Hello! Log in or Register   |  Help  |  Donate  |  Buy Shirts See all banner ads | Advertise on TheSamba.com  
TheSamba.com
 
How did everyone get into vw's ?
Page: Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
Forum Index -> Stories Share: Facebook Twitter
Reply to topic
Print View
Quick sort: Show newest posts on top | Show oldest posts on top View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
blackchop65
Samba Member


Joined: May 23, 2003
Posts: 176
Location: phoenix, az
blackchop65 is offline 

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 9:43 pm    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

i have owned and driven more cars than i can even begin to count. but the very first vw i owned was a gift. a 1969 vw bug! it was a 90% restored bug. later i sold it for no good reason i can think of now. that old 69 bug has been my top #1 car i have owned. and have been hooked ever since on the vws. i have owned several vws since my 1st one. 2 '67 bugs, a 76 westy, a '65 bug,and now have a 74 westy, which since ive grown a bit older and a bit wiser am real reluctant to ever let go of it. i do plan to get yet another beetle soon. there is NOTHING like a VW!!!
driving one is like just simply being with your best friend.
once hooked-always hooked.
sold my last bug ,my 65 stocker,to a 1st time car owner- a 17 year old that has that vw fever also..hated to let it go, but hey! got another hooked lol so its all well worth it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
Dubbed
Samba Member


Joined: July 05, 2003
Posts: 5

Dubbed is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:50 pm    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

I was 15 and looking for a car that was cheap and easy to work on. well... take a guess at what I found. Yep a bug 74 to be exact. It was missing half of the floorpan. $300 later it was mine. I didn't have any idea what I was getting myself into. I met a couple of other Bug owners in the Silverdale/Bremerton area and the came the Volks show at Brem Int. raceway and I was hooked. Now I still have the 74 (soon to be a Baha) and I'm working on a Cal-look 69 sunroof with a 1915 for now. I'm thinking about looking for a westfalia but we'll see.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
KamperKitJay
BDM Hit Man


Joined: May 13, 2003
Posts: 404
Location: San Diego CA.
KamperKitJay is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2003 8:59 am    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

I was forced at gunpoint!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Facebook Gallery Classifieds Feedback
4 banger
Samba Member


Joined: June 26, 2003
Posts: 67

4 banger is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2003 3:07 pm    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

got my 1st bug in 1965 - use it as a hunting rig - would sleep in it on - just pull the seats out - put them by the camp fire -unfold some plywood i made up - toss in the sleeping bags - used the tent as a cook tent - hauld out many a deer on the top rack - i guess someone would call the cops if they saw that today - we keep all our food killin behind closed doors now -my current bug is #4 for me - t
www.picturetrail.com/tommyhudson
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
vwdank
Samba Member


Joined: February 25, 2003
Posts: 36
Location: Memphis TN
vwdank is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2003 5:37 pm    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

faith
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Classifieds Feedback
vwdank
Samba Member


Joined: February 25, 2003
Posts: 36
Location: Memphis TN
vwdank is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2003 5:39 pm    Post subject: how did everyone get into vw's ? Reply with quote

damn! i meant fate, I guess I just always had faith
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Classifieds Feedback
rockerarm
Samba Member


Joined: December 16, 2009
Posts: 3552
Location: Los Angeles
rockerarm is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

During my senior year in high school, here in SoCal, the new auto shop instructor was a former VW dealer tech. Up to this point my interest was American V8 cars. Many of the industrial arts instructors owned air-cooled VW's and I was approached by this new instructor and asked if I wanted to work on these real cars or just the junk in the shop with all the other students. My initial response was WTF? Work on VW's? Well he, Mr Russ Parkinson, convinced me to further my hands on with cars and I was soon performing basics such as oil changes, valve adjustments, axle boots on swing axle cars, spark plug and point replacement. Upon graduation Mr Parkinson suggested that I apply to one of the local VW dealers as a lube tech. And starting the day after high school graduation I began my VW employment at Russ Thor VW in Torrance, Calif. The rest is history, as the saying goes. Bill.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
far rider Premium Member
Samba Member


Joined: August 30, 2005
Posts: 770
Location: Rutland, VT
far rider is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought my first bug new in 67. A zenith blue sunroof. This was at a time when all my buddies had GTOs, chevrolet 396, etc. I think subconsciously I was influenced by the Doyle, Dane ads and the quality that VWs promised. Plus I was in college and gas, even at 25 cents a gallon was a consideration. No one in my family had a VW. I liked their simplicity, the fact that they seldom changed and they were well made. Had lots of fun in that little VW. Dated my wife, ski trips and it served us well through 2 kids. It was great.
_________________
67 zenith blue sunroof

Contentment; when what you have is what you want.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
cyclehobby
Samba Member


Joined: August 29, 2013
Posts: 156
Location: North Jersey
cyclehobby is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My dad was a plumber and when he'd visit customer's homes, he'd always look in their garages hoping to find an old Model A or something they'd sell him cheap. I was 15 at the time and he came across an old 56 Beetle in an old lady's garage. I gave him $50 I had saved and he bought the car for me figuring he and I could work on it until I got my license (at 17 here in NJ).

At the time, I can't say I was a VW fan because I was simply just interested in having a pretty cool car to work on and eventually drive around. But, VW's seemed to hook me.

Dad and I did the motor, painted the car, put new seats in it (from the junk yard) and installed cheap chrome Chevy wheels with adapters. I got my license in it and drove it for a year until a lady in a Plymouth station wagon tee boned me and totaled the Bug.

Still addicted to VW's, I got a 69 Karmann Ghia and my dad picked up a 68 Bus, then a 66 KG convertible. Since then, I've had a Jetta, a New Beetle and a GTI - and now my 67 Bug. Can't stop liking VW's. I just won't...
_________________
1967 Beetle
Northern NJ
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
79SuperVert
Samba Member


Joined: May 31, 2002
Posts: 9758
Location: Elizabeth, NJ & La Isla Del Encanto
79SuperVert is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read my first post in this thread just now and realized it didn't make any sense. I must have been intoxicated with the newness of a bug when I wrote that post.

But in fact, my first lessons in stickshift driving, back in the 70's, were in a Squareback. After that it around 2001 that I had started to think about getting a four-seater convertible that I could drive my two young daughters around in and make some memories, but the only such vehicle available at the time was the New Beetle, which was far too expensive.

I started looking at used 4 seater verts and saw that I could get a Beetle for around $7K. After having been in the WTC during 9-11 and being given up for dead by my wife, she was more predisposed afterwards to let me indulge in some frivolous expenditures, and so she helped me to buy my first Beetle in 2002. I've owned three different bugs since then.
_________________
Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Dr OnHolliday
Samba Member


Joined: May 11, 2012
Posts: 1215
Location: was Escondido now San Berdoo
Dr OnHolliday is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My dad was a sportscar guy, and he bought a brand new 1960 Porsche Continental. He drove in a couple of ralleys, and put an Isky cam in it. Later he rebuilt the engine after a blowup. He was kind of a snob about VWs tho...

Fast forward to mid-to-late '60s, I had a friend who's German-American family had nothing but VWs...2 bugs, a square back and bus - all at the same time. And we did a lot of trips and local driving. Friend rolls one of the bugs (dreaded tuck-under plus concrete crossgutter) so he built a model T themed fiberglass buggy of it and I had a verry minor part in it.

Anyway, although various guys had vws, I didn't get into them (didn't realize prrformance potential and was into street rods). That was my loss. 3 years ago I got a baja that didn't run and now I'm hooked...although I'm no purist (hot rodder still).
_________________
1965 Type 1 sunroof Baja / about 70k miles on self-rebuilt '74 1600 and counting / SP heads and aftermarket valve keepers / non-doghouse shroud with external cooler and filter / 1.5 qt extended sump / Weber 32/36 DFAV progressive carb / 009 dist with Pertronix / 1.25 ratio rockers and ball adjusters / 1.5" stainless steel J-pipes and carbon steel baja exhaust
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Westy Steve
Samba Member


Joined: February 25, 2006
Posts: 1095

Westy Steve is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Me? I bought the car below for $100 from the classifieds back in the early 1980's. That's the only picture I have of it, and it was really just the corner of a photograph of some landscaping my Dad was doing at the time. The car was a '60 model with a 6 volt system, a 36 HP engine, and the worst amateur baja rear-end hack job you ever saw. The car had to be parked on a hill all the time because I didn't have the sense to clean up the rusty wiring, but the engine. Oh the engine! It ran like a top. It would not die! I know I got sand in the oil on a few occasions from some of my offroad hijinks, and I remember cratering the bonnet when I smashed a fence that I didn't see that was blocking a road late at night (my lights were aimed too low and the brakes had to be pumped). Kinda lucky that car didn't kill me, but it was fun, and it always worked. Later, I sold it off for the same price, $100, when I joined the Naval Reserves. When I came back home, I bought a Chevy Blazer, but still wanted another bug, so I bought a mint '62 ragtop that I financed from the bank for a very high price of $2,200.00. After that, I've pretty much always had a VW.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Steve
_________________
Have nice 914, want nice Bug
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Funky187
Samba Member


Joined: September 23, 2013
Posts: 38
Location: Cental Illinois
Funky187 is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was 15, we were cruising up to silver lake to go do some off-roading at the dunes. We had a loaded down SUV and a trailer full of fun. Somewhere on interstate 55 we were cruising along when my dad hit my shoulder and said "Check this out!" He pulls into the passing lane, I look up from the gameboy that my face was buried in, and there was a convoy of about 10 buses and vanagons. I loved the look on each drivers face. It was kind of like "Don't mind us". Every one was just enjoying the ride, windows down, elbows hanging out, wind in their hair. I still to this day have a distinct image of a guy with his dog riding shotgun in a brown bus. I looked to my dad and said, "I want one". He chuckled and told me a few stories of friends that had them when he was growing up. I wound up saving up and purchasing my first one about a year later, and my second one about 2 years later. Now I'm the one cruising around with out a care in the world!
_________________
1969 Campmobile TinTop
Stock remanufactured 1600 SP
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
daisy71
Samba Member


Joined: July 17, 2013
Posts: 105
Location: Staten Island
daisy71 is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 8:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A while back when I was probably about 9 years old I was driving with my grandparents and in a guys driveway I saw 2 beetles a red one and a blue one. I remember saying to them one day I'm gonna have one just like that. Well a few years pass and I see for sale a red super beetle that was in a accident and was only usable for the engine and some other parts, I bought a roller beetle a day or two before I saw that one, well since I needed an engine me and my father went to check it out and it was the one I seen all them years ago. The engine and rear fender is now on my 71 super beetle. I called it smush beetle
_________________
71 Super beetle
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
mpls_ham
Samba Member


Joined: November 21, 2013
Posts: 78
Location: Northern Black Hills
mpls_ham is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My old man spent a few years in Germany with the Army in the early sixties and came back with an affinity for VW's. He always had a beetle project in the garage as long as I can remember. Had one myself until my mid 20's and then it took back stage to other things. I'm back in the game 25 years later. I bet that this tale is very common.
_________________
1970 Westfalia - Evangeline

1973 Beetle Convertable
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Mango
Samba Member


Joined: November 12, 2002
Posts: 36
Location: Chadron Nebraska
Mango is offline 

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Bus found me in my time of transportation need. I was in college and needed transportation and had very little $$. I was in the local city park watching a friends kids and literally thinking I need a car. It did not matter what car as long as it was cheap. Then it circled around the park entrance and stopped in front of me for about two minutes and drove off, just in time for me to scribble the number from the for sale on the window. I went home (no cell phones at that time) and called the guy, got a ride to his house just out side the town limits and purchased it for $995. I had $1050 in my account. 1974 VW Bus transporter. My wife and I started dating in it, took lots of trips and tons of memories.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
mark tucker
Samba Member


Joined: April 08, 2009
Posts: 23937
Location: SHALIMAR ,FLORIDA
mark tucker is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I get in through the door Wink
I was dionosed with cancer.got AFU by tomany moron DR's filling thier pockets&buying new cars/homes on the water.... so I had to lighten up on what I could work on. Im a machinist&racer.big ci v8 high hp cars.Ive still got all my stuff and look at it every dam day. including a new unfinished professionally built all round tube double funny car cage chassie, new body, new chassis,new wheels loads of new stuff, multiple engines,cnc ported aluminum dart heads, tunnel ramstoomuch to think about..I cant finish it.over $50,000.00 in parts.just sitting there in the fully heated &cooled shop with little room for my vw stuff. It all needs to go.just keep the vw stuff.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
rbwdriven
Samba Member


Joined: July 30, 2015
Posts: 1
Location: Acworth, GA
rbwdriven is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:55 am    Post subject: first car Reply with quote

mum and dad were trying to figure out insurance for me on mum's mbg.

After a phone call to the insurance man. Er you are going to have a car for youself.

How much money do you have saved. $200.

Dad said I'll match it.

Neighbor said I know where a lady has a bug for sale for $400 been sitting a while.

Sitting in a parking deck in downtown Atlanta.

covered in pollen and missing drivers window.

So $400 later I have a new to me 68 vw bug. I put about 4k into it the first year. Empi wheels etc.

Sold it before I went to college since I was going across the state and mum and dad did not want me driving the bug.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
grandpa pete
Samba Member


Joined: July 06, 2008
Posts: 6426
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
grandpa pete is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went to a local ( St. Pete Fl. ) car show with my Model A Ford .
The ford had a magnetic sign on it " WANTED T $ A " .
Model T and A parts wanted for restoration projects ...
A lady asked me what else did I restore ?
I told her I would work on anything I could get cheep.
She asked me " How do I get rid of a Karman Ghia "

The short story version is ; I ended up with a drivable rusty 68 ghia convertible with a title for $100 .
After a year sold the Ghia ; bought 74 SB vert .
eventually sold the Model A and bought a 69 bus .
Traded the bus for a nice 63 three fold rag ( Purple Car ) . 63 owners wife was pregnant ; no room for baby in 63
Sold the SB vert to start the sedan delivery Type6 project I am now finishing up .
_________________
63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Woody419
Samba Member


Joined: August 12, 2015
Posts: 71
Location: Dayton, ohio
Woody419 is offline 

PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me it was a trip from California to Ohio....then, back. We camped at night , and drove during the day. ... time to make some new ones
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Forum Index -> Stories All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page: Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
Page 5 of 8

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

About | Help! | Advertise | Donate | Premium Membership | Privacy/Terms of Use | Contact Us | Site Map
Copyright © 1996-2023, Everett Barnes. All Rights Reserved.
Not affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen of America | Forum powered by phpBB
Links to eBay or other vendor sites may be affiliate links where the site receives compensation.