2017 Volkswagen Dune Convertible Review - Midlife Auto-Mobility On Big Sur And More

Midlife Auto-Mobility On Big Sur And More
By Maureen McDonald
Senior Editor
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel

Ain't nothing better than cruising Ventura Highway in a 2017 Volkswagen Dune Beetle convertible for a ride back to my youth with an old beau and a new iPod link. I'm jamming to the tunes of Jan and Dean, Beach Boys and Ventures, while zipping over mountains, winding curves and sun-kissed beaches. One car can conjure a thousand good memories and actively drive a hundred more.

No need to get old and arthritic when one $32,000 vehicle can keep a lass young, even through the worst traffic jams at the Monterey Aquarium. But I'm getting ahead of my story. I lived through a frustrating car crash that totaled out my 2010 Volkswagen Jetta and tumbled me deep into a midlife meltdown. A dear friend offered a plane ticket and a chance to rejuvenate on the Monterey-Big Sur coastline of California.

I pick up a Sandstorm Yellow Metallic 2017 Dune Beetle convertible in San Jose for a press evaluation trip and a chance to see an old sweetheart in Monterey who recently suffered a broken kneecap, sprained ankle and wounded pride. From our medical maladies came a fresh longing to rekindle our youth with auto-therapy. A road trip would be best in the kind of vehicle that could chase the blues away and send us rocking back to the Bruce Meyers car fest when one man with an excess of fiberglass and a lot of creativity turned VW Beetles into the Meyers Manx Dune Buggies that road the California coast with maximum fun.

We do a walk-around the souped-up Dubby. The Dune Beetle's extra 0.2 inches of ground clearance takes the potholes and rough patches of asphalt with ease. Everywhere we go people stop to look at the aggressive fascias, the black wheel-arch extensions, fender flairs, rocker-panel-level "Dune" graphics and the outrageous gold coloring that Midas would enjoy taking for a spin. The car has a 170-hp, 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a smooth as silk six-speed automatic transmission, 184- pound feet of torque, and a fuel-sipping 26 mph on a variety of roads from the Monterey pier to Highway 1 through Carmel Valley.

Yes, we remember Dune Buggies as we swap stories to the twang of a Surfing style guitar. I sat mesmerized in the old Mercury Theater in Detroit watching Steve McQueen power around in the Queen Manx, a Baja Bug with a 4-barrel 140 HP Corvair engine. Articles say he wanted to drop in a Porsche engine but ran out of money. It had extra-wide rear wheels cast by American Racing produced to match the Firestone racing Tires. Inside, custom Naugahyde seats and a Con-Ferr nameplate.

Back in 1963 Doug Meyers developed the fiberglass dune buggy kit to turn an original Beetle into a Dune Buggy to cruise over sand dunes, beaches and open roads in a street-legal machine in Newport Beach. He produced the kits until tax problems caught him short in 1971.

Fast forward to current times when Volkswagen was beset with problems from the Environmental Protection Agency and angry consumers over its diesel engine air quality, so it was time to introduce a truly fun car that doesn't apologize to anyone. Whether riding over Carmel beaches or chugs up a mountain, it makes merry the days. Heads gawk and young boys wave at the people inside the petite convertible.

The top is operated via a header-mounted switch that promises to open and close in 10 seconds if you are traveling at speeds under 30 miles an hour. Don't try to lower the top on the highway when a sudden storm kicks up, the top stays firm and the buzzers bleep incessantly. With the top down, the back seat is large enough to carry a couple 15-pound sacks of bird food from a Carmel Valley pet shop with room to spare. We think about buying some large photographs of Big Sur but decline. Wouldn't fit in a suitcase.

Clint Eastwood's Ranch

Our first day starts with brunch at Clint Eastwood's Ranch on the mouth of the Carmel River in Carmel. Sheep graze outside and people line up for one of the best buffets in northern California, serenaded by an acoustic piano player and singer. Some come for a sighting from the Dirty Harry actor himself. No luck. But the car is lucky. As we drive up people flock to see the car, the sandstorm color is magnetizing. They ask: How much? How fast? How fun!

File Photo

We motor up to Nepenthe and the Phoenix Shop, hoping to assess the landslides along Highway one in Big Sur but our timing is disastrous. Five million cubic yards of rock and soil fell on the highway, where previous rock slides had closed Julia Pfeiffer State Park and crushed a major bridge. We had hoped to get massages at Esalen Institute, the grand-daddy of human potential retreat centers. Here we could rest our tired bones in spring-fed mineral baths and receive hands-on therapy from some of the best massage practitioners in the country, those who take month-long classes in restoring people to health.

High winds kick up, the sky is ominously black and we pull to an observation center. Rough waters churn in the Pacific Ocean underneath as cars chug forward tentatively. How far could they travel before being turned back? No need to poke our nose in trouble, we turn around, stopping at a couple tasting centers for wineries and a beer at the Running Man, decked out in rusted bicycles on the roof, and adorned with cowboy boots hung from the ceiling inside. The high gloss bar is home to dozens of beers and delicious Tex Mex food. Even the Dubby wants a beer for the tank.

Feeling frisky and young, we pull into the restorative acres of Earthbound Farm, the largest organic lettuce farm in the nation. Founded by Drew and Myra Goodman in 1984, they now serve Costco, Whole Foods and every smaller market in between. The eco-tourism center include a living demonstration of soil management plans, a labyrinth, farm market and take-out deli. Earthbound likes to say it kept 16.1 million pounds of synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides out of the environment and planted 740,174 trees. We take a couple tubs of lettuce back to Monterrey for a healthy dinner.

There's a thousand great drives around Monterey, Santa Cruz and points in between. The Dune Beetle wins friends everywhere it goes, from the craggy coast of Carmel surrounded by multi-million dollar homes, to a little Fish Wife restaurant at the brink of the 17-Mile-Drive where 20 different restaurants offer an ocean view and great food. The calamari is divine.

We ride through Pacific Grove where million dollar mansions along the coast are being torn down, replaced by $5 million houses. Cannery Row, once a thriving tourist destination, now has a couple Tibet merchandisers, some local pottery, and a notice that all will leave soon and the shopping plaza will be demolished for a hotel charging customers $400 a night. We turn on more Jan and Dean to get back in a surfing atmosphere.

Time for a whale watch at the Monterey Pier. For $45, head out to sea for viewing of humpback whales, blue whales, Rossi's dolphins and others. They sell snacks and offer two observation decks to view the ocean life. Around the corner Dennis points to a counting house that dates back to the early 1800s when Monterey became part of the United States.

I whirl back to Dennis's place happy and full. The romance fizzled somewhere along the way but the friendship is divine. We agree the seats on the Dune Beetle with tons of nifty stitchery unique to this vehicle, are comfortable enough to drive for hours, even with medical conditions. I forget the aches and remember the joys of winding coastal roads, fantastic fish meals and an ocean-going adventure.

Waving goodbye to my friend, I put the top down, crank the music up and dream of endless summers spent cruising from beach to beach. In the next life, I'll own the Dune Beetle and have a bikini body to ride around in.

The Most Helpful Volkswagen Research Information; Anywhere!

READY TO BUY? - Get a Better Deal As A "Free-To-The-Dealer" Unencumbered Car Buyer