Did his VW have the six volt starter? The battery in a VW was under the back seat, the ignition switch in front and the starter in the rear.
Six volts just wasn't enough to push the juice that far. We would use a screwdriver directly on the starter contacts to kick it over. Just make sure the car wasn't in gear!
“Six volts just wasn’t enough to push the juice that far. We would use a screwdriver directly on the starter contacts to kick it over. Just make sure the car wasn’t in gear!”
He got rid of that damned VW bug!
LOL!
My first car WAS a 1971 VW Bug, Baby Blue & White. I LOVED that car...
BUT...sometimes to start it you had to ‘pop the clutch’ and later in life when I was driving ‘dignitaries’ around in a Willys MB (a ‘Jeep’ to you Civilians) in the Army, that skill came in VERY handy! (I am STILL a Ford Girl to this day!)
Most memorable pop-start was at the Hoover Dam - we stopped to do the ‘Tourist Thing’ on our way to California (1980) and there was a LOVELY long slope leaving the parking lot that helped out a LOT! :)
My Dad had a total if 17 VWs through the years. I now have his 2001 Golf that still only has 65K miles on her. ;) She’s my ‘Summer Car.’