Kirks Car

[Chris Walden]

Can't believe no one is snatching up Kirk Knightons car...C'mon guys...someone? Mmm umm, can't do it...Indiana, no room, wife.....

[kirk knighton]

Kirk here - thanks for your observation!
Yes, it IS pretty humbling that with 2150 "looks" I have received all of 2 inquiries.
I realize I am asking a lot for the car, but I also think it is fair due to the engine and body and tires and, well, everything. Plus in the year 2019 these cars are getting more and more rare.
But it's not a car for just anybody. You've got to know about these cars and really want one - as a hobby, a passion. You've got to really identify with being the only Type 4 at the VW show, every year. You've got to be something of an iconoclast I guess. I know I am.
In my ad for the car I've included a picture of myself and my-then only 412 alongside of the late Julie Aleva and her famous 412 Sparkie. That was the day we met, in 2003 in Seattle. In all her years of owning and loving her Sparkie in California she had never met another 412 enthusiast. In all MY years of owning these cars ( since 1984 I've owned 5 ) I hadn't met anyone else either. We greeted each other like long-lost brother and sister.
Tragically Julie died only a year later. Her father, who had bought Sparkie for her on her 18th birthday, inherited the car from her on her death, and then bequeathed it to me, at Julie's request. One hell of an honor for me, you better believe it!
Since then both Rolling Thunder and Sparkie have lived together in my garage. Lovingly maintained. My wife has asked me to sell one of them so she can finally park her car in the garage. I love my wife and want to stay married, so I've put RT up for sale. I just hope the right person comes along!

[Chris Walden]

Would if I could...My first one was a marathon blue 2 dr..Still fuel injected, it was pretty fast for a small bore sport sedan of the day...

[raygreenwood]

Its a tough problem. Beautiful car! Worth the money!

However....even if I could scrape the car together....and even if I had spare room.....I would have to turn it down.
I learned many years ago with 411 and 412 cars.....if you are serious about putting them together right and KEEPING them......you have to limit yourself to what you can afford to complete.....in both money AND time.

If I bought that car.....it would insure that the one I own and have many years invested in.....would not see the road for years to come. Even in great shape....it has to be maintained, insured etc. Im barely holding my own with the list of sub projects still required to make mine complete and run again.

But someone NEEDS to buy this car! Ray

[kirk knighton]

Great points, Ray!
The more I think about it - and about we oh-so-few Type 4 enthusiasts in the world - the more I realize we are talking about a legacy here, not just a car. Not a machine to transport us from one place to another. Not at all!
Of course the same can be said about ALL air-cooled Volkswagens in the 21st century. But Type 4s especially. Unloved and unpopular when they were new; by now they are exceedingly rare and virtually forgotten.
When I go to my local huge Northwest VW show every summer I am always the only Type 4. Plenty of Bugs and Busses, whose owners largely ignore me way off to the side tucked in with the half-dozen Type 3s that show up. I get much more enthusiasm from the non-VW show attendees who pay $10 to walk around admiring all the cars. Or just around town in general: everywhere I go people smile and give me the thumbs up. I'm sure they have no idea what the hell kind of car it is I'm driving, just that it looks so cool.
I am oddly confident that the right person will come along for Rolling Thunder. He HAS to go to the right home; that is the most important thing. The legacy of our surviving 411s and 412s is the most important thing.
In the meantime he is well cared for here. He and Sparkie both.