Keeping the Love!

Those of us of a certain age will remember the numerous Disney films about the fabulously fun capers of a car called Herbie as the Love Bug.

The original VW Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and was the first car under the German brand VW (Volkswagen – ‘the people’s car). The fortunes of VW and the Beetle have been linked with various events including the WW2 years, then the phenomenal exposure of the films, and as a firm the recent emissions scandals.

However, one of the major innovations of the Beetle was an air-cooled engine at the rear of the car. This reduced weight but also freed up the cabin from a prop shaft tunnel. A patent was filed in the 70s for the addition of ventilation slots to the rear section of the vehicle to work with the air ram and offset the hood in order to avoid overheating with Dans Buser as the inventor.

Simple modifications work and there is no need for potentially dodgy engine modifications.