Are there any automatic old fashioned Volswagen Beetles?

Yes, and no.

The Classic Beetle never came with a fully automatic tranny.

The closest thing was the Automatic Stickshift.

You still had to shift 3 gears, but there was no clutch pedal.

Instead, the weight of your hand on the shift knob activated an electric- over- vacuum- over- hydraulic coupling between the motor & trans.

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RE:

Are there any automatic old fashioned Volswagen Beetles?

Okay car experts! Tell me: did they ever only make the old fashioned in standard drive, or did they make some automatic as well? Very curious to know and the all the car people I've asked so far have had no idea!

VW began offering an automatic transmission in the Beetle I believe in the early 1970's, first as a kind of semi-automatic known as an "automatic stick-shift" and later a full automatic transmission. Since they were sold in the US through 1979, there should be quite a few around. Warning, though, it'll slow down what was already a rather slow vehicle! Why don't you have someone teach you to drive a stick instead; it's more fun to drive once you get the hang of it, the car performs better and gives better fuel mileage.

Yes... The like what others say, it's called the "Auto Stick". It works a bit differnet than true automatic, but it's friendly enough for those who need an automatic. There is a beutiful convertible one for sale on eBay right now - Item number 230162659057. Also check out eBay item numbers:

170140204342

120152699367

The difficultly with auto-sticks is finding someone who will work on them. For this reason, many autostick bugs were retrofitted with standard transmissions when the autostick transmission gave out. But they are around. Also check out "the Samba" (www.thesamba.com)... a virtual Turkish Bazaar for the VW nut.

There are no true automatic beetles. Volkswagen was a very purist about standard transmissions. They refused to build them until Americans stopped buying their cars. But an autostick is easy enough. No clutch. You just shift when you think it's time to change gears. It's a no brainer.

Most of the early Beetles were manual. Later models in the 70's started to appear with a switch on the gear lever. I have been told by a reliable source that it was never popular. So, seemed to disappear. Most purists preferred a manual Beetle. In there day, changing gear was like a hot knife going through butter. Smooth.

In 1968 VW offered an "automatic stick-shift" option on the beetles. It works just like an automatic, but you have the option of manually shifting it through the gears. I hope this helps. Good luck!

called an auto-stick.

personally prefer the manual shifter in my 71 superbeetle.

they did have some with automatic transmissions