In a message dated 11/16/02 1:47:15 PM Pacific Standard Time,
dan@OFFTHEHILL.ORG writes:

<< My understanding of the etymology of "beater" came into sharp focus back in
 high school: a buddy of mine inherited his sister's Nissan with approx. 1
 bazillion miles on the clock.  He didn't know how to drive a standard, so
 frequently his technique was a violent, lurching work in progress.
 That car was a beater, i.e. something which can be beaten. >>

Correct definition in my opinion. It's been around since Stan was a kid. That
was way before Nissans were Datsuns.  For that matter, VW's were probabaly a
teutonic socialist democrat's dream propaganda toy Stan started driving.

BenT