As already mentioned, the fuel lines do get hard with age and the extra heat of the air-cooled engine bay. Then they split without warning. The solution is to use quality fuel hose. Not cheap stuff from super-crap.

The brass fittings do come adrift from the carb and fuel pump, but it's usually because some well-meaning mechanic has put a fuel filter in the line between the pump and carb. The weight of the filter vibrating around pulls the brass fitting out and fuel pumps directly on the distributor. Spark+Fuel=Woosh! The solution is to fit a filter between the tank and the pump, if you must have one.

The other main reason Beetles burn is pillocks leaving the battery cover off and then putting weight on the rear seat which shorts out the springs on the battery.

My own Beetle is a late Superbug so it has a Macpherson Strut front end and proper IRS. No swing axles here.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

not sure where those numbers are from? i'm getting about 21-22 mil from my google searches, wikipedia etc.

i do like a good bug, tho i much prefer the earlier roundnose ones to the later squarefronts.

They tried to settle this question in 1963 by having a race.
On the last lap of the Armstrong 500 the 850 and Beetle were still running neck and neck, and the VW took the class win by allegedly pushing the 850 off the track at the last corner.
(Reference Bill Tuckey's book)

I've got a Mini and a Beetle, both '69 models and almost the same colour!
I used to carry a bag of cement in the front of the beetle to improve the 'open road handling'