We love seeing friends bond over a long drive in a Volkswagen; it’s a part of our DNA. So when childhood friends Tim Bennett and John Nash, co-hosts of The Focus Group on Sirius XM satellite radio, decided to embark on a cross-country road trip from Philadelphia to Las Vegas (with a surprise stop farther west), we thought of the perfect car for them. You see, when they were 16, Tim taught John to drive in an old Volkswagen Beetle that, according to John, featured a Flintstone-esque hole in the floorboard. In honor of that experience, we sent them a 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI manual six-speed turbo diesel (complete with a brand new floorboard).
This wasn’t John’s first experience with a TDI. In fact, his daily driver is a Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI. Even so, he found the 2013 Beetle experience to be “pretty phenomenal.” John explained that the Beetle TDI “drove beautifully and the manual was a delight.” And both Tim and John—who are over six feet tall—found the diminutive Bug to be “as comfortable as a car can be for 10 hours a day.” John added, “When you see pictures of me leaning against the Beetle, I’m taller than the car. But when you’re in it, it felt completely like the cockpit of my Jetta Sportwagen.”
Tim’s daily driver is a Volkswagen CC, so the Beetle was his first TDI experience. What did he think? “Lots of power and lots of low-range torque, but control was also great. It was really fun to drive.” Tim went on to say that the 17-inch alloy wheels “really made the car stand out.”
And they weren’t the only ones who took notice. “A lot of people said that they loved the new lines of the car—that it looked much more sleek and modern, much more substantial,” explained John. According to Tim, “When we were staying at The Inn of the Turquoise Bear in Santa Fe, New Mexico, every single guest asked, ‘Who is driving that brand new Beetle—and is it available yet?’”
Of course, no road trip would be complete without a few dining adventures. John stuck to salads for most of the trip but braved a cheesy bratwurst soup in Marietta, Ohio. He admits that it sounds horrible but was actually delicious. “Bad name, good food.” The pair’s favorite meal was in St. Louis, where they shared a deep-dish pizza at Pi. Back at their hotel, they enjoyed an aged Manhattan that had been stored in a cask for a month. Overall, they found St. Louis to be “a fun, urban, really cool city.” The city got bonus points for its famous arch, which John found to be one of the coolest things he saw on the entire trip.
However, Tim’s absolute favorite roadside attraction was the “homespun Americana” of the Meramec Caverns, an hour south of St. Louis. “It was a cavern tour that tried to be US Parks Service, but it wasn’t quite there,” he explained. “It’s a privately owned cave that they call a ‘show cave.’” For John, the caverns tied with The Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean, Texas for coolest attraction. “It’s all things barbed wire.” The museum is run by a woman named Alta who said, “I guess you boys wanna see the museum,” before turning on all the lights in the pitch-black facility. “She was a very sweet woman—a lotta fun,” added John.
Apparently, the friends had so much fun on the road that they missed a turn en route to their final destination in Las Vegas and wound up in California. What started out as a16-state road trip added an unplanned bonus state—very fitting, as Tim’s lucky number is 17. What better way to end a road trip than with a lucky surprise?
Want to learn more about John and Tim’s adventure in the Beetle TDI? Join us on Monday, July 23 at 2pm ET/11am PT for a live chat on the Volkswagen Facebook page. Register for a reminder and get your questions ready!
Tell us: what questions would you like to ask John and Time during the Live Chat?