I don’t know how much of it is urban legend, but quite a few people “know” that the old VW beetle would float due to it being air tight. It’s certainly difficult to close the doors if you don’t have a window cracked, and of course there’s the Hollywood scene where Herbie is riding the waves. On Google I even found a nice pic of a floating beetle.
There’s a claim that the one in the pic stayed afloat for over 40 minutes.
However, the only time I know when someone actually tried it was a raft race on the Ohio River. The rules are basically that anything that floats can be used as a raft (it’s more of a fun thing than an actual contest). One year, someone entered a VW beetle. It sank.
So what’s the straight dope? Do the old beetles float or no?
I’ve heard of this but not tried it (Chicken) but the 1963 Beetle I used to use had vents in the front footwells, an excellent siting for water ingress, also, if they were airtight, how would the heater work?
I also drive Citroens with hydraulic suspesion (GS, BX, Xantia) that are claimed to be driveable with only three wheels, but have always been too catious to attmpt that as well.
There have been attempts to cross both the English (and the Irish??*) channel in Beetles, but they required modification. I don’t think anyone has succeeded yet.
Former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan tried crossing the Irish/English???* channel in 1985 (in his programme ‘Duncan Dares’), but sunk about three quarters of the way across. The underside of the car was caulked to make it waterproof, and a propeller and rudder fitted (steered with a little ship’s wheel on the passenger (left hand) side of the car). A standard Beetle would almost certainly sink in pretty short order, so I wouldn’t try it…
Here’s a piccie! (He’s the guy who’s not standing up).
*[SUB]A google search threw up a small piece about him crossing the English channel, but I distinctly remember watching it at the time and it being the Irish channel. Probably I’m just going senile.[/SUB]
I sort of floated in two different beetles. During heavy rain the base of a certain overpass would develop a good sized pond. I twice hit that pond in the dark.
The first time I had the less-beat-up beetle which was watertight enough to float a few feet (mostly sideways) before it sank enough to touch down and drive away.
The second one was very-beat-up and didn’t float. Instead a wave of water came through the dashboard. I still drove away, though.
That’s a relief, jinty. I really thought my memory was playing tricks with me for a moment.
Swimwagon looks wicked by the way I definitely want one… (Although I’m not so sure what to make of the guy test-driving it. :eek:)
By the way, didn’t Duncan and co. have to put ballast in the luggage compartment of their Beetle to keep it stable? (as some people do even when driving the things on dry land.)
Yep, I remember an entire series of pictures showing Beetles floating in various situations, with captions like “If (this person) had a Beetle …”
That inspired a National Lampoon ad showing a Beetle floating next to a wooden bridge, and the caption “If Ted Kennedy had a Beetle, he’d be President today.”
Back in (IIRC) the early 70s Volkswagen had a commercial on American television in which a Beetle was shown floating. It ended with the announcer saying that “while a Beetle can definitely float, it can’t float indefinitely”.
While this isn’t really proof, a Beetle floats in the old Burt Lancaster movie Castle Keep. It’s a funny scene; the car is rolled into a moat, and then seems alive as, wheels spinning, it comes rushing back at the men who pushed it.
The National Lampoon was later compelled to print an apology to the Volkswagen Company, explaining to readers that it had not been a real VW ad. Matty Simmons, publisher of the magazine, later observed that they never got any comment of any kind from Senator Kennedy’s office.
The old Beetles, in new condition were much closer to air-tight than typical US cars. They would float, for a while. But air does seep in. (For a demo of a sinking of a vintage US car, watch “Psycho.”)
However, Beetles rust easily in certain places. E.g., the battery well under the rear seat. So a well used Beetle probably won’t float for long.
Note that in addition to water getting in at the bottom, air has to escape thru the top. So the better sealing the doors and windows, the longer it will float.
Dad drove a 1958 Beetle, Mom drove a 1968 SuperBeetle ( first year they made em ).
Dad’s battery leaked out and trashed the floorboards, we used to get water leaking UP into the flooring during really heavy downpours. Yech.
Having said that, the car was VERY airtight. So much so that the rubberized cloth sun roof Dad had, used to “pop” up when we would slam a door closed. I never saw a Beetle float besides Herbie, but it was accepted lore around our family that one could indeed float for longer than your average Buick…
Cartooniverse ( who owned a 1978 Rabbit. That damned thing wouldn’t have even slowed DOWN if I’d driven it into a river. )
The UBC engineering students are fond of pranks involving putting Beetles in odd places. Once many years ago (I think I was still in elementary school when this happened) they floated one in Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. However, they always use gutted Beetles for their pranks and I would suspect that they one they put in Lost Lagoon was also modified to ensure it would float. Whether this involved simply sealing it to make sure no water could get in or something more extensive, I don’t know.
FYI, the Brits have introduced a new amphibious car. 100 mph on land/ 30 mph over water, plus it is a convertible! A bit pricey at 150,000 UK, but sure to be a chick magnet ;).
Yeah sure, if the chicks don’t mind the lack of doors and the need to jump into the car, a la Dukes of Hazzard.
Everybody is talking about the airtightness of Beetles, which I’m sure helps, but I think it probably has more to do with the fact that they are really light-weight cars with rear-mounted engines. Also, the bubble shape of the wheel wells are probably good for keeping air trapped in them, which then function as makeshift pontoons.
Make a Buick’s doors as airtight as a Bug, and it will still sink like a rock.
I definitely want one… (Although I’m not so sure what to make of the guy test-driving it. :eek:)
should’ve been :eek: