Wonder Pic Of The Week
The nr. 4 Capital Vee and it’s team, behind the 1967 World Championship car driven by Tony Jeffries.
Photo: Viljoen collection
My chance to buy the last of the last
Article by Tyrone Morris
When the law was passed in Mexico that taxis had to have four doors back in late 2002, the final chapter of the air-cooled beetle would unfold.
VAG as we know had contracted vw mexico to produce beetles for the european market back in the late 70’s, as demand still warranted imports into Germany from latin America once the Germans had ceased european production in 1978. The ships kept on docking into Emden until European safety regulations halted the final batch of 50th anniversary beetles to Europe in 1985. This could have been the end for the beloved air-cooled icon, but luckily the Mexican government encouraged and incentivized ongoing local production as the taxi industry benefitted by the supply of these green and white “vochos”, ironically resembling the old german polizei colours. An ongoing lease of life for the air-cooled model echoes the rebranding of the golf1 legacy in South Africa. It appears that the two death-defiant models even shared some parts, i.e. the steering wheel and interior of the late mexican beetles mirrors that of the late mark 1 golfs.
Motorheads Diary 2012
It’s back, and better than ever!
For the 6th consecutive year the Motorheads Diary will be on the shelves from the middle of November. As always the 2012 edition not only has a page a day diary, (with only half pages for weekend days, mainly for those who get up late), but it’s filled to the brim with stories and pics on motoring trivia, interesting people and car stories, club news, event dates and a whole lot more.
In fact the “more” part has become one of the main reasons it’s such a useful book. It’s packed with trade information, like who sells spares for a 1948 Ford, who to contact if you need information on collectible cars like VW’s and Volvo’s, or where to find the best automotive glass experts. You can find the name and phone numbers of car manufacturers and importers, car clubs and race circuits.
Of course the end of the year is when thoughts turn to new beginnings next year, and if you need a bit of help planning for 2012 you can always have a glance through the Motorheads Star signs… they are generally rubbish, so if your star sign doesn’t appeal to you, just chose one you like better!
At the bottom of each page there is always a little box with something interesting for the day… ideal for those times you are hanging on the line for a call centre or an official department to answer. […]