Our Brazilian brother, Rubens Junior, published an article last week about a customized VW Beetle he had back in 1988. The story of a young guy customizing his ride is universal, but the way the police handle slammed rides back home in Brazil it totally shocking to us.
Here’s an excerpt.
I Fought The Law And The Law Won
That Beetle was my pride and joy, I had installed a set of 13-inch, magnesium rims, wrapped with some second-hand radial tires. That alone considerably lowered the car, but not happy with that, I altered the front suspension, really slamming the poor Beetle to the ground. The engine was the original 1300cc but the exhaust was pretty loud. The color was Beige Claro, code L-1075, factory original.
According to Brazilian traffic laws, owners are not allowed to modify the stock suspension of any automobile and also is not permitted to alter the final diameter of the wheel-tire assembly. I knew I was riding an outlaw car and the police could, at any time, impound it.
When the officer saw my Beetle approaching, he immediately signed to stop. He came to the car, put his two hands on the front fender, and tried to push it down. The suspension didn’t move an inch.
Officer – “Locked suspension?“
Me – “Yes”
Officer – “OK guys, get out of the car, and bring the keys and documents”.
Then I started to tell him my sad (and fraudulent) story. When I finished he looked at me and with the kind of wisdom that only sergeants can have he said: “Let’s cut the crap, I have more important things to take care of. I will give you a 24-hour permit, which means you have 24 hours to get your Beetle back to the original standards”.
The first thing my dad and I got done on Saturday morning was unlock the front suspension, which was, by the way, pretty easy. Then I spent the rest of my weekend hunting for a set of 15-inch rims and a decent used tires. Thankfully that 24-hour permit meant 24-business hours so, I had just enough time to get the car ready for the inspection.
I had totally forgotten how comfortable my Beetle was before the modifications. With a properly working front suspension and soft bias ply tires, the car was ridding like a Cadillac (a little exaggeration here). On my way to the police HQ, on Monday morning, I was seriously considering leaving the car in the way VW intended it to be.
To read the entire article (definitely worth it) click the link below.
And make sure to check out ‘The Classic Machines‘ for automotive content with an international perspective.
Thanks, Chris.
You even found a cool picture of the VW Beetle as a police cruiser in Brazil.
Rubens,
.
I find your articles about cars, car culture, and car-crazy people TOTALLY fascinating. Your experiences are completely different than a middle class guy growing up in Toronto; we just had to share.
.
I just picture you in a ‘slammed’ Beetle running from the military police in their Beetle police cruisers! That would be a sight to see…as long as you made your escape.
.
Chris