vw beetles?

Question

my mom used to have a old vw beetle that i think was made back in the 60's, did all of those come in manual, or could u get one with automatic?

Answer 1

To add on to what notaclue had to say, they where not "junk" and really unfairly got that rep from misuse by there owners. Really want kills these transaxles quicker than anything, was the fact that most drivers would just leave the car in high all day long. Which not only trashed the transaxle, but it lagged the hell out of the motor which is one of the worse things you can do to an air-cooled vw motor. VWOA is partial to blame for this problem since they honestly did to little to stress the important of still having to shift the car.

I will correct one thing thought as the car actually had 3 forward gears. Low, Drive 1, Drive 2 Check out this link : http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/70beetle/29.jpg
*Some claim the manual should had told you to use Low as first gear and not to just skip it.

Anyways like the super, the auto stick was just another move by VW to give the American market what they wanted and over time the classic designs are more respected.

Now back to your original question, starting in 1968 you could order your Beetle with an auto stick. And while they are no where as common as manual beetles, they are not very hard to find(a lot of people will tell you there rare, but their not at all). You should have not problem finding one on thesamba.com or ebay.com(check out the car before you bid) , honestly you could probably be the owner of one in a day if you where in a hurry. But wth these cars, take your time and find one that is as complete and original as possible. Replacement auto stick spefic parts aren't as cheap as normal parts, so find one that doesn't need anything. As well if you have dreams of power in the future, forget it. The autostick can handle a 1776cc motor at a max, but who wants a auto on a performance car?

Answer 2

All vw beetle are manual. the first time that vw came out with automatic was the 1968. it is a semi-automatic three speed and is the only 1968 with irs suspension all other 68's have swing axle. hope that helps!

Answer 3

I believe you could get both but the manual was more popular. The New VW Beetles come in both

Answer 4

VW never made a bug with a "automatic" as we generally think of it as. They made a "semi automatic" that you had to shift but it had no clutch. I had a 1974 with one. It only had high and low forward gears and reverse. Was a great little car to drive and good on gas too! Not a power house with only about 60 HP!
They were not "junk" as previously reported either. With proper maintainence and driving the car like it was meant to be, they had no problems with them. I suppose if you were one of the jerks that has to power shift everything and race down the road like a raving maniac then more than likely they had problems! They weren't designed for that purpose!

Answer 5

I believe the Bug in the 60s all came with a standard shift. In fact, alot of the cars of that time were the same. Most baby boomers have no problems driving a stick shift and even prefer it.

Answer 6

my son has a vw 74 beetle ,but that make is manual

Answer 7

I don't know if they come automatic but I came from California where they fix cars. I have seen a V.W. automatic, I have seen one that was able to out run a mustang, and I have seen a stretched V.W. all of this stuff my have been added.

Answer 8

All were stick later models had a thing called auto stick but it was junk and did not work well.

Answer 9

You wouldn't want an automatic. They were verrry underpowered