Slow cars are fun

I love me some fast cars, just check out my V12 MGB-GT build, but last year my wife and I dragged somebody elses unfinished VW Baja project out of a field and finished it. It's the slowest thing I have ever owned but it's so much fun. Nobody EVER shoots us dirty looks in this car-6 year old girls to 90 year old men, rockers, hiphop guys, bikers, cops, old ladies in walkers..they all love it. And I can floor the throttle and power shift at every light and will never get a ticket for street racing. Here's the car when we got it:

And after we were done:

That just proves up the old adage that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

One of my most fun cars was a Datsun B110. I was a race car driver every day behind the wheel.

Good looking bug

That goes for racing too, the slower cars of the early 2000's on back, compared to today are the best cars and the best to watch and produced the best racing

Yeh, I had a 300 hp, 2500 lb Porsche 911 that would run 1:07 on the track and it was way more fun than the 2011 911 Turbo I drove recently that easily ran 1:03's. My ex roommates classic Mini was slow but oh-so-much-fun too.

Looks nice! Is it a '69?

Wow!! You did such a great job on it! I have wanted to do a Baja Bug project forever but just never found the right one. Well done!

Absolutely awesome, well done!

Always wanted a baja bug like that...

Nice job! Fast is not everything.

Looks like an IRS bug.. so 69,70, or 71 to guess by the taillights.

And I agree.. I can get myself in just as much trouble with my 140hp BMW as I can with something twice the power

more details on the build? details on cost?

Awesome job! The HotWheels theme will get you positive feedback from everyone no matter their demographic!

Well done. Looks like you'll get some of the best smiles per gallon possible!

That is just fantastic. So nicely done. Everything about it looks "right".

Of COURSE people like it--it's brimming with awesome.

Very much agreed. You can be driving the piss out of a low hp car, and no one notices--except you, and you're grinning from ear to ear. A low hp, good handling (key!) car sits in the garage, and always makes me smile when I drive it.

CarKid1989 wrote: more details on the build? details on cost?

And more pics please!!

Feedyurhed wrote:

CarKid1989 wrote: more details on the build? details on cost?

And more pics please!!

Seriously--a build like that happened w/ one of our members and it never made it to the board?

Lewd. Lascivious. Salacious. OUTrageous.

That looks like fun! Do you know the Desert Dingo Team, they did Dakar and the Baja in a bug like that:

http://www.desertdingo.com/blog/

Bitchin'! Don't change a thing.

Absolutely love it!

To answer a few of the questions: Year: It's a 1974 but I like the older taillights better and Bug people get confused when they see the vents behind the quarter windows with the older lights. Cost: It's better to never add up the cost of a project, it's always depressing. More Pictures: They are uploading to Photobucket as I type this and I will post soon. The rear suspension is IRS and we put Bilsteins all the way around. The engine is stock internally but rebuilt and has dual Solex carbs and electronic ignition. It runs amazingly well and sounds awesome with the Stinger exhaust. I had to learn electrical because I wired the whole thing front to back myself. We had a semi air horn complete with air tank and cord that hung down by the driver but it had to be refilled manually and was a hassle so now it has an electric air horn. Some day we may put a compressor in the car and put the air horn back in. My wife did most of the body work and we farmed out the final stuff and paint. The tires are 32" tall in back and believe it or not, we run only 10-12 psi in all 4 tires with no negative effects. I would have done a build thread except I only recently discovered the concept of build threads. It was the confidence I got from completing this car that got me to start building my EMod MGB-GT.

^^^^^^^^^^ Good answer. Looking forward to those pics!

More pictures when we got it:

First thing we got was tires:

My wife tackled the bodywork (she bought a book and everything :) ) while I took care of getting the engine going and the brakes.

I moved the car to my work so I could work on it more. I also have a welder and tubing bender there so I could remake or repair the push bumpers and nerf bars.

Took it to Derricks Sandblasting to get the interior blasted and they are also a bodyshop for semi trucks so our little car was surrounded by Kenworths and Peterbilts. We had them prime it, do the final bodywork and spray it a super tough paint meant for trucks. Yes, I know the rollcage was brazed, we found that out when it was blasted and there was nothing I could do about it. I ground off and welded some of the important ones but we don't run the Baja 500 in it so the faux cage is fine. All the bars are powdercoated.