Ever owned anything else that made strangers so happy?

[tootype2crazy]

[my59]

The bus gets great feedback, and when I take it to kids events sometimes I think I should be doing a tax deductions for charity for the cost of getting it there an back...every year.

Only other time I had a vehicle that had people talking was the Benz 300CD in Portland Maine. Group of guys were gathered pointing, talking and circling around the car when I came out of a diner. They were on a bus trip from Germany and never knew there were diesel coupes. They all wanted to pile in for a ride.
_________________
my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'12 Jetta, '77 Benz 300D, and a 74 MG Midget.

[slave1pilot]

[D/A/N]

[Tram]

[vwwestyman]

I very much enjoy the attention that my Buses (and Thing) get. I love that I see people smile and wave (or try to take stealthy pics) when I drive by.

It's just cool to me that people enjoy seeing the Bus drive by and that just by going to work (or home from work, or whatever) that I can put a smile on someone's face.

The worst time of someone wanting to talk old VW was when I was cleaning up my Great Dane's kennel after he had gotten sick in it when I was at work. Guy knocked on my door while I had a mask on (I mean, why not?) and gloves on wanting to talk about my '78. He was making comments about the engine conversion as if he was negotiating a purchase of it (though I had not one time indicated I was interested in selling other than a a previous offhand comment that "everything is for sale for the right price). That was certainly off-putting.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[VOLTWAGEN]

My new car gets more attention than my 72 Bay

https://instagram.com/p/BkH1kYvF295/

[Bleyseng]

My ghia convertible gets more attention as people don't know what it is.
_________________
70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[wcfvw69]

[Wasted youth]

Have I ever owned anything that made strangers so happy?

Yes.

My AMC Pacer used to make people laugh all the time.

[airschooled]

[Abscate]

[TomWesty]

[guzzirider]

you why..it is the same reason people will pay outrageous money for a restored bus.

Because more people got their 1st kiss, drank their 1st beer, smoked their 1st joint, did their 1st road trip, attended their 1st concert in an air cooled VW than any Bentley , Rolls, Jag or BMW.

Now in 10 years that will not be true...and they will just be weird old cars that pollute a lot

like a model A or a Packard is to me

_________________
69 doublecab with 2" lift
Suzuki DR650
2016 Dodge Crew 1500 4x4

[swharris]

[quote="sodbuster"]Yes I do. but people don't get to see that stuff nearly as much as they do my buses. That other thing is my collection of old BMX bikes. When I bust a few of those out I've seen grown men turn back into a 12 year old the moment they lay eyes on them. Fun to watch actually.



LOL. Guilty as charged. I owned a nickle plated Dan Gurney hard tail (like below but with the chrome tube forks)but always lusted after a Webco or StrokerII (square tube) and the holy grail out here was a DG or Redline(I had 0 money to buy those). My bike was such a tanker...could barely make it get off the ground. Ahhhh the 70's.

[swharris]

[aeromech]

I don’t drive my ‘71 bus all that often but last Saturday my wife and I were on our way home from dinner around 8pm and just decided on the spur of the moment to jump in the bus and head down to Mission Bay to watch the Sea World fireworks from Fiesta Island. It was great being parked in the sand a few feet from the water with a great view while enjoying our new camp chairs and a beer. Young couple walks by and said great bus. I thanked them. It made my day. Then we found out that Sea World stopped the daily summer fireworks show this season. Oh well, it was still great.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[vwwestyman]

Took my foster son to see Jurassic World tonight. (Sidenote, if you like dinosaurs eating people and can suspend reality otherwise, it was pretty fun.)

He wanted to ride in the Thing but it is pretty cool out so I said we were taking a Bus. He was complaining and said that he would rather ride in [pointing at every other vehicle we passed, including, horror of horrors, a stupid old Chrysler minivan].

I told him I figured he was the only person who doesn't like these things, just as some random people waved at me.

I think he was just being a typical obtuse 14 year old.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[slave1pilot]

[andrewtf]

My 'other' car (as listed in my signature line) is a '63 Austing Healey. It has been sitting and waiting for a few years while I work on my buses, but when I used to drive it, it was even more head turning than my bus (Big Emma does run a very close second though).

The car is almost all engine, so it is really fun to drive. When all dialed in, it is a very tight and energetic driving experience - but can be a bit frightening as well. Driving on the highway always made me just slightly nervous because it is so small I'm actually afraid people won't see me - especially when you get beside a truck. As one friend said after getting a ride around: "This is just like being on a ride at the county fair."

A fellow Healey owner once told me driving it was like being a gorgeous woman. Everyone looks at you, and is nicer than they should be. If you arrive at four way stop, everyone always lets you go first.

For the transmission enthusiasts, it is geared a bit oddly (at least by modern standards). First gear is almost never used. It is the only non-syncro gear it has and they called it a 'crawler gear'. I would use only in very rare circumstances - like starting from a dead stop going uphill. And there is overdrive (activated by a toggle switch on the dash) for both third and fourth gears. And then there are those wonderful Lucas Electrics!

One of the most frequent irritations in my life is that all three of my vehicles are manual transmission and none of them have the same shift patterns. It always takes me a few minutes to get used to the one I'm driving. But then when I drive my wife's car, I constantly try to shift her automatic.
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey