Curbside Classic Outtake: Get Shorty Edition

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

Now here’s a well-preserved flash from the past. VW kits of every possible permutation were the rage in the seventies and into the eighties. The Beetle’s construction lent itself superbly to the task. A few bolts released the body from the platform, which could also be quite easily cut and shortened. The resulting short bed pickup variation makes the perfect little hauler, like this one. Ride and handling? Don’t ask. Although this profile shows off its best side, there’s a bonus or two or even three in the other shots:

No self-respecting kit car from this vintage would be authentic without a grafted-on grill; either a gen-u-ine Mercedes number like this one, or a fake Rolls Royce unit.

Load capacity is a bit limited, but easy to get to. As is the engine. But the best vintage piece on this ‘dub? The steering wheel.

That’s quite a nice Empi wheel, and one I haven’t seen in decades. The frost on the window is what it’s like driving a beetle in cold weather, except it forms on the inside, from your breath. And as a shorty bonus, I give you this shorty gem, filched from the internet, but irresistible. Looks like a Chrysler Le Baron or Lancer. The urge to shorten lives on!

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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