1963 Volkswagen Beetle Ragtop Drag Race

This is a video of an ultimate tricked out old school 1963 Volkswagen Bettle Rag Top at the 2005 Bugjam. There are a few drags of the souped up Bettle versus the new Beetle, and even against a Subaru Impreza turbo.

No idea what’s in this Beetle, I heard you could put a Porsche or a Subaru engine in it since they’re all boxers. Video is after the jump.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • cosmo (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 12:41 am

    i think it is HERBIE (movie )

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  • shaymen (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 1:05 am

    hahahaha…herbie in a drag race..so funny.

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  • paramsingwalia (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 1:18 am

    mid 13's…ok la..can race with kancil in sepang

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  • marmitecrab (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 1:32 am

    The Beetle was originally commissioned by Adolf Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche so no surprises if the modern Porsche engines can fit into the engine bay. Shares similar design in that the old Beetle engine and the Porsche engine was air cooled and not water cooled. I think only the new models of Porsche are liquid cooled. Not sure about other boxer engines though.

    They were actually still being built up until a couple of years ago in Argentina. So don't be surprised if there are some fairly new examples out there. Or some with fairly new parts at least.

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  • pycazu (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 2:10 am

    Haha.. the round 2 "eyes: remind me of intelligent look of Herbie, well done!!!

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  • gegaoff Max (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 3:38 am

    wat lao eh… is first time i saw this… is that real? got modification on the enginee?? someone do tell me. i'm confusing…

    cheers…

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  • Isamu (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 6:03 am

    I have seen and heard a Mark 1 VW Beetle in drag along a street in Johor. Not sure what engine was inside that beast but it sounded heavenly with the blow-off. When I asked around, I was told that it had a rotary turbo engine..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cool….

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  • rexis (Member) on Jan 17, 2006 at 4:57 pm

    Haiyooo, nowadays need to login only can say a thing, true also, must make people respect your nick name. Wah, beetle drag racer… too bad not much work on the painting.

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  • shaymen (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 1:53 am

    my dads fren fit his beetle with a 911 engine last time…so damn fast,but accident already…hehehehe.gone with the wind i guess…

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  • paramsingwalia (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 2:04 am

    wahhhhh…911 ka shaymen…malysia boleh la…

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  • paradoxx (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 9:30 am

    this is way wicked man… im a proud owner of a '69 beetle..

    Old skool porsche (boxer) engines have been transplanted into beetles.. but most prefer custom made flat 4 engines.. anything from 2000cc's to 2500cc's with dual weber carbs.. some just bolt on a judson supercharger to a standard flat 4… with custom transmissions..some with 5 speeds..

    anyone of these configurations can produce upwards of 200 bhp.. and thats simply amazing for a beetle considering a standard flat 4 produces only 30+ bhp…

    in ipoh there's a '63 beetle that looks very standard… but it has a custom made turbo engine…! which is pretty rare in malaysia… and that beast sounds soo devine…. it cost'd us about RM10 testing the car on a less than 5km route!

    the trend with beetles in malaysia though isnt as wild as in the US.. ppl here are happy with chromed 1600/1800 engines…a handful with dual carbs..

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  • paradoxx (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 9:48 am

    fyi.. beetle's were NEVER produced in argentina..

    mass production started at Wolfsburg Germany in the 40's… the first batch of 1000+ beetles were produced in 1945 and by 1954 the 1 millionth beetle was produced..

    Beetles were later produced in Brazil up till '96 and then Mexico up till mid-03..

    although the New beetle was launched in '98… the final batch of 3000 classic beetle named the "ultima edicion" were produced in Mexico and sold as '04 models.. up to 30rd july '03, 21,529,464 beetles were produced…!

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  • shaymen (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 5:22 pm

    paradoxx said,

    January 18, 2006 @ 1:30 am

    ———————————————————–

    he uses the 911 carrera 2.9N/A engine….just bolt in.no need modification..but im not sure it can be registered nowadays.

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  • pendek (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 5:27 pm

    whatever….

    the important thing is they're boxer….

    and they sound better than any other engine expecially when they in idle stat

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  • Paul Tan on Jan 18, 2006 at 5:41 pm

    shaymen, i have had to edit your insulting comment again. in another thread, you complained that i edited out other people's insulting comments but not yours.

    think logically. how was i supposed to leave a warning for you if i edited out the offending comment and you didnt know what i was talking about?

    you are a repeat offender, like 1000 times and ever since you started visiting my blog i've had to do all sorts of inconvenient stuff like enable moderation and force registration.

    my last and final warning, no more name dropping, no more insults, please discuss in a proper civilised manner. this goes for everyone else reading this comment.

    how come i don't see much of this in other forums and only in my blog. makes me think a blog might not be the best way for me to run this site. either way you are killing my enthusiasm in running this site.

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  • paramsingwalia (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 8:09 pm

    ok la paul…but what about see fuuu?no warning ka?i think his language is more sickening than shaymen…sorry aaa…

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  • shaymen (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 8:30 pm

    yea la paul…i agree with param there…im not the only one making chaos here.what bout see fu and hatuk kau?i've seen what they write to me in comment rss before u delete it…

    okay la…im sorry paul,let bygone be bygone..okay,i wont insult anyone anymore but if they started it,i have to defend myself….

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  • Joe v2.0 (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 8:58 pm

    i've seen.. mmm nope, it was a website actualy but forgot the link, someone did put a rotary engine at the back of his volkswagen and said that the car could easily spin when the gas stepped to the floor.. but from the sound of it (video) most likely it was a boxer.

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  • paramsingwalia (Member) on Jan 18, 2006 at 11:19 pm

    hmmm.. paul…i try to be civilised,but u se la ur friend see fuu language…so what is your stand on that?

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  • HatukNgkau (Member) on Jan 19, 2006 at 11:29 am

    Paul and other Readers,

    allow me to clarify, i did not insult or name-calling anybody let alone commit personal attacks…. even to those who doesnt agree with me. Zarul may vouch this for me. if some ppl are feeling uneasy over certain comments, then let it be, siapa makan cili dialah terasa pedasnya.

    Let's be fair, See Fu had his outbursts, it's his fault for failing to control his anger, BUT, what provokes him to do so in the first place? unwelcome replies, personal attacks, uninvited provokes…

    I am here way before the spamming duos are, and never before Paul had to endure such pressure. previously other readers could read or ignores "essays" in peace, or having healthy discussions… but since the coming of the duo… well, judge for urself.

    ever wondered why the spamming duo never dared to make any appearance on well-regulated forums like MotorTrader or Autotrade?

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  • HatukNgkau (Member) on Jan 23, 2006 at 9:10 am

    aahhh… peaceful days…

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  • maibatsu_thunder (Member) on Jun 02, 2007 at 7:53 pm

    That's probably a well tuned engine with parts from CB Performance, Gene Berg, John Maher Racing or others.

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  • kei9 (Member) on Jun 02, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    hey! maibatsu_thunder so long oredy u wanna comment ha? im not even a member yet when this is posted..

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  • powerhaus (Member) on Jun 02, 2007 at 9:18 pm

    1. It is a common sight in the US or UK for the Beetle to be doing low 10s in drag racing.

    2. Ys, most common mods are 2210cc, 2180cc, 2276cc, 2332cc, 2387cc and yes this is in a stock VW case with cam,headwork, ignition and carburation or EFI.

    3. Conversions from EJ and Rotary are not really common due to the complications.

    4. There is no way a stock 911 6 cylinder engine can fit in a Beetle. The so called Porsche engine you see are actually 4 cylinder Type 4 mortors fitted with the 911 cooling setup. These engines can be done to up to 3 litre.

    4. In fact there is one 2387cc, a few 1914cc and 2442cc running in the Klang Valley.

    5. I have not heard of anybodyhaving the 5 speed and LSD yet in KL most probably due to cost. There is 1 running in Singapore and a 3 in Indonesia that I know of.

    6. Yes, the scene in Indonesia is even better then here, they call Indonesia the California of the East.

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  • powerhaus (Member) on Jun 02, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    Although the Beetle is very fast on the dragstrip, they dont do very well in road racing due to their handling chracteristics (rear suspension being swing-axle) , relatively short gear ratio and also the peaky nature of the Type 1 motor.

    However later model Beetles like the 1302, 1303s handle way much better with better front Mcpherson suspension and rear IRS suspension. Some of these parts like the rear A arms are interchangeable with Porsche.

    German Look is the look associated with Beetles fitted with big Porsche brakes, big Porsche forged cup alloys and a very big Type 4 motor producing nothing less than 200bhp.

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  • kei9 (Member) on Jun 02, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    hey paul….shaymen is not ur member already ?

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  • michael on Jul 14, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    hi all im Michael from the philippines im planning to build a racing beetle any inputs regarding suspension and brakes.. thanks

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