Old cars that now look tremendous.

[Toby Gymshorts]

I did google nvfg but am none the wiser

Not very fucking good.

[Kevin S]

The later Beetles have absolutely nothing in common with the Mk I. Even the current Mini is closer to its alleged predecessor and that isn’t close at all.

I don't think that matters in terms of the question, does it?

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Toyota Landcruiser, 60 years.

I couldn't believe that, that's too long, so I went to read up more about it, and it's actually 70 fucking years.

[Amor de Cosmos]

On the title of the thread, any aficionados who may be here this fall should definitely check out MOMa's Automania exhibition

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5210?

Though I am sorry to report that the absolutely stunning display in the sculpture garden of an original FIAT 500, a gorgeous Porsche 911 and the most perfectly restored Citröen DS that I have ever seen has closed due to the onset of inclement weather.

The first occasion I saw a DS in its full plumage was revelatory. It must have been 1957/58. I was walking with my father and grandfather in the small south Yorkshire village where I was born. We turned a corner in the lane, and there it was. As incongruous as an object from another galaxy. Cream with red upholstery. It couldn't be a car! Cars had mudguards and radiators, and were black or, at best, muddy greys or beiges. This must belong to Dan Dare in the Eagle not someone living just outside Sheffield. For the nine or ten-year-old me, it was definitely an indicator that magnificence in a mundane world was an actual and achievable possibility.

[Sunderporinostesta]

On the title of the thread, any aficionados who may be here this fall should definitely check out MOMa's Automania exhibition

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5210?

Though I am sorry to report that the absolutely stunning display in the sculpture garden of an original FIAT 500, a gorgeous Porsche 911 and the most perfectly restored Citröen DS that I have ever seen has closed due to the onset of inclement weather.

Awwwwh mmmaaaaaannnnnnnnn.
I put an offer in to buy a flat in London and while waiting to find out if it had been accepted would stroll around checking the area out. There was always a dark green/cream roof version parked somewhere visible from my flat to be. How cool is this gonna be eh? Looking out of the window at a car like that eh?
Offer accepted and I moved in. Never noticed the car again. It took me about a month to realise it belonged to the bloke I’d bought the flat from.
I bet the neighbours weren’t as enthused about my 12 year old escort van.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

There's a picture in Cashel House hotel, near Carna, of De Gaulle arriving for his post retirement hideaway, after he was spotted in killarney. He had one of these, and it looked amazing.

It's also the car that the Mentalist drives around in in the Schlocky tv show of the same name.

[lambers]

In terms of long running models:

Beetle MkI:1945 to 2003 (continued to be made and sold in South America after the European/US markets stopped)
Beetle MkII: 1998 to 2011
Beetle MkIII: 2011 to 2019

So 1945 - 2019 = 74 years.

I didn't realise the Beetle continued to be made just in South America, I was initially discounting that and the Fiat 500 as long runners due to my imagined gaps in production.

Sounds like the Land Cruiser is a close second place, or first for anyone who feels like discounting the Beetle.

[ursus arctos]

VW only stopped producing the Beetle at its huge factory in Puebla, Mexico in 2019

The car has an iconic position in Mexico and was by far the dominant form of taxis in the capital for many years

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk...etle_in_Mexico

[ad hoc]

Yes in Brazil too, where a VW beetle is known as a "fusca". It features in the Jorge Ben song Pais Tropical

Moro num país tropical Abençoado por Deus
  E bonito por natureza (mas que beleza)
  Em fevereiro (em fevereiro)
  Tem carnaval (tem carnaval)
  Eu tenho um fusca e um violão
  Sou Flamengo, tenho uma nêga chamada Tereza

Roughly:
I live in a tropical country, blessed by God, and naturally beautiful. In February we have carnival. I have a VW Beetle,and a guitar. I support Flamengo and have a (black) girlfriend called Tereza

(It sounds better in Portuguese)

[Nurse Duckett]

Further to that, I just this week learned that most classic VW names were winds; Golf is Gulf Stream, Jetta is Jet Stream, Polo is Polar Wind, Passat is Trade Wind, and Scirocco was an actual wind name.

And Bora.

[ad hoc]

The (VW) Karmann Ghia is a car I'd never heard of before I went to the states, but over there it seems to have semi mythical status

[Amor de Cosmos]

It had the reputation of being a piece of doggy doo back in its day, but became very desirable later. Based largely on its appearance I imagine.

[WOM]

Yeah, fetish car because of the perceived low cost good times. See also VW Thing and Porsche 914.

[ursus arctos]

ms ursus had one,which I famously drove into a grape field in the Central Valley.
She didn't let me drive it again.

[ad hoc]

Not surprised. If you're going to drive a Karmann Ghia into a vineyard you need to be doing it in Napa.

[ursus arctos]

Importantly, it was not a vineyard, but rather a grape field

[ad hoc]

Still, a vineyard is also a grape field, so better said if you're going to drive your Karmann Ghia into a grape field it should be in Napa

[ursus arctos]

It also died on us late at night in a part of Oakland that one would not choose for such an adventure, especially in the late 80s

She replaced it with a Beetle soon after that.

Ghias were well known for being bought as hobby projects by guys who worked at places with names like Wolfgang's German Autohaus from owners who had done the financial maths on their previous half dozen visits for service.

[Nurse Duckett]

I had a Corgi Toys VW Kharmann Ghia, gold with an opening bonnet and engine cover, when I was about 8. No idea how it came into my possession.

Karl, I think I called it, somewhat imaginatively.

[ursus arctos]

ms ursus' was also gold, as it so happens

[Amor de Cosmos]

One of my first art instructors had a Ghia. He bought it because he couldn't afford a Ford Mustang — which in 1966 Britain would have been the hetero male equivalent of finding yourself in bed with Raquel Welch — but ditched it fairly quickly.

[Sits]

I couldn't believe that, that's too long, so I went to read up more about it, and it's actually 70 fucking years.

Always trust an accountant with numbers.

[Eggchaser]

Karmann Ghias are a fairly popular candidate for EV conversions, because they look cool but no one protests about ripping out the dogshit engine and replacing it with something both reliable and able to pull a tooth out of a dead horse's head, torque wise.

[Sits]

Dropped the car off for a service this morning and there were a couple of gems in the workshop. Only one pic per post on the phone for some reason.

[Sits]