So, for most of the country Winter has arrived. This means if you live in “Snow Country”, your bug is probably stored indoors somewhere or perhaps has a cover over it outside.
In a way, it’s a shame not to be able to drive them in the winter. They were certainly designed to handle whatever Mother Nature could dish out. However, the salt and brine mixtures that get applied to the roads this time of year will ruin a car. This doesn’t just apply to our classic beetles, it applies to everything we drive.
When we moved from Wisconsin to Texas in 2013, that was one of the things I didn’t miss. In fact, we started seeing issues with Tammy’s Durango shortly after we arrived down here. The five winters in Wisconsin for that car took a toll. After having it repaired twice, the auto body shop said I would be wise to get rid of it because they just couldn’t stop the rust.
That was certainly the case for my 1972 super beetle in 1982. As reliable as that car was, you can’t drive with a frame head that has rotted off. Ten winters in Wisconsin and that car was undriveable.
This is why I never drove my current 1966 beetle in the winter. I kept it in a locked garage until the salt was completely off the road in the spring. Trust me, I would have loved to have driven it in the winter. Some of my favorite memories revolve around driving my ’66 in the winter snows. These cars were designed to be driven in the snow. In 1937, the first group of 30 beetles went 1,800,000 miles combined over all the roadways, including the Alps. Traveling in the snow is probably their strong suit. However, for me, the risk to the beetles body just wasn’t worth the fun I would have had doing it.
Now as fewer and fewer beetles exist, it only makes sense to try and protect them from the elements. So if your beetles wrapped up for the winter, hang in there, there are warmer days ahead.
