this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2026
257 points (97.8% liked)

pics

29783 readers
631 users here now

Rules:

1.. Please mark original photos with [OC] in the title if you're the photographer

2..Pictures containing a politician from any country or planet are prohibited, this is a community voted on rule.

3.. Image must be a photograph, no AI or digital art.

4.. No NSFW/Cosplay/Spam/Trolling images.

5.. Be civil. No racism or bigotry.

Photo of the Week Rule(s):

1.. On Fridays, the most upvoted original, marked [OC], photo posted between Friday and Thursday will be the next week's banner and featured photo.

2.. The weekly photos will be saved for an end of the year run off.

Weeks 2023

Instance-wide rules always apply. https://mastodon.world/about

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

all 27 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ladicius@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Beetles look iconic but as cars they were complete shit. Heating and blowing the windows dry was nonexistent, the car had no acceleration at all, the back seats were only meant for dwarves and kindergarteners, driving it was loud and unsafe and shaky...

We loved that car.

[–] protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] ladicius@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

True. In the 1980s friends and I drove a lot of high class cars from the 1960s - those formerly expensive cars, big boxes with big engines, were shit compared even to middle class cars from the 1980s regarding comfort and safety.

[–] ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oof, don't show their license plate...

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Can you find someone's identity from their plates or something?

[–] protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

you can track their routes thanks to license plate readers and deduce where they live

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well only if you're a cop or something right?

[–] protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

assuming cops are not selling access to it, or not themselves malicious, and that the authentication method to access it is magically perfectly secure sure

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago

Ok. I can see how it's at least theoretically possible but considering this is just a post about a classic car it doesn't seem too problematic in this instance. It's not much different than just seeing a car on the road. I don't think anyone is hacking into ALPR systems to track down owners of random cars they see whether in person or online.

[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 15 points 1 day ago

It’s beautiful!

It’s in such great shape too. They must really be caring for it.

My sister and I each had one in HS. She took the purple one and I got the black. My favorite part was something went wrong with the horn and it sounded like an old man screaming. Refused to fix it bc it was hilarious.

[–] Janx@piefed.social 19 points 1 day ago

Of course you did. You got eyes and a heart, don't you!? It's absolutely beautiful...

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

I'm 6'4", the one time I rode in one, I felt like the windshield was two inches from my face.

The fifteen-minute engine change was a nice selling feature, though.

World record engine change, one minute, four seconds:

https://youtu.be/gKF6dcKjLJo?t=117

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 20 hours ago

I’m 6’3” and fit no problem. Lots of headroom too, but yeah the windshield and dash are closer than modern cars in these things.

The plus side is that it’s easier to scrape the inside of the windshield in the winter, since the defroster doesn’t start working until you’re moving pretty fast.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

Took me a little more than fifteen minutes when I had to do one years ago after an engine seize. But I did it myself slowly with a few jacks.

I developed a love/hate relationship with them after four different ones. Three of them were auto stick shift. Such a fascinating concept, if you could keep it maintained.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

https://youtu.be/BQhfcdQf1QA

Plus, you can change the belt on one while it's running.

[–] shiroininja@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah that’s one of the things I love about the old beetles, is the ease of repairs. I love a simple design.

I also love the simplicity of older cars but also recognize that while newer cars are more complicated, you also don't need to regularly pull the engines out because it needs its 30k mile rebuild.

[–] skooma_king@piefed.social 7 points 1 day ago

I can smell this car

[–] deHaga@feddit.uk 9 points 1 day ago

I had a 1991 Mexican import to the UK. Was great, apart from the heating, mild carbon monoxide poisoning with every commute.

[–] stevles@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yep, love the classic Beetle’s. Back when Volkswagen was run by people with souls.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's a beautiful car, but German automotive manufacturing between the late 1930s (when the beetle was introduced) and mid 1940s was not necessarily the most... umm... soulful.

[–] stevles@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I believe everyone is aware that Hitler’s demand for cars shaped their beginnings. A company's history during World War II isn't particularly relevant 60 years later though 💁

[–] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Back when Volkswagen was run by people with souls.

okay but you have to admit this is a wild statement to anyone who knows the origins of the brand.

[–] stevles@aussie.zone 2 points 23 hours ago

What's social media without wild statements? 😀

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

What did it play?

Beep beep?

Or maybe beep beep beep?