If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he'd be president today

[Jenn]

Comment: Is this a real Volkswagen ad?

[Silas Sparkhammer]

National Lampoon. ("Back when it used to be funny tm")

Silas

[Singing in the Drizzle]

I can say yes they did float. I watch a High School friend drive his old VW Bug into a lake to test the theory and it floated. Then he received a ticket because it was not a legal water crafts as well as not have proper floatation device for the people.

The VW logo is wrong. The lines are too thin.

[Jay Tea]

Oh they'll float, but if you planned on demonstrating this you'd best have a winch to pull it out pretty quick because they won't float for long

This 1972 ad demonstrates the sealed floor pan. The ad also costs the Beetle at $2000. That's $10.28k by 2009 standards (using the Consumer Price Index).

[jw]

I don't know about the beetle, but the VW's van version did not float for very long. A guy I worked with drove a company van on to Dublin's Dollymount beach, in '79. This beach is notorious for circular incoming tides. Needless to say, the van got trapped and he watched it disappear under the incoming tide. A tow truck was needed the next day to retreive it.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

Oh they'll float, but if you planned on demonstrating this you'd best have a winch to pull it out pretty quick because they won't float for long

This 1972 ad demonstrates the sealed floor pan. The ad also costs the Beetle at $2000. That's $10.28k by 2009 standards (using the Consumer Price Index).

This also demonstrates that the picture in the OP must have been a cut and paste job. While I know my friends VW Bug floated for about 15 min with out any trouble. I seam to remember the water was above the door seal and the back end sunk lower. This video demonstrates that unlike the picture in the OP.

[Lainie]

IIRC, Volkswagen sued the Lampoon over that ad.

[smittykins]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

Oh they'll float, but if you planned on demonstrating this you'd best have a winch to pull it out pretty quick because they won't float for long

This 1972 ad demonstrates the sealed floor pan. The ad also costs the Beetle at $2000. That's $10.28k by 2009 standards (using the Consumer Price Index).

I like the disclaimer at the end: "Although the VW will definitely float, it will not float indefinitely."