First off, I would like to mention that I have some kind of weird infection in the top digit of my right index finger and it’s swollen and filled with pus and hurts constantly. It’s driving me bizzonkers, like having a constant annoying sound playing in the background, only instead of sound, it’s pain, and I want to chew my finger off but I suspect I’d regret that. Anyway, I’m on antibiotics, and I have an urgent care appointment happening soon to hopefully drain all the revolting material from in the finger.
Do you want to see the finger? I’m warning you, it’s gross aigh eff, but I know some of you kind of like seeing gross body horror stuff, and my job is to inform and entertain, so far be it from me to keep you from that. Anyway, if you want to see a gross finger, click here, and if not, stay the hell away from that hyperlink, for the love of all that’s holy.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig into something more interesting: the taillights on this Volkswagen Beetle that was photographed during a huge traffic jam around Atlanta in 1967:
A friend of mine sent me this image which was used in a Hagerty article but actually comes from the collection of the Georgia State University Library. It’s an image of a huge traffic jam on the I-75/I-85 connector, and my friend sent me the image because he knew exactly what would catch my attention: that VW Beetle in the lower right corner.
Let’s get a closer look at that Beetle. Computer! Zoom in section I7 and enhance!
There’s two Beetles here, of course, which is actually useful for our discussion. The one I’m interested is the one on the bottom, which I think is a 1956 Beetle, the last year of the oval window. It’s also the first year Beetles had those bumper “towel rail” overriders, and also seems to feature the “heart” style taillights that incorporated an extra brake light window atop the taillight housing.
What makes this Beetle interesting is that the owner seems to have added some auxiliary taillights high on the rear fenders:
I’m not sure what that is on the left there; I thought it was another add-on taillight, but I think it may be something else? I showed this picture to some friends at a new local taillight bar, Randy’s Red Rear Rec Room, and was met with a lot of impressed looks and low whistles of approval, but not much else, because it was half-off shots Thursday and everybody was pretty liquored up. One woman puked on my shoes, but she said it wasn’t because of the added taillights. At least not directly.
Anyway, I find this all fascinating because it highlights a real problem with late ’50s and (very) early ’60s Beetle taillights: they were too damn small, and positioned in a really absurd way, when you think about it.
Just look at that picture; the ’56 taillights are almost completely obscured by the bumper overriders from the vantage point of a car behind the Beetle. The other Beetle in front of the one we’re focused on seems to be a ’62 to ’65 or so (I can’t quite see enough to tell) and has larger, higher taillights introduced in 1962.
Here, let’s look at the basic issue: the old, small, low-mounted Beetle taillights were okay when combined with the pre-’56 or Euro-style bumpers that lacked overriders. But once the extra bumper hardware appeared, the lights were effectively blocked:
I don’t really understand why it took VW so long to enlarge and raise the height of these lights, but they did, finally, in 1962, as you can see here in this press photo:
Finally, the lights are above the bumpers and fully visible to the cars behind you! Let’s look back at those add-on taillights:
I suspect that these lights act as – at least – added brake lamps, and maybe even duplicate the turn indicator and basic taillight functionality, too. I salute this Beetle owner, because from a safety perspective, this is a great idea: the high location of those added lights should make them visible to almost anything driving behind you.
I wish I could tell exactly what those lights are from, but I can’t quite tell. They may be off-the-shelf trailer lights from some auto parts store, but they seem well-mounted on those fenders. I wonder if these were added out of caution, or as a result of a previous rear-end collision of some kind? Or maybe the driver having trouble seeing the taillights on other Beetles? We may never truly know.
So, whoever you are or were, Atlanta-area Beetle owner who actually gave a crap about not getting rear-ended and taillight visibility, I salute you and your effective taillight modification work! I hope those things helped!
Ok, let’s discuss the reality of this situation…. Any beetle from the 6 volt days had invisible brake lights!! No matter where you stuck the housing!!!! It seems it wasn’t me so much getting steamrolled as to the unfortunate soul that was behind me….. One of my first upgrades I did on my 62 bug was a Motorola alternator kit. Up grade that powerful 40 horse to 12 volts! Got some real brake lights …. Then a few months later I blew a hole in the case of that 1200 when the plastic part of the oil pressure sender popped off and dumped all its oil on the road!!! Think about it…. When there is no oil pressure the sender is grounded making the light on the speedo come on… But what happens when the sender wire is attached to a piece of plastic dangling loose in the engine compartment? Yup BANG! Second and third upgrade 1641 dual port with a VDO oil pressure gauge on the dash….
Was the woman at the bar a xenomorph who barfed on your finger?
Anyway, we need a vote so we may prove that all of us clicked that link. Hell, I even skipped a righteous paragraph filled with insanity JUST TO CLICK FASTER!
I wouldn’t worry too much about the finger. You’re just full of piss and vinegar. Not a bad thing for a journalist. I’m loving the four Beetles, the GTO, and the Mustang.
Pus and vinegar?
Second worst dressing at Texas Roadhouse
I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth while laughing pretty hard. Thank you for that.
Worst is pus and mayo.
Can anyone figure out the make of the car 2 cars in front of the truck in the left hand lane, going the same direction as the two beetles?
Interesting. Seems to be some kind of small convertible with the ragtop up, maybe?
Hard to tell. I tried enlarging the image and my best guess is an MGA roadster with the top up. The factory top had the two small rear quarter windows separate from the main rear window.
I like this guess! I was thinking Arkley SS, but they are smaller and weren’t around in 1967.
I’m almost positive that’s an MGA, or possibly an Austin Healey of some kind (non-Sprite). Anything else with that profile would be rarer and expensive, even then.
I’m leaning towards it being a TR3. And at least six beetles, The Official City Commuter Car of the 1960s.
Six! I missed the white one. That’s crazy; six beetles in a random photo.
Those hips are wide. Shelby Cobra with a surrey top?
That’s what I see, an AC something anyway
Ah, so the idiotic placement of turn signals and such down low in the bumper of some newer cars such as my Bolt where they are easy to block with bike racks and such is actually a retro feature, trying to emulate the old people’s car…
If it weren’t for the upper fake taillights I’d have thought it was GM referencing themselves, the 70s/80s Malibu wagons and El Caminos with the taillights in the bumper.
In Germany, the bike racks that are attached to the vehicles must be equipped with their own taillamps and additional numberplates.
Nasty infection. I hate to say it, but maybe you should’ve worn gloves when piloting your 2CV; some of those old French gals got around back in their day.
You got gonorrhea from a 2CV? Ha ha
Sophie: Unfortunately, I didn’t have a partner. I got gonorrhea from a
tractor.
Jerry: You got gonorrhea from a tractor? And you call *that* your tractor story?
—————-
Kramer: Well, I got gonorrhea.
Elaine: That seems about right.
Kramer: That’s what they gave me.
George: They? The Government?
—————–
Student #1: Okay, any other pain?
Kramer: The haunting memories of lost love. May I? (signals to Mickey)
Lights? (Mickey turns down the lights and Kramer lights a cigar) Our eyes met across the crowded hat store. I, a customer, and she a coquettish haberdasher. Oh, I pursued and she withdrew, then she pursued and I withdrew, and so we
danced. I burned for her, much like the burning during urination that I would experience soon afterwards.
Student #1: Gonorrhea?!
Kramer: Gonorrhea!
Almost as unsettling as the photo of that gangrenous finger (yes; I looked; I’m sick; I need help), is the image of the “heart” style taillight. I don’t understand how that worked. It projected a hear-shaped beacon into the sky? Why? To let extraterrestrials know that Beetle drivers were friendly? And the rear facing part looks like it’s just a reflector. The functional priorities of the assembly seem rather dubious.
What?! No one bringing the; Doctor! Everywhere I touch it hurts!
Well played. Slow hand clap.
You pointed at the taillights, didn’t you? With that finger.
I think I know why that location on Torch’s finger is infected.
Torch is obsessed with turn signals, as we all know. If you look at where the problem is, it’s exactly where Torch’s thumb crosses over that portion of his forefinger, when he is actively reminding someone that they need to show an expert how their turn signal works.
Wait, they got rid of the side view mirror between ’62 and ’63?
Back then side mirrors were an option. It was a way to show off you weren’t poor, just like having more letters under the name of your car on the trunk is today.
Turn signals, too! I had to bring a shop manual to the Massachusetts state inspection gas station and show the highly skilled and meticulously trained safety inspectormonkey the wiring diagram clearly labeled “Scout 80 without turn signals”
Only then would they let me drive a vehicle whose doors would pop open, window glass would fall out, windshield wipers would fail under engine loading, clutch pedal would lose pressure and transmission would pop out of 2nd gear… because it passed safety inspection.
Wait, turn signals are required equipment in MA? What for?
It could just be the angle at which the car is positioned in the photo. The 62’s side mirror is only barely visible, as the car seems ever so slightly angled to the left, and the 63 is angled ever so slightly to the right. So it might have a driver’s side mirror, and we just can’t see it from this angle.
It’s an image of a huge traffic jam on the I-75/I-85 connector
Actually, this looks like a moderate traffic by Atlanta standards. Judging by the gaps between cars in the northbound lanes (on the left side of the picture), traffic was moving reasonably well when this picture was taken.
I lived in Atlanta for several years and spent many hours in traffic jams in this exact location. It looks different now (I think each direction has 7 lanes or so), but the sign for The Varsity (an overpriced and overrated but endearing burger joint) is enough for current and former ATLiens to know exactly where this photo was taken.
Good luck with that finger infection, Torch. I have absolutely seen far nastier infections, but that looks very painful.
Varsity. Ate there twice. White Castle like RUNS. Never again
“A friend of mine sent me this image”
Is this friend’s name Clayton Flashlightsky by chance?
JC Whitney!
AI slop from before AI was even a concept.
Realistically, how many other cars ever spent any significant time behind a Beetle?
Sadly, I got to see the taillights of a bone stock 56 VW during a stoplight drag with my first car in 1985.
I had an 80 Malibu with the 4.4L Small Block V8 with the 2.67 rear end It had 75 hp in 79 and then added a Smog Pump. (In fairness to GM, the cat was clogged, with a good cat, it might have had a chance to match that Bug).
Thanks for that laugh.
In fairness to the SBC, after a cam, shaved heads, larger valves, and port matching that 4.4 would show its taillights to any car not as quick as a 5.0L Mustang.
And of course be run off the road by any given Kia on the way to soccer practice today.
I feel your pain, my Samurai lost to a Chevette once, probably because of my three friends along for the ride.
Time to fire up the chainsaw and pretend your finger is the lead-acid battery of a Changli.
I only live a couple of hours away in NC and am willing to offer my services for finger removal. I can even offer several options – rusty meat cleaver, hedge loppers, tomahawk, big ax, chainsaw; whatever floats your boat.
Legal notice: I am not actually offering to perform any medical services.
Possible taillight source – JC Whitney catalog. This Bug owner seems to be the previous generation’s version of the people who put 3rd brake lights in their rear window in the late 80s/early 90s cars, or the people today who put flashers on their 3rd brake light to get extra attention.
Addendum – sweet Jesus I just saw a pic of the finger. I’m hopping in my car and headed that way right now to take care of it, in a permanent way.
Legal notice: I’m not.
I choose to pronounce your handle as “jum-bog”
Ubeu
Could chopping off a finger with an ax really be considered a medical service? I mean, maybe with the hedge loppers, but definitely not with the chainsaw.
Ok, maybe the cutting it off isn’t a medical procedure, but how about cauterizing the stump? I can offer blowtorch, butane mini-torch, red hot poker or knife blade I heated up in a campfire I build in your front yard.
Same legal notice applies.
Cauterizing it?! I figured just through him some used McDonalds napkins and tell him to go to the urgent care.
I expected a “suck it up butter cup” after the McDs napkins.
I’ve been meaning to do something similar with my Super Beetle. It has the “tombstone” lights, and they’re just too low for people in big vehicles to see, especially if they’re following too close. I’m thinking maybe a third brake light in the rear window. I’ve also got a vintage “STOP” brake light that I can mount somewhere, which has the benefit of looking period correct.
I had a 1996 AMC Rambler that was frame-draggingly low. I added one of those “Stop” lights to the top of the roof, so I didn’t get rearended everywhere I went.
Was that 1996 Rambler built in Jasonia?
I added a CHMSL to my ’73 bavaria for that same reason. The taillights are at the bumper height of a modern sedan. I got a Hella unit from Daniel Stern and it is nice and bright. https://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html
The more you talk about the Beetles the more I start to believe that the engineers were just reactively developing the thing over the years.
There just seem to be so many versions and variations of the same car. They had a great source for all the core parts, but the small things just changed and evolved as they reacted to the changing landscape around them. Fascinating.
Puts the Corvette folks to shame with the red car built on Monday, manual, cross stitched seats, 8 track player, I know what I got cars.
Well, my Beetle was built in June of 59, when there was a shifter shortage and they used hammer handles for a brief 2 month period before they switched to spatulas for the next 4 months.
They had a design model of continuous improvement. If they felt something needed to be changed, they just did it and all cars from that point forward got it (until they changed it again.) You have to have your serial number in order to correctly order parts for a bug, as there were many mid-year changes, they didn’t wait for the next model year.
Bought from “spatula city”
“Nothing says I love you like a spatula”
“Buy 9 spatulas, get the 10th for just one penny!”
“I love spatulas so much, I bought the company”
Not looking at the finger but I hope it gets to stay with you for many more yarns.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of bugs in the picture. Especially for that place and time period to see so many “foreign jobs” perplexs.
Also of note is that the bug in question is probably the oldest car on the road. There might be a 50’s bubble car in the distance, but everything is pretty much no more than 7 years old.
Cars simply were junk in the past and had amazingly short lives.
Except those bugs. VeeDub of that era was top of their game, their Golden Age, the Gloury Days.
Todays Volksdewagons are long past their sell-by date and the companies about to fall off the cliff it has so richly deserved to go over. Good riddance to VW I say, and that’s from a fellow who was once dyed in the wool Wolfsburger.
As for those extra taillights, that was a smart cookie owner.
If there was anywhere in the Deep South back then that you’d find a lot of Beetles, it would be Atlanta (and maybe Miami?). The population was already up to about 500,000 and quite diverse, and the great suburban migration hadn’t started yet.
My mom could very well have been driving one of the ’60s Beetles in that picture.
I was trying to find all the foreign cars in this photo. All I could recognize were the four Beetles. The car on the extreme left, behind that other car, looks small enough that it might be a Nash Metropolitan, which is sort of a British car I guess. I also can’t tell what that slightly larger car in front of and to the right of that snubnose GMC truck is. It almost looks like a Ford Cortina, but I don’t know if those were ever sold in the US. Or it could be a Falcon. Actually, it’s probably a Falcon.
I think I see an additional two Beetles, one, three cars back from the one in the oncoming lane, and then another, two back from the semi in the inner lane of right side.
Edit: there’s possibly one more, another six cars ahead of the same semi, but it’s just at the edge visibility.
I was half-expecting Jason to tell us that he was possibly, maybe, potentially thinking about going to urgent care to get it checked out but if, and only if, gangrene started setting in.
The fact that he is already taking care of it is either a credit to his maturity or his wife and son that are tired of dealing with this shit.
I credit family pressure.
I can attest to the fact that being married increases the likelihood of actually going to the doctor when needed.
However, I’m not going to look at the picture.
Index finger? Gad, that must be really really really annoying when trying to type on a keyboard.
I looked at the picture. It’s gross, but not going to make me barf or anything. Looks painful though. Can’t imagine being in a role where you type all day with that thing on your finger.
God, that must be incredibly painful and satisfying to squeeze all the goop out of.
That finger is nasty. Might be time to just cut it off. Seriously though, I hope it gets better quickly.
A needle, some pressure and Neosporin would probably have saved you a trip to Doc in the Box.
Sorry to hear about the finger! No way in hell I’m going to view that image, but I’m guessing it’s a grandfatherocloccus infection.
I think the high-mounted taillights were actually an imprecise DIY job: maybe it’s a trick of the light/shadows but they appear to be uneven. The one on the right fender seems to be mounted 2-3 inches higher than the one on the left. Note how they seem to be at different angles, too, with the left pointing more or less straight backward while the right appears to be angled upward due to its location on the fender.
The disparity is easier to see if you take a piece of paper and hold it against the screen so the edge is horizontal/level.
“One woman puked on my shoes, but she said it wasn’t because of the added taillights.”
She obviously puked from getting a look at your finger!
Hope that gets better soon!
He really should have used the other hand to point out the taillights.
That, or we know where the infection came from!