Bugspray Quotes

“Make sure you date someone who always makes you want to dance, with or without music.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Is human dignity and human life so cheap that the rights protecting it can be traded away to appease the appetite for intimidation and prejudice of a vicious and self-centered group - for whatever reason, power, politics, nationalism, or unity?”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Knowing who you are is half the peace of accepting yourself.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Advanced weaponry, victories in battle and space travel do not an advanced species or civilization make.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Because freedom and liberty and equality are as vital as breath, we only notice their absence when we are left gasping when the colors of diversity and individual liberty are drained from the world around us.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Hate is no respecter of race - as apparently neither is stupidity.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“The only marches I have ever witnessed under a banner of so-called "Christianity" have been to enforce oppression and incite hatred and intolerance - and to deprive people of their equal civil rights.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Those who say 'it's just an animal' are really saying more about themselves than they realize.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“The idea that all people can and should live together in peace is not really a new one - but yet in practice it is very young indeed.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“You cannot defend human rights without fighting religious fanatics - regardless of one's own religious experience - it is unavoidable. Why? Because they are the ones who take issue with how other people live their lives instead of minding their own business.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“How can you put human rights to a popular vote and call it democracy? How many times do you need to redefine or haggle about the meaning of the word EQUALITY?”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“You can only really appreciate being up when you know what it's like to have been down.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Vents were added to the rear bonnet in 1972 and resulted in wet engines and starting problems, and then extra drip-trays to compensate. From 1968 the Beetle got the right side fuel flap that dodgy people used to break open to steal your gas – or your fuel cap – another hard to find item if lost!”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Aerodynamically there isn’t much you can do to enhance your Beetle’s handling. The Porsche style whale tale – um, tail is just that – a load of nonsense. It does no aerodynamic spoiling at all except to spoil your car ergonomically, and quite frankly, it looks like crap. It goes with blue LED lights under the car and (yuk) fur on the dashboard.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“These mods made significant improvements to the cars – enough so that I changed my mind (another procedure altogether) every time I thought of selling the damn thing and buying a Toyota. I hope you benefit from this and preserve your ailing finances!
Good luck!”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Large Squares, 1965 -Last Beetle
The body is much the same as the previous model, aside from increase in window size all round. Door handles and lock mechanisms also changed as well as seat and dashboard designs. Chrome beading became thinner, mounting holes for these also smaller. Chrome was later replaced by black anodizing or plastic to try and modernize the Bug. Tail light clusters changed from the oval shape to the ‘headstone’ and then the ‘elephant’s foot’ jumbo units the bug saw its last days with. In 1965 new larger windows all round. 1966 saw the last 6v bug, and also the first 1300cc motor. Those horrible little air vents behind the rear side windows came out in 1971 that caused lots of rusty bugs. Sloping headlights looked much nicer but went out in 1967.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“The original KDF-wagen as it was called was basic and rudimentary, but essentially the same as the later post war production cars that followed. Features of this vehicle included cable operated brakes (!!) and a tiny 800cc flat four motor with a single exhaust, 16 inch tires and the KDF twin glove compartment (without lids) dash.
Oh, and last but not least – probably the most famous and sought-after rear window in automotive history!”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Now I don’t know how many people like to drive a Beetle at that kind of speed (on purpose) but I know I’d rather go down Brickmaker’s Kloof on a bicycle with no brakes! Driving any car at that speed in anything other than an expensive German luxury car on a long, straight autobahn is enough of a risk (let alone the risk of hitting anything) – but if you try that with a Beetle and add a light crosswind, factor in some rubber peeling off your tire, and you’ll more than likely find yourself dancing alone in a dark corner without any music.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Oval Window, 1953 - 1957
In 1953 came the first major changes in Beetle styling. Rear view was increasingly a problem and so the boys in Wolfsburg cut out the centre post and made the split into an oval. Some callous butchers are known to have manually cut the center post of the split rear window out either to improve rear visibility or to make their cars look newer!
This window stayed in vogue until 1958 with the first small square rear window model.
Note that the rear bonnet was the same as the Split, except for minor changes such as handle and ‘popes nose’ designs. Taillights are larger and also oval shaped. Outer lens is GLASS, not plastic and has a distinctive honeycomb pattern. These Bugs also came with pop-up (semaphore) indicators in the b-pillars.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Dollying the rest up is your baby. (Btw, did I mention it’s cheap?) Most of the procedures described can be done by virtually anyone with the parts currently residing on their drive-to-work banger. The rest are low-budget (cheap!) and can be carried out with household or garage tools. All of these are things that I did to one or more of the Beetles I’ve had.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Before We Begin
Is Your Bug A nice clean original car that looks almost like it
left the showroom yesterday?
P.S. All work should be carried out in consultation with a reliable workshop manual with regard to torque settings, gaps, procedures, sequences disassembly, reassembly, where to hide the leftover parts, etc. I will accept no responsibility for anything resulting from
you or anybody else trying anything as described in this document whatsoever – but if it works or you end up with some amusing stories to tell someone else’s grandchildren, please feel free to drop me a line. (No death threats please.)
Sincerely,
Christina Engela”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“Beetles were made from 1938, in pre-war Nazi controlled Germany. The few actual civilian cars that were produced were used as staff cars and propaganda tools. It is a well known fact that not one of the original civilian orders for the cars were ever fulfilled, at least until the 1960’s when a law suit brought about a settlement for a small number of successful claimants.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“The Beetle’s body, whether it be a ’49 split or a ’73 Jeans Bug, or an ‘03 Mexican, was originally conceived in the mid 1930’s. This is evident in it’s body styling which aside from it’s rear engine layout and absence of front radiator (or radiator!) grille, is very similar to other cars of the same period. Believe it or not, in those days streamlining was a hot new concept, kind of like how wireless networking is today with computing.
The only problem was, in the beginning they didn’t seem to realize that streamlining ought to be applied sideways as well as longitudinally!”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“This is not your standard “How to restore” your VW Beetle book. It’s also not a workshop manual. Aside from a basic rundown on the differences between various bug models through the years, there is a section on some things you can do to preserve your bug. Mostly however, what I’ve done is reviewed all the things I did to my bugs
and put those ideas together as cheap, skillful, cheap, d.i.y, cheap means of enhancing your grocery getter’s performance and handling.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray

“The famous split window
Splits had the KDF dash until 1953, which had two glove compartments. Note rear “w” bonnet and small round taillights. There were no indicators like today’s cars – just pop-up indicators that work with an electric servo, called ‘trafficators’ or ‘semaphores’. 6v electrics. Small, flat front windscreen.”
― Christina Engela, Bugspray