TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:42 am

You should keep your kid from touching peoples cars.[/quote]

In hindsight maybe. I did not know him or he us. Have to support my boy, though, as he has more love of VW's and knowledge than most.

In all my years I have never refused any Kid the opportunity to set on one of my Harleys or touch one of my VW's. Never refused a ride to any kid wanting one. But that's just me. This guy was a prick. He was only interested in buying the trophy as he had his staff unload and prep the truck.

Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:36 pm

donemoto wrote:
In hindsight maybe. I did not know him or he us. Have to support my boy, though, as he has more love of VW's and knowledge than most.

In all my years I have never refused any Kid the opportunity to set on one of my Harleys or touch one of my VW's. Never refused a ride to any kid wanting one. But that's just me. This guy was a prick. He was only interested in buying the trophy as he had his staff unload and prep the truck.

I feel the same way. What's it gonna hurt for a kid to touch your bus? I could see if they had a hand full of rocks or something like that then no but if it was just them then no problem. Hell I'd let them set in the driver's seat and blow the horn if they wanted to. They are the next generation that will keep our hobby going.If you deny them the fond memories then they will turn somewhere else for a hobby.

Thu May 14, 2009 11:44 pm

static wrote: And as a Baywindow owner, I feel ostracized.

It has been 7 long years since that day, how do you feel now static. Still an outcast?

Fri May 15, 2009 3:52 am

I think the level of ostracization one feels depends on some levels on the company kept. I don't give the purists much mind, whatever. An early bay is sure a bargain buy still, much less prone to theft, parts are easier, and consider application. Mine is a daily driver and for all intents and purposes, my only ride.

The splits are collectables. Increasingly owned by folks with income in excess enough to be in the restoration game. Dandy. More power to ya. I'm always gleeful when my finances allow me investment in my bay beyond keeping it on the road.

I was a mere 11 years old when my bus was new. As a legal driver, the newest it would have been for me was as a used five year old model. It's older than the majority of my co-workers.

Have I owned a split? Nope. I've never even driven one. Will my bay outperform a perfectly restored stock split? Yes. Will it outperform a custom split built for performance? No. But then you've crossed the line from purist into custom. I could cross the same line, and have with 87 mm slip in pistons and a less restrictive after-market exhaust, still, investments into performance would be less of an investment than retrofitting a split.

Who needs purist snobs? The albatross dangles about their necks. I drive my bay and every day am thankful for the ostracization that keeps mine cost effective. It isn't a hobby. It's what I drive...everywhere.

neal

Fri May 15, 2009 7:29 am

donemoto wrote: ... My youngest boy about 12 at the time walked up and pressed his face at the window to get a look. Guy told me to keep my kid from touching his car. ... Geez, what a jerk. Oooh - don't touch the car! It's a car, man, and the boy is curious. Let him poke around and see how cool things are. But no, what the kid learned is that some people are really proud of their toys. :roll:

These people who own these things just to show off... I have no patience with them. Life is to be lived.

Sat May 16, 2009 5:58 am

[quote="jtauxe"] donemoto wrote: ... My youngest boy about 12 at the time walked up and pressed his face at the window to get a look. Guy told me to keep my kid from touching his car. ...
Sorry Guys
But this does not sound all that bad to me. Just comes down to simple respect for other peoples property. The guy may have been a jerk but at least he did not come down on the kid he told the father. I don't mind kids or anyone else around or in my bus but I do at least expect them to ask or wait to be invited We all invest a lot of time, effort or in this guys case sounds like money getting our rides to look good for a show and we all should respect that

Sat May 16, 2009 2:49 pm

hahaha, enemies of mother-in-law's

Sat May 16, 2009 3:18 pm

As far as I am concerned, if the engine is in the rear it belongs in "vintage VW" classification. Moving the engines to the front was the major break in the VW design philosophy, not the cooling system.

7-year-old thread, yes, but luckily it's a friendly debate.

Sat May 16, 2009 3:32 pm

jtauxe wrote: donemoto wrote: ... My youngest boy about 12 at the time walked up and pressed his face at the window to get a look. Guy told me to keep my kid from touching his car. ... Geez, what a jerk. Oooh - don't touch the car! It's a car, man, and the boy is curious. Let him poke around and see how cool things are. But no, what the kid learned is that some people are really proud of their toys. :roll:

These people who own these things just to show off... I have no patience with them. Life is to be lived.

Umm, sometimes those "curious" kids can cause major headaches. Like the kid who hopped into my bus and decided that the turn signal lever was some sort of shifter. Before I could stop him he had the broken lever in his hand. Made driving home a real joy, and repairing the switch was an adventure in itself.

Life may be "to be lived," but I don't think that cars at a show or campout should be play equipment for children. Parents should keep their little ones under control and teach them not to touch until invited to do so. Since when is respect for the property of others such a bad thing?

Sat May 16, 2009 3:42 pm

not trying to play devils advocate. but, it's a vehicle. a wonderful piece of simple machinery that attracts attention from children as well as adults. i turned every bolt on my 79 westy that Hobie now owns and let my child as well as any other curious child climb about that bus and move whatever their hearts desired. if something was broken, i repaired it. i had/ have a much greater fear of drunken adults near my bus than any child. we should all hope to rekindle the wonder and innocence they posses.

dave

Sat May 16, 2009 4:17 pm

when I was in High School, my senior year a buddy and I found and restored a 1941 pre-war deluxe Packard. This was 1967-68. We were excited to be restoring a car that was so old - 26 years old and 12 years since it had been put up on blocks. Parts were near impossible to find. People would stop to see such an old car, especially a "pre-War Packard."

The Bay my ladyfriend and I are restoring is a 1977 7-passenger. Doesn't seem that old, there were thousands of them a few years ago. Well, it is 32 years old - 6 years older than that Packard was. These buses are classics now whether the market will accept it or not. Those that are not taken care of will be gone and soon thereafter crushed. The ones that are taken care of will be very valuable in 10 years.

It is my opinion that the only reason so many split parts exist is that it is the only way to justify making a part for one's self. If you need something and no one has it then make it. Then you have a mold and the next obvious thing is to make more and sell them. That is coming with the Bays too.

Sat May 16, 2009 5:30 pm

Tell an 18 - 25 year old you're restoring, or have restored, or just barely maintain a 1968-79 bus, and see how they act. That bus was built 20 odd years before they were born. Think about a cool vehicle built 20 or so years before you born. ANY kind. For me, that's a 1935. A 1935 ANYTHING is cool as hell, especially if someone is keeping it alive and/or beautiful.

Ostracized and ignored for what? Loving, maintaining, and keeping alive a piece of history that's 30-41 years old? Not in my world. I feel fortunate to have the time and desire to do the work, and that's what matters. Some kid busts something on my pride and joy out of sheer exuberance? Oh well, back to work. It's a teachable moment. I WANT someone to love my bus after I've gone. It might be that kid.

Some ass with a 10 or 25 year older bus thinks he's better than me, or his vehicle is somehow superior to mine? Please. DILLIGAF? You see a splitty OR a bay owner with that materialistic, self important, impressed with himself attitude, because of what he has, walk away laughing. How many a$$holes do you need around you?

Pride is cool. Vanity is for jackasses.

Sat May 16, 2009 6:41 pm

Tell it James :wink:

Wait, I didn't understand what you said. But I did pick up on the It's a teachable moment concept.

Moments after I saw you last I got a call while I was in the bleachers watching the drags. Something like "come quick, there was an accident and your bug is damaged". A bunch of my buds were there and a guy and gal that I didn't know. And also a dent, scrape and chip. A gust caught an awning and it had gone airiborne until it whamed. My friends had all kinds of attitudes including shock, numbness, love and blood. The couple were very apologetic and concerned. Wanted to respond anyway they needed to to make sure it got all wonderful again. They made their attitude of sorrow and responsibality real clear. I told them hey thanks for the concern and offer but no problem, stuff happens to all of us. And that every couple years I have to repair all the little problems anyway. Just another little one to add to all the dumb damage that I end up accidently doing to it. Was really glad to see their final relief.
However if some jerk was to be there amid the show, clowning around, playing football with his kid and a mirror got busted off, it would be a very teachable moment. The rule of thumb at shows is do not touch. I think the keyword is respect.

Sat May 16, 2009 10:25 pm

Desertbusman wrote: Tell it James :wink:

However if some jerk was to be there amid the show, clowning around, playing football with his kid and a mirror got busted off,

We adopted a disabled boy a few years ago. He loves cars. and he's quick. We've had to pay for dented Jaguar doors, scratched Beemer bumpers, etc. It doesn't seem to matter how close I watch him, he gets there, and causes damage. I don't like jerks who care more about their stuff than about life. But I can understand seeing a kid come up to a car and being afraid for the car's condition. Kids have a reputation for a reason. Kids - abled or disabled, can walk up to a car with a hand full of rocks you don't see, with a hotwheels car in their hand that scratches paint - and a lot of parents will see the damage their kids do and if they can, will slink out of the parking lot and pretend nothing happened. I don't blame the guy for being paranoid. I personally tend to let people do stuff around my car, but on the other side of the coin I try my best not to assume anything of the sort will be ok for me or my kids until I've talked directly with the owner.

Sun May 17, 2009 6:46 am

I love the kids at the show, let them in my bus and everything, we even give glow lights at some shows. My bus is an outcast cuz it is so colorful, but she takes 2nd almost everytime.

I have a splitty too, but if you want to convert a splitty driver to a bay, just let them drive it. My bay is a Mercedes compared to my splitty.

I drive the crud outta my bay 12K miles last year alone. Don't hafta adjust the valves, dont hafta run at 55 (65 seems really fast in a splitty).

I love my splitty too, but I never differentiate between bus drivers. You want a really crappy ride? My thing is the worst.

I have been beat up here on the samba because of my choice in colors

but I got 2nd place in both classes :)

Sun May 17, 2009 8:00 am

The whole "kid tangent" reminded me of a story ---

My dad had a totaly restored 1915 Model T Roadster. For anyone familiar with "brass cars" you know the pain and heartache of trying (vainly) to keep the brass shiny - and what a casual touch can do (the oils from your skin can tarnish fresh brass very quickly).

Well - we had just driven in to a car-show spot and were setting up. The T was still sputtering steam out the drain pipe from the 100+ degree heat and trip across town.

Well - this 8ish year old kid shouted "cool!!!" - and RAN to the front of the T and placed his hand RIGHT on the shiny and very VERY hot radiator before anyone could stop him.

He screamed and left a bit of burned skin on the radiator. His mother screamed at him "Well wasn't THAT smart? Guess you won't be doing THAT again."

Turned out all day the kid had been trying to touch every car in the park and had NOT listened to his mom about touching other people's cars. The mother apologized to my dad for the trouble and headed off to find first aid.

Sun May 17, 2009 8:57 am

solexes@hotmail.com wrote: The whole "kid tangent" reminded me of a story ---

Tangents...what were we talking about again? Oh, ostracizing. I had meant to write about that too. I don't really experience that, but only because I don't know anyone with a splitty. I think the difference is pretty much lost on the rest of the world. Most people I know didn't know the difference between a bus and a vanagon, let alone a split and a bay. Because I'm an old fart, the cops leave me alone (except the occasional guy who just wants to check out my bus - this has happened!) but mostly everyone else wants to tell me about they bus they owned, or more often that their dad owned when they were kids. I love stories about being a kid, so I like to hear from them. No Ostracizing there. I think the best cure for being ostracized is to choose where you stand carefully. If I choose to stand around people who loved being children, I never feel excluded. Those people don't know how to exclude.

Sun May 17, 2009 12:04 pm

jah_B wrote: Tell an 18 - 25 year old you're restoring, or have restored, or just barely maintain a 1968-79 bus, and see how they act. That bus was built 20 odd years before they were born.
Pride is cool.

take some pride in your mathematical skills, your year range is a little off.

1968 + 20 years = 1988 (birth year). 2009 - 1988 = 21 years old
1979 + 20 years = 1999 (birth year). 2009 - 1999 = 10 years old

it's not quite the same when you say "i ______ a vehicle that was born 15 years before you were born". it doesn't have quite the same impact as 20 years does. ;)

Sun May 17, 2009 12:07 pm

mild chagrin. not really the point.

Mon May 18, 2009 10:06 am

solexes@hotmail.com wrote: He screamed and left a bit of burned skin on the radiator. His mother screamed at him "Well wasn't THAT smart? Guess you won't be doing THAT again."

Turned out all day the kid had been trying to touch every car in the park and had NOT listened to his mom about touching other people's cars.

Wish I had that on video. A great example of poor parenting. Ignoring one's parents should bring definite consequences to the child long before an injury situation comes up. The first time the child ignored his mother he should have been whisked off away from the thing he wanted to do for a time-out and a talking to.

Unfortunately, many parents think that an apology or a check makes up for their child's mischief and can't be bothered to supervise them properly. Some things that children can damage at a car show cannot be fixed.