The makers of VW parts celebrated the 60^th birthday of the Transporter. At the same time, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles reached its 10 millionth mark, due to the successful production of vans. This celebration was all the more hyped up when UK advertisements pumped up a powerful copy, “10 Million Transporter Drivers Can’t Be Wrong”.

The VW parts-bearing van was first produced in Wolfsburg in the year 1950. It echoes the same power that the Beetle has—a 1,131 cc engine that develops 25PS. Today, the Transporter varies in four diesel engines—TDI PD, 1.9-liters to 2.5-liters—a long way from what it once was. But at the same time, the same old magic of the Transporter is still in tact. After the next 60 years that this van will live through, we will really know that 20 million Transporter Drivers can’t be wrong—or more.

Source: autoindustry

The Canadian arm of the makers of the VW parts announced that they will be “enhancing” the manufacturer’s sales program to offer “an even more attractive value-priced vehicle according to a report made by newswire.com.

“For a limited time only, consumer savings now total $2,500 on Jetta, $4,000 on Passat, and $5,000 on Touareg 2. In addition, any new 2008 Eos now benefits from savings of $2,000. Under this enhanced program, attractive APR rates, starting as low as 1.9 % have been extended to select 2008 model-year vehicles. These offers are valid until January 2, 2008,” the report stated.

The Canadian makers of high-quality VW parts are based in Ajax, Ontario. This great news will definitely help Canadians to achieve their dreams of driving a Volkswagen car. Be it the Jetta or the Touareg 2, sales will be expected to rise in the Canadian market.

Source: newswire.com

From Google’s ever-expanding ways to help people (the lazy ones who heavily rely on the internet, that is), they bring us the Google Street View. But with those very intensive shots, did you know that a Volkswagen Beetle is one of the cars that are responsible for creating these images? Yes, the flag-bearer of the VW parts is indeed chosen to be modified for some street-picture-tripping. Popular Mechanics took a ride at how this went, and they hopped onto the “Immersive Media VW Beetle” to see how it works its magic.

There is a $45,000 Dodeca 2360 video camera atop the Beetle’s roof. This wonder camera works 11 lenses which record a 360 degree field of view at 30 frames per second. (The film Exorcist suddenly gets into my head by explaining that, reminding me of the scene where the girl’s head made a 360 degree-turn. I guess that is how this camera works.) With that span of time, 200 miles of city scenes per day were recorded. Now that is pretty amazing. The VW parts of the Beetle were like given an overhaul—the whole back seat and front passenger seat is occupied by all the gadgets that the camera needs. Impressively, it is controlled by an “off-the-shelf Logitech game controller”. The softball-sized video camera is now considered as a revolutionary tool, especially for making Street View Map possible.

The hi-tech Beetle is being driven by Kevin Nanzer, 23, a “geoimmersive data producer for Immersive Media”. He specializes mainly on spherical video—a technology that has been known to support Google advocacies like Google earth, etc. Nanzer, together with a co-worker, traverse through the streets of the country in order to get these shots.

“By the end, you’ll get to know the city better than the one you grew up in,” he says in an interview by Popular Mechanics. “You can call me if you’re lost in Oklahoma City, and I can tell you how to get somewhere. I know all the streets.”

This teched-out Volkswagen Beetle is just one out of the six cars in the States which drive around for the same purpose. The Beetle has definitely seen it all—from Hitler’s dictatorship to this modern age of video capturing—and they will last to see more.

Source: Popular Mechanics

Macgamestore.com expanded its list of Mac game titles, coming up with the Colin McRae Rally. This game features 30 cars including two vehicles that showcase the VW parts—the Volkswagen Golf MK5, and a Beetle RSi! The game contains 300 stages in nine settings. The tracks simulate an international location, and even the road’s physical attributes vary. It uses the need for the gamer to apply real car handling physics. This game will give you just the right hint of the real rally driving. But in order to experience this game, you gotta be a Mac user first. Your system must have a Mac OS x 10.4 (or higher), 512 MB RAM, 4 GB of free hard disk space, DVD drive, with accelerated hardware 3D graphics card with a 64 MB VRAM. (Whew! Computer Geeky stuff makes me pant!)

Aside from the two VW parts-donning vehicles mentioned, other cars to look out for include a Toyota Celica GT-FOUR, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII, a Peugeot 206 and more. According to insidemacgames.com, “the core of the game is the non-linear, multi-discipline Career Challenge. Start out in the lower leagues of club rallying and learn your craft in over 20 different classes of rally events. Drive the most diverse selection of cars through more than 300 tracks in 9 worldwide locations.”

Who wants to see a decked-out Beetle RSi? We all do, that’s for sure. But if we all don’t have a chance of getting close to one, or even see one, the Colin McRae Rally game is probably the best way to go.

Source: insidemacgames

Stanford will be receiving a total of $5.57 million from Volkswagen of America. This is initially for the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab (VAIL), but it will be shared with Stanford University. VAIL is a new program that supports automotive teaching and research for interested students. This learning will take root at the Stanford University, where Junior was readied for the DARPA Challenge. From the makers of the VW parts, another branch of knowledge is accomplished to improve the automotive industry. (So before this news continues, congratulations Volkswagen, this is another great initiative from you guys!)

“The VAIL will be a solid foundation on which Volkswagen researchers and Stanford scientists will be able to find new ways to explore automotive technology,” Volkswagen of America’s Electronics Research Laboratory executive director Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, said in an interview by Earthtimes. “The work done at VAIL will help to further develop the future of mobility and autonomous driving that we started with our partnership on the DARPA Grand Challenge vehicles, Stanley and Junior.”

The makers of the VW parts are going to donate $2 million so that the California-established University could erect the building of the VAIL. A $750,000 budget is allotted every year for five years to fund the actual research and teaching activities, according to a report by Earthtimes. The classes will be held at Stanford’s CarLab, VAIL’s interdisciplinary research center.

“The success of Junior and Stanley in the DARPA Grand Challenge events show that when Stanford collaborates with great partners in industry, such as Volkswagen, we can create significant new technologies,” says Stanford Dean of Engineering Jim Plummer, in the same interview. “Transportation is a vital part of life and our goal as engineers is to find innovative ways to meet important human needs.”

Source: Earthtimes

We all know that Hitler commissioned the creation of the Beetle. Originally known as the Type 1, this car is Hitler’s vision of a five-passenger mode of transportation. Since then, as the cliché goes, everything was history. From creating VW parts for the Beetle, we now see Volkswagen stem out to provide other quality VW parts for other vehicles. But, little did we know, Volkswagen was a company rivaled in East Germany. Hence, the Beetle also has its “communist counterpart”, the Trabant or Trabi.

This little cutesy ride also rivaled the Beetle when it comes to being an icon. Even if its production halted in the year 1991, the Trabant is still successful in the many hearts that it won. Until today, Trabis are still used for transporting fun, and happy-go-lucky tourists in Germany. There are a lot of similarities between the Trabant and the Beetle. The Trabi just happens to be like the Beetle’s cheaper version, which was probably because it did not get funds from the government. Also, it received a connotation of being the “communist’s Beetle” because whereas the Beetle is employed by the Dictator Hitler, this car is not. It is a free-for-all entity.

So since there is not much tension between the Beetle and the Trabi (especially since this dictatiorship has long been over), let us congratulate and look back at Trabant’s glorious years. They have just reached their golden 50^th year. So, cheers to you, Beetle-bro!

Source: Reuters

The Baja race is one off-road event that car enthusiasts are definitely watching out for. Held every fall at Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, this race is where motorcycles, old Beetles, dune buggies, trucks, or even custom-made race vehicles go for the dirt. For this year’s race though, one team from San Jose California has been filling the Baja buzzwires. Tagged as team Desert Dingo, they upgraded the VW parts of one beat-up ’69 Beetle and entered it for the Stock VW category. The race kicked off last Sunday, and team Desert Dingo is one determined team to make their VW Beetle see through the race with flying colors.

Amazingly, the team managed to equip the Beetle with satellite phones and multiple GPS receivers. They also replaced some of its VW parts with new ones, installing a more powerful engine and tighter suspension system. This bug is now truly ready to take on any desert, or off-road course. They will be updating their roundabouts during the course of the 2,100 kilometer race through Twitter.

The team’s creativity is not only reflected on how they turned this old Beetle into a mean machine. They also showed real team spirit and camaraderie by being loyal to the Beetle. Let us just hope that their enthusiasm will be enough to carry them across the race.

The Volkswagen brake pad is among the important VW parts of your Beetle. While not all Beetles can go as fast as Herbie, it is still important to be able to pull the stops when you need to. For the classic Beetles, their brake system may be a bit outdated. Well, let’s rephrase that. Their brake system is simple, since it took on the design that was created some 70 years ago. But with the New Beetle, the brake system is very competitive. Its calipers, rotors and cylinder are all upgraded VW parts which execute good quality. But one part of your Beetle’s break system is important. That is the brake pads. While it is given that Volkswagen provides us with high-quality brake pads, we must still know how to take care of them.

First, braking is a repetitive operation that the Beetle does. It will be impossible for the parts of your brake systems to last for a lifetime—they will wear out eventually. So how will you know if your Beetle still has efficient brake pads? Fortunately, the Volkswagen brake pad comes with a little “wear indicator”. This will be seen as a little groove along the pad’s surface. So when your pad becomes worn up to the point that it reaches this groove, it means that it is time for replacement. Here’s a tip: if you change one, you must change both pads in the caliper. If one pad seems to wear out faster than the other, there is something wrong with the caliper. Have your mechanic check it.

Here’s the best tip: don’t push your brakes too hard. This will reflect your stance as a good driver too, since good drivers know how to brake gently. The harder you depress your brake pedal, the more it hastens wearing out. So to be safe, don’t gas too much so you won’t have to brake hard.

Congratulations to Volkswagen of South Africa for finally passing the 2.5 million mark. The milestone, which was reached last November 7, is welcome development for the German-based automaker’s foray into the African continent. After all, their 56 years of making VW parts is not something we can take for granted. Anyway, their 2.5 millionth car was a Golf 1.6. 2.5 is really a big number to attain, especially since some young carmakers are just reaching their millionth car.

“Interestingly, the 2.5 million vehicles we have produced here in Uitenhage include 913 000 Golfs, 314 000 Jettas, 308 000 Polos, 290 000 Beetles, 266 000 Type 2 and Type 3 Busses, 147 000 Audis and 104 000 Passats. This illustrates just how diversified and flexible our plant has been over the past 56 years,” Volkswagen of SA Managing Director David Powels said in an interview conducted by Moneyweb.com.

“Through good and bad times, Volkswagen of South Africa has remained committed to building People’s Cars and thereby offering the people of South Africa affordable mobility. Importantly, we have created thousands and thousands of jobs and has given a similar number of people the opportunity to acquire skills,” Powels emphasized, tracing back Volkswagen’s roots in servitude.

Originally a factory that is exclusive to building Volkswagen Beetles, this South African arm is now far from its goal in creating mobility in the region. Their products now vary from different car models to the different engines and VW parts. They are proud to have delivered this goal with such efficiency and much customer satisfaction. Hence, it is not so surprising that they will be making 2.5 million vehicles more. Keep up the good work SA!

Source: Moneyweb.com

In Port Charlotte, this Beetle is more than just another advertising gimmick. It dramatically became the symbol for a need to change their town’s code.

The Dawg House is a restaurant which specializes in—what else?—hotdogs. They serve fresh ways to cook ‘em, top ‘em, and the taste is great and all. But the problem is, the restaurant sits in a “tucked-away place”, according to a report by Herald Tribune. Hence, owner LeRoy Davidson modified the VW parts of this 1967 Beetle to make it a very effective tool for advertising. He parks the car outside along the main road, which eventually draws people to come to his restaurant. Without the car, sales will roll down a $400 difference.

Hence, Davidson customized these VW parts and added a red beam to make the Beetle look like it ran over a hotdog. A cute, Scooby-Doo-ish canine is illustrated at both sides, and the name of the restaurant is displayed. Problem arises when Charlotte County code compliance officer Tom Gravagna notes this as a violation of the code. Their town’s code requires them to park any means of advertisement near the business. This is similar to saying that attracting many customers this way is illegal. This, however, is not the end of it. Restaurant owner Davidson aims to change the code of their County… because it is the only way that they could park the Beetle outside.

As long as the Dawg Beetle is parked outside, it will serve as a note to everyone that not all implementations will stay as effective as before.

Story and Photo Source: Herald Tribune