How did everyone get into vw's ?

[scottyrocks]

I was in my formative years during the Beetles' heyday - the 1960s. We saw them everywhere. On trips in the car any longer than to the grocery store, my mom, brother and I would play 'count the Volkswagens.' It was tough to catch every one of them.

Then when I was 8 years old, 'The Love Bug' (1968) came out. At that point I was completely hooked.

When I was old enough to stray an appreciable distance from home, probably around 1971, I would take my bike the approximate mile down to the Volkswagen dealer on Utica Ave in Brooklyn and ogle at the Beetles and Karmann Ghias. One of the salesmen always recognized me and said hi, and I was thrilled when he let me take brochures, as it was pretty obvious that at 11 years old I wasn't there to buy a car.

When I was 15 my Dad bought a '71 Beetle. That was the car I learned to drive a MT in.

I figured I would get a Beetle in a year or so, but our neighbor across the street was selling a '71 Corolla in great condition, so I wound up with that. After that came a succession of cars that included 'almost everything' but a Volkswagen.

I never did get a Beetle, until just a few months ago. Yeah, it's a long stretch, but better late than never.

[oprn]

Back in about '67 Dad was looking for a power plant to use to upgrade a horse driven potato digger. At the time we grew and sold about 2 acres of spuds to get some extra pocket cash and keep us kids out of trouble.

A co-worker of his put him on to a relative that had an old Bug he would part with. So 20 miles out in the country and $25 poorer we were the proud owners of a badly beat up '58 Bug with 3 flat tires parked half submerged in a slough! Well we drug that thing home(literally!)and us 2 boys and Dad tore it apart, emptied the water out of the engine and transaxle and the clean up began. By fall we had a 36 hp VW powered potato digger that would chuck spuds 50 feet across the garden at a fast idle in 3rd gear! And did it ever sound cool with no exhaust system!!

That was the beginning of a 40+ year love affair with VWs for me.

[Cusser]

I was a teenager once decades ago, and I needed a car. I knew nothing about cars, heard VWs were economical and straightforward to work on.

Let's just say that learning about VWs and then having the confidence to take on other car and home repairs has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 4 decades.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[ekrossi]

I was always fascinated by the whole contrary nature of the car. Small, compact, rear engine, no radiator. Everything I was always told a car was not supposed to be. AND IT WORKED! And very well at that. Then my father got a used '65 beetle in the early '70s, which he proceeded to run holy hell out of for several years. That was the first car I learned how to tune up and service. It would be many years later that I decided to take the plunge myself. I'm on my third and don't ever want to let this one go. It's restoration is my personal goal.

[Team WorldTour]

My family has always had a VW. In 1990, I was 16, and I learned to drive in the family van, a 1985 T3.
On California's Central Coast.
After the Earthquake.
The amount of confidence I got from this experience has served me well me whole life.
The kind of confidence that allows you to jump into the cab of a PLS Hemmett, and drive it through Downtown Alexandria (NOT Virginia, but EGYPT!) without a second thought.
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When All Else Fails: Lather, Rinse, Repeat!

[21junkstreet]

I grew up in GM household. My Dad had a 72 Nova SS he bought new. He also loved his Buicks and Oldsmobiles. One day when I was about 14, this older kid in the neighborhood who was also into BMX had a 71 Superbeetle and I rode by one day while he was working on it. I thought I was pretty neat, with the motor all compact. A couple of days later I was at my local library an I ran across the 1970 version of How to Hot Rod your Volkswagen Engine. And my mind was blown!!!
I checked the book out and never returned it, payed the $3 fine, this was 1992. I couldn't believe that a beetle was running 10,11,12 second quarter mile in 1970! The whole idea of turning nothing into something hooked me! And I've been into them ever since.

[YDBD]

One year old toe head in the back seat. I'm in...'nuff said.
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'56 pan Dune Buggy since '69
don't live in the past...but when I did:
'67 bug
'64 baja
'60 dune buggy
'73 Personenkraftwagen Type 182 "Thing"

[HippyTom]

My Dad bought a 63 L87 Sunroof Bug on April 9, 1966 from Younce Motors Volkswagen dealership as the second owner. It was purchased new from there and traded back in. I was born in 1968 and my parents brought me home from the hospital in this Bug.

It was our family car growing up. Over the years it primarily became my Dad's work car, drag the boat car, etc. It was a hoodride decades before that was a thing.

In the early 80s he went through a couple engines and finally got tired of messing with it and parked it. It sat with a limb through the top for 8 or so years people stopping trying to buy it. I aggravated him to let me get it going to drive at 16 but no dice. Said he would get it going when he retired.

After 8 years of sitting, a friend from church who was Younce VW's brother came and got it to get it running again. But he soon got very sick, and his wife got very sick, and they couldn't attend church anymore. Then they moved. And we didn't know to where or what happened to the car.

9 years after the last time I saw the car, I had gotten married and moved out of state, given up on the car, and bought an old Corvette. My Dad called one night and said he had talked to the man. He still had the car but there wasn't much left of it. I said, "I'll be there in the morning to get it."

3 years later the build (a ton of sheet metal work) and restoration to original color and interior (1600 12v motor) was complete.

I have all the paperwork where my Dad bought the car, bill of sale, got the loan, insurance, original title, registrations from the early 70s, dealer vinyl pack and owners manuals, original tool pack and tools, jack, etc. I made it a Herbie for 12 years as that was my childhood dream, but now it's back to plain. It still sports 6" wide chrome VW wheels though. Now I have a second 62 hand painted hippy car. And had others.

I've had my 63 now for almost 20 years and restored 16+. I sold my Corvette soon after completing my Bug. I lost interest in it and wanted to drive my bug every chance I got. I've never regretted it. I've been a VW guy since day 1.

[kombi kid]

Back in the 70’s when I was 16 I stole my brother 1969 firebird, it was a big block car. I went out to Van Nuys Blvd to do some street racing.. while CRUZING I got my doors blown off by 4 dudes in a Baja, the firebird was a 13 second car at OCIR.. that this Baja smoked me big time, I sold my 1962 impala and bought (stole) my first bug and now 43 years later I’m still building VW’s and even changed industries and have worked in the VW parts world for more than 30 years..

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check out my cool VW videos on my YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrPaygs5pLPPfqNQ8yZ4VQ


I asked god for my first VW, I know he doesn't work that way so I stole a bug and asked for forgiveness!

my "car guy 401k"
1963 kombi (now running and driving
1956 oval sad to see it go!
1966 ghia coupe
1963 bug (sold at prado)
1968 porsche 912
1964 super stock dodge factory light weight 426cu 425hp

[Gurn Blanston]

[Gurn Blanston]

I know that Lamborghini and Porsche are both owned by Volkswagen, but I've never actually owned a real Volkswagen. I have held a great appreciation for them, but it's just never happened. We're shopping for a 2019 Mercedes right now, but I'm getting ready to retire, and I'm thinking maybe I'll go a different direction- sell the Porsche (because I won't need a daily driver anymore) and buy a '58-'64 Beetle (preferably a '63) as a retirement project. I think I'm still young enough to do that.

My first exposure to Volkswagens was when my late father worked at a VW dealership when I was a child. I had been exposed to a lot of cars before, but I thought they were pretty cool. About 1969, when I was 6 years old, "The Love Bug" film was released, and I was hooked. From then on, whenever I was at my father's dealership, I would pore over every white Beetle on the lot, wondering if it was "Herbie". I think everyone loves a great underdog story. I wouldn't mind having something like the late Mark Herbert's SSB, except with more presentable bodywork painted in L87 Pearl White.

[stevegibb]

My folks had a '73 bug when we grew up in Ann Arbor. But much later I had a fellowship in Brussels and got a yellow joker to drive/camp in.

Bought one as soon as we got home. And fixed it, and fixed it, and. . . well, you already know all that.

-Manggo lover

[VWporscheGT3]

I was a muscle car kid, my buddy Elliott showed me the awesomness of vw's ... been hooked ever since , circa 1999
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Schnell, SCHNELL!

I like being wrong, as weird as that sounds, it is another opportunity to learn. If you stop learning from your mistakes than what is the point?

Schicken Sie es!

If you have any questions about Forged ICON 4032 VW pistons just shoot me a line.

[kenj06]

My dad had a couple VW Beetles and I ended up learning to drive in one. Thanks Mom! The other became my first car, a '72 Super which I had to repair to be drivable. I fell in love with the simplicity, being the only one in high school with one, and of course the fun in the snow. I owned several other Beetles during/after that, '68, 75 Super w/FI, sunroof and auto-stick, 73 Super. After getting into plenty of trouble with a muscle car ('70 GS convertible) I moved back to VWs though the first of those was a Dodge Omni with the VW engine. Then a Golf and a Passat then went a couple years without a VW vehicle. I still had a VW in my life tough since my daughters initials are VW (she has a VW tattoo). I had wanted a Thing since I was first driving and could never afford one then. About 8 years ago I started looking again, took 3 to find something nearby in my price range, drivable and not rusted out. Now I'm looking to add more VWs.

[Volt01]

it was after watching Disney's cars as a kid, i was lying on the couch after my surgery and my grandma had bought me another disney movie about cars, the love bug. it was the whole boxed set. i freaked out when we went to the herbie hotel, out front herbie was sitting there. i ran over and hugged him.
ever since then i had wanted a volkswagen and now i have a 75 standard bug.

[bluebug66]

When I was in high school in the mid 60s, a couple of my friends drove VWs. One was a 1960 Ghia and the other had a 1960 bug. I have a lot of great memories of times spent with these friends. I got a new 1969 red bug when I was in college and dated my future wife in this car. When I graduated in 1972 I bought a new 1972 orange sunroof Super Beetle and got married and drove this car until I needed something larger when our daughter was born. Drove the Super on many long trips. Great car that I wish I had kept. I am sure that many of you wish that you had kept a VW that you used to own. I have a 1966 beetle that I have restored to nice driver condition and I plan on keeping it forever. I was fortunate to find one in 1997 that was in almost original condition. The 1300 engine had been replaced with a similar vintage single port engine but everything else was original. I am amazed at what these old bugs are worth now.

[dumptuck]

When I was young, my whole family of 5 would all pile into my dad’s rusty ‘83 Corolla and head out for camping trips along the coast during the summer. At the time, there was still quite a few older busses running about, it almost seemed there was one around every corner. I remember spending my idle time on the slow ferry trips wandering around and checking out whatever sweet cars I could find on the boat, most notably the plethora of brightly coloured and rusty westfalias. Something about that adorable bus design really stuck with me, and after a couple years of delivering newspapers I bought my first car, a ‘74 orange and white transporter:

It was actually in pretty good shape overall, but rusty in all the usual spots, and had bad compression in the motor. I didn’t know anything about working on cars, so I figured the best course of action was to just start pulling everything apart I pulled the motor and trans out one day with my dad, and the project sort of stalled from there... I would often go outside late at night and sit in the tattered driver seat and gaze longingly out the front window, imaging the adventures I’d go on with that old bus. I didn’t have any money to get it running, and I wouldn’t be able to get my license for at least a couple years, so after much debate I eventually sold it for triple what I’d paid originally. Soon after I was flooded with deep regret (you all know the feeling...), watching the prices of old aircooleds quickly rising up and up, way out of my very limited price range. Just by chance, I happened to be surfing Craigslist one day and found a ‘71 for sale from the same guy I bought my ‘74 from years ago. Just like the first bus, this ‘71 was just too good of a deal to pass up, so we called up the seller and luckily he remembered us, and after sending him a deposit we headed out the next day to go pick up the new bus!

I’m not letting this one go, not for a long, long time...
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Erik

[VW_Jimbo]

I was born into a VW family. Grandparents (Moms side) had seven kids and required a vehicle which could move them all over the Southern California landscape (Bus). Each of those kids, my aunts and uncles, all owned VWs. They all went through high school in the 60s. I was born in 1971 and grew up riding in them all! 3 Bugs, 2 Buses, a 1 Ghia, a 1 Squareback. They were always around. My cousin (blonde hair), my sister on the Big Wheel, and me. That’s a 65 Bug on the front yard in Pico Rivera, CA. Somewhere in 1976.

My family was less than wealthy. The family car was a 73 Super Beetle. Dad wanted one, because in a High School he had a 68 Bug and after graduation, purchased a 69 Bug off the lot. They drove the 69 into the dealer lot and traded it in for the 73. That 73 served as the family car till momma passed away from breast cancer in 89.

Dad owned a custom cabinet shop. I worked every summer and all weekends in it, while growing up. I always worked and never got to spend my money. So I had a decent sum of it!

It was my Sophomore year in High School, 1986. I was 15. Good friend, one year older than myself, bought a 57 Bug. His family owned a body shop and he would work on the car, at the family shop, after school. Often I would go by and drool. It was on the my way, skating, from his job at the body shop, to my job working in the cabinet shop, that I saw a forgotten Bug in a freshly cut down corn field. I walked up to the farm house. It was in Montclair, CA on Central Avenue, back off the street by an 1/8th of a mile. I knocked n the door. Farmer answered the door and asked what my business was, in those words exactly. I said that I was interested in the Bug. He said, exactly, bring your father back in an hour, I will drag it out onto the driveway. Oh, I want $1200.00.” I asked, “Does it drive?” He said, “Nope, but it will by the time you get back.”

Two hours later, with 1200 cash in my Dads pocket, we drove over to the farm, with my mother. I could not drive yet, I was still learning to drive. So my Dad got to take the Bug for a ride. It had a hard time starting, it smoked badly, but it drove around the farm. We haggled a little, but I ended up paying $1100 for it. My Dad was excited for me but cringed at the money spent.

Here it is in the garage. You can see the 73 Super Beetle in the back ground.

At the cabinet shop!

I spent all my free time working on that 55. Kept me out of trouble! In my senior year I finished the Bug in August. A stock 55 with semaphores. In October my mom passed away from Inoperable Breast Cancer. Drove it to her funeral.

In 1990, I left the family business and went to work as a parts cleaner at a VW shop in Chino, CA. Dick Roy’s VW. My hours after work were spent at the library, studying the Mitchell auto repair manuals, for what ever car I picked up that night. I closed the library almost nightly back then. Between the day time running around a shop and studying books at night, I quickly became highly educated in all cars. The shop started repairing other makes of cars and I became the lead ASE Master Tech at the shop. I left in 1999 after reading an article regarding used motor oil exposure and skin cancer. At that point I was the lead drivability tech in the area, diagnosing cars that the local dealers could not solve, even with their fly in gurus! I was offered a shit load of money to stay, but choose my health instead.

From that point on, I have continued to buy and sell VW Bugs. Way too many to document here, but we’ll over 40, plus. I did stop in 2007 when I decided to get a Bachelors degree in Business Administration (promised my momma, on her death bed that I would finish college) 26 years later, In 2015, I bought a 70 Bug to rebuild for the newest driver in the house. Deal was that she had to work on it with me and at the end, I would teach her how to drive a manual transmission and give her the money from the sale for her first car.

The current 70 is the money for the next daughters car. The 77 is the starting money for my 55, in the future. Would love to find that old car!

You all know the rest.

That was the short version of my journey into VWs. Sorry for the length, I shortened it up a lot!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Bigjacksauto]

Here is my sons and my story that Jbugs.Com just put on their site.
I have my son and wife to thank for getting me into vw's.
I only wish I had done so sooner.

https://www.jbugs.com/product/car-24.html?Category_Code=Vintage-VW-Restorations
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/2778888602388847/?ref=share
1968 Beetle "Herbie" replica Father Son Project
1960 Beetle deluxe / Flint/Pebble Grey og 1200cc 36hp
1975 Westfalia bus sold
1967 SO 42 Westfalia Bus

(o\_!_/o)

[ach60]

A babysitter I had as a kid had one, My Sister's Best friend had one, the lady down the street had one.
My Stepmother had one, and my Dad hated it.
My brother would coast it up down the driveway at my Father's apartment,
And then we would push it back up the driveway, and do it again.
Dad relented, and let Jeff, my brother actually start it, and learn how to drive.
My Mother then bought a '71 Super Beetle Demonstrator for my brother's and sisters to drive in High School.
So I've been in love with Vw's since Mrs. Zeller's Bug when I was 3 or 4 years old.
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Good Luck
Al