In Our Garage with Craig Webb's 1967 VW Beetle

Craig Webb purchased his 1967 Volkswagen Beetle as a surprise for his two sons who loved watching the movie Herbie.

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How long have you had your vehicle and why did you buy it?

Well, it's a 1967 Beetle.

We've had it for a little bit over 14 years. My youngest son, who is 16 now, he wasn't quite two when we got it.

My other son is now 18.

Yeah, too many Herbie movies and one day I find myself bidding on eBay and got one.

What was their reaction?

I was trying to bring it home as a surprise, without my sons seeing it, and was just going to park in the driveway then beep the horn in the morning.

But it didn't quite work out because it sort of broke
down at Childers.

They were pretty ecstatic, they used to love driving in it when they were younger.

What condition was it in?

It was all original still, but the paint was all falling off of it, and surface rust was all over the roof and
the guards and everything - but everything was there.

Seats were pretty well had it and we had to reupholster the seats and new carpet and that sort of thing and obviously we rebuilt the motor.

What are the specifics of the engine?

It's just a 1916, they call it 1916-1915.

That's the cubic capacity, the exact cubic capacity of the
motor, twin carbys, extractors.

I've done a lot of fiddling, experimenting to try and get really good fuel economy plus performance.

I've managed that.

The original motor would only give about 38 miles per gallon and now I can get 48 miles per gallon.

Do you drive it much?

This one's been to Adelaide and back, the Great Ocean Road and everything.

Occasionally I'll park up in town and I remember this one instance this very elderly man.

He was on a walking stick, I reckon he was mid-eighties, and he was just all hunched over, walking along.

All of a sudden he just saw the car parked there and he just like, almost stood up straight and he was looking at the car and he smiled.

Memories obviously flooded back to
him then.

What do you love about beetles?

They're small, they are air cooled, no radiator and they are simple, very simple.

Not like modern cars with computers.

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