1967 Volkswagen Beetle First Start in 25 Years

After a few months of work (only one or two days a month) and a lot of help from a very good friend, my 1967 Volkswagen Beetle finally roared to life! This was honestly the first time it actually started, although it had come close moments before, which is why it started up so quickly. I had no idea what I was doing with the manual, as you can tell in the beginning when I ask a lot of dumb questions. We didn't think that this try would actually work, but we had filmed all the other attempted starts so we did the same here. The final touch had been installing a new ignition coil.

When we take off into the driveway, that is the fastest it would go at the time. It took a carburetor rebuild and tuning to actually reach speeds above first gear. It was still an awesome thrill just to keep it running!

Sorry about the wind and all the random noises and distractions...we REALLY weren't expecting it to work that time.

Shot using iPhone 4S.

[adamahern]

Wow i amazed that it started first go after 25 years

[RkadeKicks]

I would definitely agree. It is the last year for a lot of the older styling cues (such as the large chrome bumpers), but it was also a year with a lot of improvements. The 1500 cc engine cranked out a little extra power, the 12 volt electrical system was a huge upgrade, and then there are a lot of smaller things like the back up lights...the list goes on and on. Glad to hear you have the Volkswagen Blue! It's a cool color that you don't see too often. Enjoy your Bug; I drive mine every day.

[RkadeKicks]

Oh I know! We were all pretty amazed at how well it started. I drove it a fair amount after this video, and it never started this well again. Sometimes it took a really long time. Once I rebuilt and tuned the carburetor, however, it's been nothing but almost instant starts. A year and a half later now it's still my daily driver and I have zero issues starting it.

[nadineallan]

I have a 68 vw nettle and I can't wait to start it up after 15 years of siting

[RkadeKicks]

They're great because most jobs are easy to do with relatively few tools. I wouldn't worry too much about how long it had been sitting...this sat for 25 years with 5 gallons of gas in the tank and the battery connected and it wasn't too bad to get started. I would focus more on making sure that it is structurally sound and not rusted out or anything really difficult to fix. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions!

[alexlyala]

They don't start right up sometimes