Posted on 12/21/2021 7:07:00 PM PST by algore
Brazilian tour guide Marcos Renan Fagundes de Macedo dresses up as Santa Claus every year to deliver toys to underprivileged children in São Paulo
•The 32-year-old was on his way to deliver gifts on Sunday when his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle broke down
•The married father-of-two had forgotten to turn off the headlights while he was handing out gifts in the Bertioga neighborhood of Vicente de Carvalho II
•The car broke down in the middle of a highway and they were able to refuel it but then noticed that the battery had been drained by the lights
•Despite being able to get the car back up and running, Fagundes de Macedo and his helpers were soaked by a rain storm
•They now plan on delivering the rest of the gifts on Friday to children in the neighborhood of Indaiá
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Volkswagen Push Starts FTW!!
Back in the day it wasn’t news when you helped someone to push start a car.
Been there done that with my 73 VW.
The, I think, pre-1967 VW’s were a challenge, with their 6 Volt electrical system. It didn’t take much to drain the battery.
I had a 70 bug, think it was 12V. Some of the earlier ones were 6V IIRC.
Damn battery was under the rear seat, great fun to deal with.
Stone simple car though. Rebuilt mine in the garage. Lowered and installed the engine by myself.
I remember parking on slopes just in case...
Yeah, I had a 1960 VW Bug, 6 Volt battery. I too installed an engine by myself using only a floor jack. Replaced the aging 36 HP engine with a newer rebuilt 40 HP engine. It had no gas gauge, just a lever above the gas pedal that you turned by foot to switch to the reserve tank, I think it was about an extra gallon of gas.
We had one just like it. A 1960. Top speed about 62 MPH. Maybe a little more going down a hill and less into a head wind.
Also remember you had to open the hood to fuel it up. It wasn’t until later they added the access to the fuel tank with a little trap door.
I sure do remember opening the hood to fuel the tank. Going up steep mountain grades mine topped out at 25 mph with that 36 HP engine.
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