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Forget how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, the original automotive spiritual exercise has always been “how many people can fit into a Volkswagen Beetle.” And now there’s apparently a new answer: 20. Kentucky.com reports that the Asbury University’s Emancipation Project, a human trafficking awareness group, is awaiting final confirmation from the Guinness Book Of World Records for its attempt at the old record of 17 people in a Bug. According to the report, the key question is whether the students fit Guinness’s size guidelines, as
Published guidelines called for the students to be at least 5 feet tall and at least 18 years of age.
Which hopefully explains the female-heavy makeup of the AUEP (otherwise, when did dudes stop caring about slavery/squeezing into Bugs with girls?). Meanwhile, doesn’t the Beetle in question matter? Wouldn’t a Super Beetle’s curved windshield create the room for an extra passenger to recline on the dash compared to, say, an early (but not slave-built early, for obvious reasons) split-window design? As in so many matters, I have to defer to the wisdom of TTAC’s Best and Brightest on this one…
21 Comments on “New “Most People In A VW Beetle” Record Claimed: 20...”
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What’s with all the redheads at Asbury University? I count at least 4, maybe 5 or 6, which is way out of proportion to the number of redheads in the general population.
BTW, Jews have the highest incidence of red hair, even higher than the Irish.
In this age of easy and socially acceptable hair dyeing, it’s impossible to make any meaningful observations about percentages, unless you happen to know whether the drapes match the carpet. At least all of the hair colors visible are ones that actually appear in nature.
that’s so misogynistic and passe`, just look at the eyebrows.
that’s so misogynistic and passe
Where do you get misogyny? Nobody said anything about the gender of the redheads. Methinks thou dost protest a wee bit too much.
that’s so misogynistic and passe`, just look at the eyebrows
My wife, a natural redhead who colors her hair as the red fades with age, touches up her eyebrows when she dyes her hair, so eyebrows don’t tell you anything more than the rest of the hair. If that were so, many “blondes” would have black or brown eyebrows, and I don’t often see that look. And as Ronnie added, my comment is not misogynistic at all. My use of a colloquialism is not aimed at either gender since both men and women freely color their hair these days. How you choose to take the idiom speaks to your own issues.
“BTW, Jews have the highest incidence of red hair, even higher than the Irish.”
No they don’t not even close. Some studies have indicated occurances of some populations of Ashkenazim of about 5%, but the average for Ashkenazi Jews is much lower and lower still for Sephardic Jews. By comparison Scotland has the highest frequency of natural red-heads at about 13% with Ireland at about 10%. However your comparison is flawed as you’re not even comparing like with like (ie an ethnic group with a nation) If you compared the prevalence of red hair between Jews and Ethnic Celts the comparison might have some validity.
Furthermore I find the observation itself slightly offensive, what does it matter about their hair colour? I daresay you would not have made the same comment had the difference been their skin colour.
Randomness is clumpy
Furthermore I find the observation itself slightly offensive, what does it matter about their hair colour? I daresay you would not have made the same comment had the difference been their skin colour.
Sigh. Here we go, here we go…
nothing wrong with redheads, nothing at all.
Would the car actually have to be able to be driven with that many people since this is a human trafficking awareness project?
“Meanwhile, doesn’t the Beetle in question matter?”
I wonder if they are using a New Beetle? In my opinion this would disqualify their effort.
“What’s with all the redheads at Asbury University?”
I am a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary which is across the street from Asbury University. I don’t recall seeing an unusual number of redheads on campus during the mid-1990’s when I was a student there.
On the right side of the picture, there’s an open door visible behind the group which is clearly of an original Beetle.
My question is whether they are allowed to remove the seats for the record attempt.
Another question: why are there 22 people in the picture when the claimed new record is 20?
Right you are. I didn’t notice the door. If you click the AUEP link in the original post you can see more photos of this car. It appears to be a 1960’s era Beetle sedan (not a Super Beetle) and the seats have not been removed.
That linked blog site is a monument to opacity, but it appears that it’s a 1964 version which was restored for the project. And that the bug stuffing record is just one part of a larger anti-human traffiking endeavor.
I wonder if arms/legs/heads sticking out of a sunroof or out of windows would be allowed? This would get the number higher.
Doors and windows must be closed, and it must be an “old style” Beetle. More pics and video from the event here.
I once put me and 7 friends in my VW rabbit diesel and drove across Seattle to see the Spice Girls movie. Obviously I avoided hills. Good times….
I would have loved to be one of the 3 dudes hammered against 17 semi hot chicks but with my luck… sausage sandwich!
Regarding the unusually high representation of redheads, randomness is clumpy, so there is probably nothing surprising or weird about it.
Congrats to the women (and couple of men) of Asbury University in their anti-trafficking efforts
@pannkake–yeah, given the steepness of those Seattle hills, you certainly would have wanted to avoid them with 7 in a beetle. In second grade I walked down and then up Rasberry Hill every day, but I never would have dared ride my bicycle down it. There were little horizontal bumps along the sidewalk to keep you from slipping if there was snow or ice on the ground (a rare occurrence). The old Studebaker (a 1950) used to stall on the hills all the time.
20 in an old Beetle; 19 in a new smart.
Which on of the guys in the picture do you think suggested they all get naked to fit more people? Hey, the ratio is on his side….
Oh, on a side note. When I was in college we fit 12 people (3 guys, 9 girls) in an 84 Honda accord 2 door hatchback and DROVE to a party in it… a Halloween party. Everyone was in a costume.That was a fun night.