Wild guess would be that "beater" is from "beaten" as in an old, beaten-up bus.

Do I win anything?! LOL

At 8:06 AM -0600 11/16/02, Stan Wilder wrote:
>Anybody know what the term 'beater' means ?
>Possibly you might know when it originated.
>I've seen the term used for old busses and old bugs and just wondered
>about the 'proposed meaning' and the origination of the term.
>
>Stan Wilder
>83 Air Cooled Westfalia

--
Happy motoring!

Timothy in Phoenix,
84 Vanagon "Sparkii"
69 Bus "Buster"