You betcha. Every time I go out and fire up one of my bugs, the lovely
"fweem" reminds me of the simplicity of these little aircooled cars. Mine
has over 100,000 miles on the original 40HP engine and still going strong.
Doesn't even push blue. You can adjust the "fweem" by how much you push the
tailpipes into the muffler. In the Bentley there is actually a paragraph
that tells you how much to insert them into it. :-)
Courtney

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike" <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 4:06 PM
Subject: Re: That wonderful ignature VW "chrip"!

Yes, volks, it's all in those twin chrome tailpipes.  My buddy calls them
"whistle-pipes".  I love it, too!
  It is definitely endearing to all who experience it firsthand, and spawns
many happy memories of the 'olden days' when times were simpler, and somehow
more fun.
  Some other folks call it 'fweem'.

Mike B.
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Zeitgeist
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
  Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 6:42 PM
  Subject: Re: That wonderful ignature VW "chrip"!

  I'm pretty sure it was the two little chrome tailpipes fitted to the stock
  muffler.  I smile every time I hear it...quite infrequently these days :(

  On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 3:14 PM, Matt Drew <t3vanagon@gmail.com> wrote:

  > You know, that is a GREAT question!
  > I first heard it in mom's '74 Super Beetle and have always just accepted
  > that "it's a VW thing", and never put much more thought into it than
that.
  >
  > You can always tell a VW (ok, OLDER VW) by its sound before anything
else.
  >
  >
  >
  > Something I've always wondered about...what creates that signature VW
  > > "chirp" coming from the engine?
  > >
  >

  --
  Casey
  '87 300TD
  '94 100CSQ Avant
  '89 Bluestar