry71 made an innocent comment, nothing smug about it, and he wasn’t wrong with his comment. It’s definitely referred to as a torsion bar front end by the people that actually know and work with them.
I had a '68 bug-eyed Baja Bug in early 80s. It was fun, but was a shop queen. It was eventually stolen from the shop and they paid me $1000, which was $500 more than I paid for it.
I enjoyed this video. You have a Baja Bug, having fun, didn’t break the bank, smart choice. Years ago I got to drive a’74 VW non Baja Bug, it was a blast, took a minute to get the hang of the shift pattern. Y’all keep’m coming
The fire extinguisher, much easier to eliminate the problem. Standard VW's burn to the ground , because the fuel supply cant be shut off. Either of two options can eliminate this problem. An electric fuel pump, or a fuel cut off valve. Mine has a cut off valve. This is also a very good theft deterent. Having a seperate switch to either unit , preferably under the bonnet. Having a secret switch on the ignition circut , just makes the theif look for the switch. However having it on the fuel supply, still allows the car to start, but will run out of fuel before it gets out of the car park. Once the car starts the theif is in panic mode until he gets away from the scene. He is not going to hang around trying to figure out why is stopped.
@@davep4610 Even if a thief can drive a stick, the Bugs reverse, located by pushing straight down on the shifter then moving it left and then slightly diagonal to the right as you pull it rearward, will screw with their heads if they have to back it out of a spot. Although it takes nothing to put it in neutral and push it.
I currently have a Chenoweth frame rail, desert buggy. It runs a bus trans, 2200cc engine with a 12:1 compression ratio (have to run 110 octane race fuel) dual webers, disk brakes, steering brakes, hydraulic clutch, rack and pinion steering along with power steering. It’s totally old school Volkswagen and it’s a blast to run off road. I also had a Manx fiberglass buggy back in the day.
💯 best bang for the buck. These bajas are awesome. I had a 1971 and it was the most fun. I used to jump it in the sand dunes. Only thing that i ever had trouble was the steering is weak. Needs the tie rods beefed and the steering tube will bend real easy. I welded angle iron to mine and it was bullet proof!
My favorite cars I ever owned were my two baja bugs. I keep saying that one of these days I'm going to build another one. Maybe in a couple of years after I retire.
Cheap? Lol my brother and i had 15 beetles at one time, the newest of which was a 69... the first thing we did was sawzall the fenders and rear valance, manifolds and heater box delete. We were to poor for atvs ( 3 wheelers) so we did the next best thing... Bought them from an old boy who was retiring and closing his shop. Sold us all of his old beetles for 45.00 apeice... Jc whitney delivered overtime to us for a time.
Yeah, I bought a '63 ragtop sunroof for $50 and a '59 "in the woods, cut 'er out" for $40 in the late 80's. They were everywhere. Oh yeah, and a '71 pop top camper bus for $500.
The Old school VW was so easy to drive! I learned to drive in a 1974 bus! After a couple years driving; I learned that I could start in third gear After leaving a fast food place and, Enjoy My meal before having to change gears! I Love The Air-cooled VW the Best! MY Dream vehicle is a VW True Camper with the Pop up Tent! Not the weekender! The True Camper? I'm 58 now and my current truck is 14 years old. Two years of having a need for a pickup to go until I get to Explore and Camp Wherever! Thank You both for reminding me why I work six days a week!
Back in the 80s I could buy a rebuilt type 1 short block for $200 and a rebuilt tranny for $300. Fenders were $20 from Bow Wow auto parts. A clutch disc was $12. Good old days.
Facet fuel pump? those things are cheap crap, but also super noisy. Love the Baja bugs from when the first came out to now, but never had one. My wife's 87' 4WD (not AWD) Subaru GL 3dr was a similar kind of thing. Super slow, super fun off-road
Never had a Baja but did have a friend drive me through a swap type area with his. Had a blast. I always wanted one. I have had many bugs over the years. The one I currently have I got back in the mid 90's. I haven't driven it since probably 05. It has just been sitting in my garage collecting dust. Would love to rebuild it one day but don't have the heart to cut it up into a baja since it is in such good shape. I loved his comment about not needing a 100mph speedometer. Built a 2165cc motor and it went past the 100mph mark and it finally rolled to the 15-20mph mark which I believe is about 135mph before I let off the gas. Bad tires and drum brakes had me a little nervous.
I have to disagree with you, having owned over 10 VW bugs and learned to drive on a 1971 super beetle, the clutch for 1st gear was difficult compared to modern cars.
The only problem is they aren’t cheap. They’ve become as iconic as a 65 Mustang or a 64 Corvette. They are collectibles at this point. The few that remain are cherished by their owners.
That brings back memories. My best friend had one and we had so much fun with it. Got it stuck a few times off road it a lot and rolled it over once while it was full of teens . After untangling from each other crawled out rolled it back on its wheels waited for the oil get back in the pan. Cranked it up put the battery back in its box and let the fun start over again. Great memories !
I made my bug into a baja way back in 1972. The biggest problem I had was finding a reliable method to waterproof the distributor. It would often crap-out when it rained.
The basic difference is swing axle vs. IRS. In either case, the transaxle needs upgrades for off road use. A modern charging system is also a must. If you're driving in very dusty conditions, a proper off-road (high mounted) air filter is a worthwhile investment.
Love the bug eye font end on this one very classic!! I like the bug eye with the real hard to find whales tail fender/rear deck spoiler blended together that’s the perfect look too me!
I had a baja bug that my dad built the motor for it. I dont know the cc's. I was only 17. But it would bury the 100mph speedo pretty quick relatively. It would also smoke 235-65-15 centerlines. Thing looked like crap but was a beast. Theres a lot more to this story but thats the just of it. It was fun and fast back in the late 90's.
Unfortunately "Cheap" and "Baja Bug" don't belong together in the same sentence any more :( Back when a VW was just a used car you could pick up for nothing, making a Baja was cheap. Now they've been out of production so long that they've gone into the "classic car" value market. I was fortunately able to build mine right before prices shot through the roof about 12-15 years back, it's been a blast to own and drive. I bought an aircooled Vanagon to get the Type 4 2.0 liter engine with factory EFI and heavy-duty 091 transaxle. Swapped those into the Bug, cut the fenders for tire clearance and the nose for approach angle, and welded on front+rear tube bumpers. Not the prettiest Baja out there but still gets the job done :)
I know a girl who blew up the motor in her regular bug. Her dad took it to get fixed. He was very wealthy. They put a trans, motor, from a Porsche. That car was only 1rst 2nd unless u got on the highways. I drove it to get my license at 15. Easy peezy, 1rst gear. Mostly.
I thought the 73-75 bugs didn't baja because of the independent rear suspension? Had a 73 that i wanted to convert and my uncle's were like nah, can't do it.
To this day, there are not many cars that can go on the road, and then on a side-by-side trail.. Plus, they are cheap to fix and maintain. The only downside to these dinosaurs is emissions total NON-compliance. Time for an updated version?
Not quite an Elantra since that is a water cooled front engine front wheel drive vehicle. The beetle is an air cooled rear engine very light vehicle. Not normal at all. And an awful comparison. -Just saying. Thanks for the video.
I ran one in my '69, along with Sway-A-Way torsional driveshafts, Porsche 935 CV's, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Made it more fun, because I could beat on it a little harder and not break anything.
I had a Meyers Manx back in the late 70s. It had a bus transaxle, turning brakes and massaged 1300 engine. Probably around 65-70 hp. Not that fast, but it went off road very well. Sold it to my brother. Actually, gave it to him because he never paid me a cent. I don't know what he did with it, probably sold it for booze. I wish I had it now. Loads of fun.
I have a Class 11 style full fender baja, a 5 unlimited baja with a 2332 and a Class 12 buggy that I'm gonna race. I'm addicted to offroad air-cooled cars
