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On the whole, the vintage Beetle is doing pretty well. I've taken it on my periodic long commute twice this calendar year, and it did pretty well. I'm sorting out how to drive it and keep the engine cool enough, which is partly bracing the deck lid (engine cover) open a bit while driving and changing the main jet in the carburetor. But it is a good (although loud) highway car.
There are two problems with it at the moment, so it's decomissioned for the winter. One its had as long as I've had it; there's a characteristic vibration that most Super Beetles get at some point; it's euphemistically called the "Super Shimmy". One of the things that makes the "Super Beetle" different is that it has a totally different front suspension setup than the earlier cars. The tie rods are very long, and so it doesn't take a lot of deterioration in the suspension components before the leverage provided by the leverage of the tie rods to allow wheel vibration to shake the car.
My car has it; unfortunately it's sort of difficult to quantify since it sometimes happens more than other times. Sometimes, it vibrates between 43 and 45 mph and that's it. Somtimes it vibrates any speed from 35 to 50. Well, it's been getting a bit worse this year, so I think it's time to at least look carefully at the suspension and try to remedy it. My vague plan is to take my time and take the front suspension apart slowly this winter, and see how things look once everything's apart. I'll probably buy a bushing it and then put things back together and see how that goes.
The other thing is brand new. My fuel pump seems to have ruptured, putting gasoline into the crank case. So I need to fix the pump, and change the oil a couple of times in a row to get all that flushed out. Not a huge deal, but a pain none the less.
And of course, I'll be instrument it with logging electronics soon. More on that later.