Very Custom '73 Super Beetle 2110 Rancho Transmission on 2040-cars

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VW Super Bowl teaser with Jimmy Cliff is like a less-mean Tosh.0 Web Redemption

Reggae super-duper-star and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff has been using music to send positive vibes out into the universe for decades now, so its no surprise that his message on behalf of Volkswagen is one of redemption.
Dubbed Sunny Side, this web-spot is VW's warmup of sorts for what promises to be another blockbuster year in the world of Super Bowl commercials. Without giving away the game, the euphonious commercial sees Cliff opening his arms and his heart to some YouTube 'celebrities' that might see courser treatment from the likes of Tosh.0, for instance. We can't help but be reminded of Coca-Cola's legendary 1971 Hilltop spot with the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" lyric, too.
Enjoy the pre-Super Bowl VW spot below, and don't forget to pay it forward... your karma will thank you. For those of you that just can't get enough of commercial-making magic, we've included a "making-of" video, as well.

VW pondering low-cost sub-brand for China?

More detail is being sketched into the Volkswagen Group's plan to launch a low-cost brand for emerging markets. Late last year a German report quoted a VW rep saying that the brand has been interested in building a no-frills car, the kind that would challenge Dacia and Datsun, for a while. With both Proton and Suzuki effectively out of the partnership picture, a report in Reuters suggests VW could go straight to China, developing a car with its joint venture partners and building and selling it there.
Officially, company CEO Martin Winterkorn said the issue of a model for emerging markets would be decided this year but VW isn't any closer to confirming any kind of plan for a car in its portfolio underneath the Up!, remarking to Reuters about the China possibility, "That's an issue we're currently looking at."

Prop-driven VW Beetle hopes to land in Bonneville [w/video]

Sometimes you meet folks who, when they tell you "Hey, I have an idea," your reflex response is to stop what you're doing and tell yourself, "Get ready...." We imagine Mike Niemans is one of those folks, and the idea in question is putting a tank engine on a Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle. Not just any old tank engine - as if there were such a thing when we're talking about putting them in cars - but a 668-cubic-inch, 220-horsepower radial engine built by Continental in 1941 and procured from an M2 tank.
In the image above Nieman is using the tank clutch hub to get the motor set up, but in one of the images below you can see what really belongs back there is: a two-inch, reverse-pitch prop taken from a wind generator. He says there's enough mojo with the propeller action to get the car rolling down the runway like a jet when he gives it gas - and speaking of gas, the engine's been refitted to run on propane.
After a few safety tweaks Nieman's going to take the matte-black Beetle to Bonneville, "put the prop on, let her go and see what happens!" We can't wait to see the video of that. There are two shakedown videos below to get you ready.